Roxy Music's guitarist Phil Manzanera talked to The Telegraph about how much he makes from music: "Luckily, Roxy have continued to be popular, so it’s like having a pension. I don’t have any other pensions... I was also lucky to have my guitar riff from my 1978 second solo album 'K-Scope' sampled in 2011 by Jay-Z and Kanye West, who built a whole song around it. The track, 'No Church in the Wild' on the 'Watch the Throne' album, won a Grammy and was hugely successful and used in films and lots of ads. It was like winning the lottery out of the blue. I get more than they get for it: a six-figure sum over 10 years. And they continue to pay me multiples of six figures because they’re so successful and I partly own my share. It’s prob­ably more than I ever earned in Roxy: we had all the gold albums but no gold!".

A reminder to Dan Runcie's earlier essay: "Jay-Z, Rihanna, Kanye West are on the top shelf of rap’s new-money class. They became world-famous millionaires through the music industry, but realized they would have to sell more than music to become billionaires. The 'Run This Town' trio used music as the gateway, then capitalized on their influence at the height of their fame. Jay-Z made bank from selling Ace of Spades champagne and investing in startups. Rihanna built her Fenty empire into multiple brands. And Ye has sold so many Yeezys he’s probably lost count. The bottom line? Star power gets you in the door, but to maximize your platform, you need to sell something authentic that customers want to keep buying".

Damon Dash tried to auction off his ownership of the copyright to Jay Z’s first album, 'Reasonable Doubt'. At first, Dash wasn't so clear he didn't want to sell the entire Reasonable Doubt album as an NFT - he wanted to sell his one-third ownership share of Roc-a-Fella as NFT. However, Jay-Z raised a lawsuit, and on June 22, a New York judge ruled in favor of Jay-Z to stop the auction. Three days later, on 25th anniversary of 'Reasonable Doubt', Jay Z and artist Derrick Adams collaborated to auction NFT artwork for the classic album. Trapital explains the hassle.

Foo Fighters, The Go-Go’s, Jay-Z, Carole King, Todd Rundgren, and Tina Turner have been announced as The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees for the year 2021 in the Performers category. Additionally, LL Cool J, Billy Preston, and Randy Rhoads will receive the Musical Excellence Award. Kraftwerk, Gil Scott Heron and Charley Patton will get the Early Influence Award. NPR reports. "This is our most diverse class in the history of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame” - says chairman John Sykes.

In the span of mere weeks, Jay-Z’s net worth has jumped 40 percent up to $1,4 billion, SCMP calculates. In addition to selling 50 percent of his champagne brand Armand de Brignac, also known as Ace of Spades, to LVMH, Jay-Z sold a majority stake of his streaming service Tidal to Square. 51-year-old rapper and businessman ishappy about his partners - “I’m very fortunate. Jack Dorsey, who created Twitter, Square and Cash App, and Philippe [Schaus] and the guys who created LVMH – you couldn’t ask for better partners; they’re the top of the top. [Things] usually align like that when people do really great things. You could get into partnerships and people short-change the business for different reasons. These guys don’t cut corners, they try to get it right. It’s about respect".

"If Square wants to create new ways to help musicians sell real goods and digital goods, it could just do that. Instead, Square is paying $300 million for a failed music service that doesn’t help it accomplish any of those goals" - Vox argues in an analysis of Square-Tidal deal which saw Jack Dorsey paying Jay-Z $300 million for his service. "So, what you’re really left with here is a deal that looks like a way for Jack Dorsey to move money from his publicly traded company to a company owned by a guy he likes to hang out with" - Vox concludes. Variety did the math on 16 artist stakeholders of Tidal - Jay Z, Beyonce, Kanye West (pictured above), Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Jason Aldean, Madonna, Jack White, Arcade Fire’s Win Butler & Régine Chassagne, Usher, Nicki Minaj, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Calvin Harris, deadmau5, J. Cole and Daft Punk - who should expect to pocket $8.91 million apiece from this deal.

Jack Dorsey's digital-payments processor Square is buying a majority stake in Tidal, Jay-Z's music streaming platform, for $297 million, through a mix of cash and stock, The New York Times reports. The move is set to bring Jay-Z to Square's board of directors. Jay-Z bought Tidal in 2015 for $56 million.

Rapper-entrepreneur Jay-Z and Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square, have joined to form a new Bitcoin fund, focused on developing the cryptocurrency’s adoption initially in Africa and India, CNet reports. The duo are investing 500 Bitcoin, worth about $24 million, in the project, according to Dorsey, with the mission of making Bitcoin “the internet’s currency".

