Def Jam To Replace Jay-Z With Evil, Evil Man Who Signed Rick Ross
While he’s not going to be the label’s new CEO (boss L.A. Reid reclaimed the title after Jay-Z’s departure), Shakir Stewart has been named Executive Vice President of Def Jam, which basically makes him Jay-Z’s replacement. While he can take credit for signing Ciara to LaFace (where he and Reid began their professional relationship) and signing Beyonce to a publishing contract in 1999, it’s believed that the real reason he’s being given the promotion is that he’s responsible for signing Young Jeezy and Rick Ross to the label. Admittedly, these acts are younger and arguably more successful than the fogies like Nas and the Roots that Jay-Z was responsible for, but I’m pretty damn scared what’s going to come from a label run by a guy who takes pride in turning charmless, one-dimensional self-aggrandizement into music-business gold.
“Straight Out The Rarri,” a collaboration between Jeezy and Ross, leaked late last year, and it may be the template for the future of Def Jam: It’s a bombastic, attention-grabbing track fronted by two minimally talented rappers reaffirming their eternal hardness via lyrical tropes that would have sounded dull on a No Limit album ten years ago. Whether you think Jay-Z was running an artists’ colony or a retirement home, he obviously had a desire to push hip-hop as a creative genre with a sense of history. If Stewart’s future signings fit with the ones that got him where he is, we should just be grateful if they realize “snitch” rhymes with “bitch.”
Jay-Z Replacement Confirmed, Shakir Stewart Named New EVP Of Def Jam [SOHH] Young Jeezy feat. Rick Ross – Straight Out The Rarri [YouTube]
