Rick Ross ft. Jay-Z & John Legend "Free Mason"

"I said I was amazing/ Not that I’m a Mason"
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"New York State of Mind" Replaces Frank Sinatra "New York New York" At The Belmont Stakes.

Jay-Z's "Empire State Of Mind" will replace Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" at the 142nd running of the Belmont Stakes.
The New York Racing Association said it will play "Empire State of Mind" as the horses are brought out on the track for tomorrow's race.

Jigga's track is featured on his latest platinum selling album Blueprint III and features Alicia Keys.
Sinatra's version has been played since 1997. Prior to that, a vaudeville tune called "Sidewalks of New York" was the race's main song.
Teenage singer Jasmine Villegas will perform Jay and Alicia's version.
The Yankees also previously took a liking to the song and played it throughout their champonship run.

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New Music: Jay-Z ft. Swizz Beatz "Ultra"

This is hot, even the second verse that’s supposed to be Diddy’s. Oops. Apparently this is a reference track for Last Train to Paris.


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NY-Z Absolut Collaboration With Jay-Z.

 Earlier this month, a brief NY-Z trailer hit the ‘net, but now the full 15-minute minute documentary is available for viewing. The Danny Clinch-directed short features a variety of content. From never-before-seen footage of Jay-Z and John Mayer preparing for the September 11 concert at Madison Square Garden to basic discussion about what type of records the Carters played growing up, the doc is a simple but interesting look at the rap icon. Absolut has a reputation for dope artist partnerships, stemming from wok with guys like Andy Warhol and Keith Haring in the ’80s, and the latest endeavor with Jay continues the trend.




If you can't respect anything else about Jay-Z please let it be his work ethic. This man works hard and the way he draws inspiration for his music is reason why he is on top and will go down as one of the greatest MC's to ever do it. If more people took to their work and treated it as art like he did then they would be just as successful and not walking around talking about the "illumanati'! Kudos to Jay for making music still worth buying!


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Jay-Z Speaks on "We Are The World" Remake

The homie Shaheem over at MTV News spoke to Jay-Z on the red carpet of the Two Kings All Star dinner this weekend in Dallas. And Mr. Carter said he didn’t partake in the “We Are The World” remake because he feels like the classic shouldn’t be touched or re-done. Quotes from the vid:

“I have a interesting take on that,” Jay-Z said Saturday at the annual “2 Kings” dinner, which was sponsored by Sprite and Bing and took place during NBA All-Star weekend. “I know everybody is gonna take this wrong: ‘We Are the World,’ I love it, and I understand the point and think it’s great. But I think 
 ‘We Are the World’ is like [Michael Jackson's] ‘Thriller’ to me. I don’t ever wanna see it touched. I’m a fan of music. I know the plight and everything that’s going on in Haiti. I applaud the efforts: [Millions have been raised] through text [donations] to Haiti. So I appreciate the efforts and everything, but ‘We are the World’ is [musically] untouchable like ‘Thriller’ is untouchable. Some things are just untouchable. It was a valiant effort, but for me, it’s gonna be untouchable.”
Jay said he felt that a new song should have been written instead of re-creating the 1985 classic:

“I would have loved that idea better,” he said. “As everyone knows, I have tremendous respect for Quincy Jones. Of course, I think he’s genius, as everyone else does. [But] I think it’s time for us to make a new [song]. I tried to do that with ‘Stranded,’ the song Jay, Rihanna and U2’s Bono and the Edge premiered at the ‘Hope for Haiti Now’ telethon]. I didn’t try to make ‘We Are the World,’ but I tried to make our take on how we felt.” 

Agreed. 

Hope For Haiti Now!!

Last night countless stars came out for the Hop For Haiti Now telethon. There was celebs there I forgot existed,  the performances were amazing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more pics from the benefit click here

Swizz Beatz, Bono, and Jay-Z Come Together for Haiti!

Following the recent earthquake in the Caribbean nation of Haiti a number of celebrities have stepped up to raise donations and goods for the country. And a number of them have even planned concerts, benefits, etc. in the hopes of raising funds. In a recent Twitter update, producer Swizz Beatz revealed that he and rapper Jay-Z and singer Bono have something big in the works for Haiti. “Me, Bono, Jay, have something to say about Haiti. Stay [tuned] I told you I was working on something amazing for Haiti they  need us,” Swizz Beatz Tweeted. With Jay-Z and Bono in the mix we are definitely looking forward to what they have up their sleeves.