Yves Jarvis drops the only freest song today - 'Projection'; Tyler, The Creator & A$AP Rocky share a funky banger 'Jingelin'; Cassandra Jenkins' 'Crosshairs' is as light and easy as the snow where the video was shot; Jay-Z shares his Nipsey Hussle collab 'What It Feels Like' from the 'Judas & the Black Messiah' soundtrack; Cult of Luna share a doom-sludge EP with 'I Remember' as the stand-out track from it; UK grime masters Digga D x AJ Tracey share ‘Bringing It Back’.

Rage Against the Machine, Jay-Z, Foo Fighters, Kate Bush, Chaka Khan, DEVO, Iron Maiden, The Go-Go’s, Carole King, New York Dolls, Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick, Fela Kuti, Mary J. Blige, Todd Rundgren, and LL Cool J are the nominees for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's 2021 class. The inductees will be announced in May, CNN reports.

Blue Ivy Carter has become one of the youngest Grammy nominees in history - the eight-year-old daughter of Beyoncé and Jay-Z was added to the nominees for best music video for her mother's 'Brown Skin Girl', People reports. Leah Peasall of The Peasall Sisters is the youngest Grammy nominee (and winner) as one of the credited artists on the 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' she was eight at the time. Deleon Richards is the youngest performer to receive an individual nomination - she was nominated at 8 1/2 years old for a 1985 award for best soul/gospel performance, female for her album 'Deleon'.

Subversive Capital Acquisition company has acquired two California-based cannabis brands and named Jay-Z as the resulting holding company’s chief visionary officer, Marijuana Business Daily reports. Subversive Capital is acquiring the direct-to-consumer cannabis platform and brand Caliva as well as Left Coast Ventures, a cannabis and hemp producer, with investment from Roc Nation artists Rihanna, Yo Gotti, and Meek Mill. The deal makes Jay-Z the biggest music player in the California cannabis industry, worth $3 billion a year.

Jay-Z and Meek Mills initiative REFORM Alliance made their first major legislative victory as California Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1950 into law, which will limit adult probation sentence maximums to one year for misdemeanors and two years for felonies. The new law was pushed forward in a campaign led by REFORM, Hip Hop DX reports. Newsom also signed a bill banning police officers’ use of chokeholds during arrests and another that made it so the state’s attorney general can independently investigate police shootings.

Jay-Z has purchased full-page newspaper ads across the United States to promote black businesses, All Hip Hop reports. Hip-hop mogul and his company Roc Nation bought ads in The New York Times, The Denver Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Austin American Statement, The Orlando Sentinel, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and others, promoting everything from eateries, beauty shops, clothing stores, and book shops to gyms, flower shops, waste collection, plumbing, auto shops, electricians, and print shops owned and run by Black men and women. The amount spent by Jay-Z was not disclosed.

Jay-Z has published full-page ads in numerous US newspapers honouring tragic Black Lives Matter icon George Floyd, CNN reports. The ad quotes Martin Luther King's 1965 speech to protesters in Selma, Alabama: "A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right... So we’re going to stand up amid horses... We’re going to stand up right here, amid the billy-clubs... We’re going to stand up amid tear gas!". In similar news, The Weeknd has donated $500,000 to a number of organisations that are committed to racial equality, Variety reports. Killer Mike appeared on 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' talking about the same issue, suggesting to white people to "send financial help to some of the organizations... on the ground. Then get your butt down there and help those organizations in the physical" (watch that video here). Speaking broadly about the problem, he added - "what I need white America to do beyond right now is understand that right now is always. It isn't just helping in the now -- it is being a part of fixing it always".

Jay-Z has called on Attorney General Keith Ellison to prosecute those responsible for the killing of George Floyd to the “fullest extent of the law”, after reaching out directly to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to talk about the state’s handling of the crime. Jay-Z wrote Justice for Floyd is “just a first step” for healing the country, adding - “I am more determined to fight for justice than any fight my would-be oppressors may have”.

What will the future bring for the audio deepfakes - AI-generated imitations of human voices, Pitchfork tries to find answers in an analysis of Jay-Z deepfakes. YouTube channel called Voice Synthesis posted several Jay-Z deepfakes in April - Shakespeare’s 'To Be, Or Not to Be' soliloquy from 'Hamlet', Billy Joel’s 'We Didn’t Start the Fire', and a decade-old 4chan meme. They were removed two days after due to a copyright claim, but soon they returned. The software has to be “trained” with audio samples and text transcripts, and the actual voice is used in the creation but from there it’s all ones and zeros from the AI, so it's a legal grey zone. Musicians and fans could potentially be grappling with the weird consequences of AI voice manipulations long into the future - the P is guessing, with high probability actually.

