Over the holiday C-Hyphen told you about Jay-Z’s announcement that he is stepping down as the president of Def Jam when his contract expires at years end.  The announcement isn’t a shock because of all the buzz surrounding Universal and several major media conglomerates who have been laying off high ranking officials.  However it begs the question what is his next step.  Some think that this might be it for Jay-Z and music.  After all he has teased us several times with retirement but this could be the perfect opporutnity for him to make a clean break from the industry as a whole both in front of and behind the microphone (pause.)  

But like any competitive athlete, I find it hard to believe that he can walk away from the very industry that made him who he is and defines him to this day.  The New York Times is reporting the possibility that Live Nation may recruit Jay-Z to be the next face of thier new Artist Nation division, a trail first blazed by Madonna.  A while back, I talked about the Madonna deal and how she trumped Hip Hop, the currently accepted form of mainstream music.  The terms of her 10 year pact with Live Nation (promoters of the worldwide Live Aid benefit concerts) included a $120 Million base and STOCK OPTIONS in the wildly popular company. 

Its time for Hip Hop to take this step and what better icon to lead the way than Jay-Z.  Its not about the money, although it probably is for him but its about the symbolism for hip hip.  White America (no offense) has been pimping Hip Hop and its predominately black artists for decades and now and its time that just like in sports we see them in higher positions of power with subsequently making power moves. 

Besides all that, what better landing strip for Jay.  He’s now transended music with his sucessful ventures like the 40/40 clubs, his hotel chain and his Nets ownership and has been very good at being the young black Trump but in order to maintain his relevance, his street crediblity is important.  He needs to continue to make music.  Def Jam just bogged him down with too much day to day, artist development and back and forth (See LL Cool J.)  Live Nation would afford him the ability to do what he does best and still have the flexiblity to build his brand.   Now I know all this is in theory at this point and simply rumored but I’m sure because of its sesibility, it will be widely discussed on forums such as this one.  Thoughts?