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Image Source: www.rap-up.com

Swizz Beatz and Sam Brown Speaks on "On To The Next" Video

Swizz Beatz talked to MTV about the on going rumors surrounding the "One To The Next" video claiming satanic images.

"I don't think about that. I know that's a billion percent not true. The video displays another level of art and creativity from two great minds: the director and Jay — and myself, bringing the collaboration together. It's no satanic ways around me and that's for sure," he explained. "I'm with Jay — I never see none of that stuff around him unless he's hiding something, which I doubt. C'mon, man. That's silly stuff. That stuff you don't even comment on; we on to the next one."

I'm aware of the stir the video has caused and what people are saying," the clip's director, Sam Brown, told Vibe.com. "I think when you're dealing in abstract imagery people are going to want to draw lines between things and make sense of it. However, I've always felt that the viewing public was, in general, extremely visually literate. They don't always want or need things to be spelled out for them. One of the great things about music videos are they can be enjoyed purely visually — it doesn't need to mean anything or make any sense. Conspiracy theory is another thing entirely, and seems to me to be about projecting pre-existing beliefs and desperately looking for things that confirm them. There is imagery in this video that is drawn from all over the place. None of it is owned by any one culture or belief system. You can connect anything if you try hard enough, and make it mean anything you want it to."




"It didn't look like we was worshipping the devil," Swizz continued, speaking on behalf of himself, Jay and Young Jeezy, who are all featured in the video. "It was easy. The song, the chemistry between me, Jay [and] Jeezy is a natural flow. When you put that in front of the camera, it's natural. Jay was on set, I think, for only two hours. I was on set for like, an hour. Same thing. Jeezy was there. It was real quick. The director took it and went on to the next one. ... I never expected the video to come out like that ... it's like a portrait. It's like a canvas he took, which was the green screen, and he took that canvas and really painted it Murakami, Basquiat style. There go the results."

Again please kill these rumors, then..  One To The Next One!


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Jay-Z Breaks Silence on Illumanati Rumors

Today Jay-Z went on the Angie Martinez show to promote his Blueprint 3 tour and while there he addressed the rumors of him a being  a member of a secret society  "The Illumanati" and a devil worshiper.
 For months conspiracy theorist have claimed and accused his music and videos to have hidden messages and symbols representing the Free Masons in "Run This Town and it got worse when "On To The Next" video was released.

" I don't know where it came from, I don't know where it started,” Jay-Z told Angie Martinez today. "No, not me. Never done that before. Why win the world would I do that? That’s retarded.”

The rapper gave some insight into his thoughts on religion, which can also be found in the song “Empire State of Mind.”

A line on “Empire State of Mind” added fuel to the fire when Jay-Z rapped: “Hail Mary to the city,/you're a virgin/And Jesus can't save you/life starts when the church ends”

"I believe in God, I believe in one God,” Jay-Z said of his religious background today. “I don't believe in religion. I think that separates people."

The rapper quipped that if he did belong to a secret organization, it has not helped him in terms of race and acceptance in general.

"I can't even get in a golf club in palms springs,‘ Jay-Z joked. “I'm from Marcy.”

As for the imagery in the “On To The Next One” video, Jay-Z admitted to making the video darker than usual.
"As far as how far people are talking it, I guess I'm an entertainer. I entertain. People make up their
own things and they run with it."



Well there you have it.. So please kill this rumor. 

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Trey Songz Joins Jay-Z on Blueprint 3 Tour!

Trey Songz had a banner 2009 and he’s continuing his reign in 2010 by touring with one of the biggest names in music, Jay-Z.

The R&B singer has joined the second leg of the rapper’s Blueprint 3 tour. He will be one of the opening acts when it kicks off in arenas across the U.S. starting February 20 at the Bank Atlantic Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He is currently scheduled to perform on all 23 dates, wrapping March 27 at The Pearl Concert Theater in Las Vegas.
Young Jeezy was previously announced as a supporting act. Tour dates, including stops at New York City’s Madison Square Garden and Los Angeles’ Staples Center, can be found here.
Jay-Z’s latest album The Blueprint 3 was released in September on Atlantic Records, home to Songz.

In related news, Jay-Z has been nominated for 5 NAACP Awards! Congrats!

Source www.rap-up.com