Approximately 40,000 masks will go to Tennessee, 50,000 to Rikers Island in New York, and 5,000 to Parchman in Mississippi. Additionally, 2,500 masks were sent to Rikers Island's medical facility, CBS reports. The rappers' donation will help protect staff and inmates from the spread of COVID-19, which has increased significantly in correctional facilities because prisoners live in crowded quarters and are unable to practice social distancing. Last week, rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine - who suffers from chronic asthma, putting him at increased risk for catching the virus - was released from jail and will serve the remaining four months of his sentence under home confinement.

Rihanna has collaborated with Jay-Z's Shawn Carter Foundation (SCF) for a combined donated $2 million to COVID-19 relief, All Hip Hop reports. This effort is to support New Yorkers and Los Angelenos who are elderly, undocumented, incarcerated, homeless and children of medical professionals.

"The skillset of Jay Electronica as both an MC and a producer is on full display... 'A Written Testimony' gives us a peek into the immense, singular possibilities of Jay Electronica" - Consequence of Sound writes in a review o New Orleans rapper's debut album (gives it A-). Plenty of Jay-Z on the album - 50-year-old billionaire still rapping with the hunger and poignancy that he did in the ’90s. Pitchfork tagged it Best new music calling it "mystical, distinctive work", coming from a "well of deep faith, he summons rap performances that seem to defy space-time".

16 years ago - in a more innocent, less litigious, and more freewheeling time - Danger Mouse made a sensation with his 'Grey Album' that combined music from The Beatles' 'White Album' and Jay-Z's vocals from his 'Black Album'. Rolling Stones is wondering would we get to hear such an experiment now? The answer is - probably not! Far more so than in the post-Napster days of 2004, the music business is on edge about copyright infringement. If anyone had the notion of creating something akin to 'The Grey Album now', those thoughts would be quickly extinguished, considered not worth the risk and cost.

Jay-Z has filed a civil lawsuit against the Mississippi Department of Corrections on behalf of 152 inmates at a state prison, alleging “abhorrent conditions, abuse and constant violence, inadequate health care and mental health care, and overuse of isolation", CNN reports. It is the second lawsuit brought against the prison by Jay-Z - he filed a suit, in tandem with Ya Gotti, on behalf of 29 other inmates in January. Jay-Z has frequently involved himself in African American civil rights cases using his philanthropy arm Team Roc.

Dr. Dre hasn’t released an album since 2015, haven't been on tour since the turn of the millennium, and his last production credit on a No. 1 hit was in 2009 (Eminem’s 'Crack a Bottle'), but still he managed to climb to the top of Forbes list of highest-earning musician of this decade. He earned […]

They've got Lebanese rock band Mashrou’ Leila with their video 'Roman' ("strength that celebrates Muslim women"), Radiohead with 'Lotus Flower' ("if it’s a risk, that’s probably a good thing”, Thom Yorke later said), Danny Brown with 'Grown Up' because it "highlights the guileless joy that anchors his music", Robyn and her 'Call Your Girlfriend', FKA […]

Jay-Z will produce the Super Bowl halftime show, as part of the new, multi-year deal with the National Football League, and many people are surprised at best; betrayed at worst. The Guardian reminds Jay-Z how he name-checked Fred Hampton, a Black Panther party leader murdered by the police, who insisted: “We say you don’t fight […]

Billionaire rapper Jay-Z joined California company Caliva as a "chief brand strategist" in which he will focus on outreach and the creative direction of the company. “We want to create something amazing, have fun in the process, do good and bring people along the way,” the rapper said in a statement, CNN reports.

Jay-Z's wealth is worth 1 billion dollars, and that's a conservative estimate, Forbes reports. They added his entire media empire, from Roc Nation to Rocawear to Tidal and D’Ussé cognac and got the 10-figure sum. Diddy and Dr. Dre rank as the second and third wealthiest rappers, with a net worth of $820 and $770 […]

Jay-Z-'s 2001 album, 'The Blueprint', is among the latest 25 selections for the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress, together with Curtis Mayfield's 'Super Fly', Cyndi Lauper's 'She's So Unusual', and 'The Best of Schoolhouse Rock'. Only seven other rap recordings have earned recognition by the National Recording Preservation Board - Gil Scott-Heron's […]

Beyonce and Jay-Z posed in front of a portrait of Meghan Markle wearing a crown as they accepted the Brit Award for best international group. Writing on Instagram, Beyonce said: "In honour of Black History Month, we bow down to one of our Melanated Monas. "It’s no stretch to interpret the display as a show of […]