Jay-Z by Jeff Burlingame

Author:Jeff Burlingame [Burlingame, Jeff]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4645-1223-0
Publisher: Enslow Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2014-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

RETIRED, MARRIED, AND DECODED

It was soon revealed that Jay-Z’s definition of retirement was not exactly the same as most people’s. He did not take a permanent vacation to a sunny area near a warm ocean. He did not spend his days watching television, playing golf, or playing card games.

When Jay-Z, now thirty-four years old, said he was retiring, he actually meant that he was retiring from certain activities. He no longer planned to tour, and he no longer planned to make his own records. He did stop doing both those things—temporarily, at least—but he also spent the extra time he now had working harder than ever at other endeavors that he previously only had time to dabble in.

He spent more time collaborating with others, including rock band Linkin Park. The artists even released a short album titled Collision Course, which featured mashups of Linkin Park and Jay-Z songs. He released a film of his life and his Madison Square Garden retirement concert, called Fade to Black. He accepted a job as president of Def Jam Records. He spent more time developing and expanding the 40/40 Club—a Manhattan sports bar, lounge, and restaurant he owned—and his Rocawear clothing company. In 2004, the first year of Jay-Z’s retirement, Rocawear did $300 million in business.

In addition, Jay-Z signed a multimillion-dollar endorsement deal with athletic shoemaker Reebok. He was the first non-athlete to sign such a deal with the company, which released a line of shoes named after him called S. Carter. The shoes were the fastest-selling shoes in the history of the company.

Jay-Z also bought a small stake in the New Jersey Nets basketball team. Later, he helped the team relocate to a new arena in his hometown of Brooklyn. He even founded a film company. Clearly, Jay-Z was not retired.

To most people, Jay-Z appeared to be living a charmed life. He had tons of money and was donating large amounts of it to various charities. He had a beautiful and talented girlfriend. But Jay-Z still had his share of hang-ups, some of which stemmed from the abandonment he had faced in his childhood.

One day, Jay-Z approached his mother and told her he felt he would never be happy in a relationship. Gloria Carter took action. She knew what her son needed to fix his problem. She set up a reunion between Jay-Z and his father, whom she had kept in touch with over the years. Jay-Z had not seen his father in twenty years.

“My mother saw some of the comments I’d made about him on records as me still holding on to pain from my childhood,” Jay-Z told Vibe magazine in 2004. “She was really working both ends, because my father hadn’t gone to her to set up a meeting; he was too proud. He didn’t want me to think that he was trying to get at me because I was this millionaire or famous rapper.” Jay-Z finally agreed to a reunion.

On the day the reunion was supposed to occur, Jay-Z sent a car to pick up his father.

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