“What I stand here and represent is hope for Brooklyn, New York City. I’m a son of Brooklyn, I’m from Marcy projects.” Jay said. “I think about growing up in Brooklyn in the Marcy projects and shooting jump shots, thinking I can make it to the NBA. Now I stand here as an owner of team that’s coming back to Brooklyn. The pride in that, and bringing that dream so much closer for people, brings me so much pride I get a little nervous about it. But I’m very happy, very excited about this day. And we did it again Brooklyn — shout out to [Notorious] B.I.G.”
After the conference, Jay-Z and company officially broke ground, breaking out the hard hats and lightly shoveling dirt. The confetti rained down.
“It was a long process,” Jay said after the ceremony, with his “Empire State of Mind” playing in the background. “It’s a sensitive one. I’m from the people. I’m for the people. I could never be opposed to the side of the people. But this project, when you look at the numbers at the end of the day, was so overwhelmingly in favor of the people: the job creation, the housing that’s being built. It was difficult; you had to tread through that process lightly. But we’re here, it’s a fantastic day and it’s a celebration. It’s a beautiful day in Brooklyn and the hope that’s represented — on a small scale — is the same I felt when I saw Obama run for president: That we can be a part of something so grand.” – MTV
As part of its ongoing creative collaboration with Jay-Z and Madison Square Garden, and the ABSOLUT Concert Series, ABSOLUT Vodka announced today – “NY-Z” – a behind the scenes Jay-Z documentary showcasing what it truly means for an artist to play at the Garden.
ABSOLUT worked with famed photographer Danny Clinch to capture never before seen footage of Jay-Z and John Mayer as they prepared for Jay-Z’s benefit concert at MSG this past 9/11. NY-Z, will be unveiled on March 22 at Facebook.com/ABSOLUT.
A sold out show at Jay’s favorite venue Madison Square Garden brought out a ton of stars last night. LeBron James, Nicki Minaj, Drake, Diddy and of course, Lil Wayne were all in attendance. Can’t forget Young Jeezy and Trey Songz who have also been on Hov’s Blueprint 3 Tour. More footage to come. Thanks MTV.
After the jump, Tunechi comes out to Jeezy performing I’m Goin’ In.
Swedish SVT documents the history of Jay-Z’s smash single “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” with first hand narrative from some of the people that helped the record come to fruition.
“I wanna shoot ‘Venus vs. Mars,’ ” he told MTV News last weekend in Dallas. “I may shoot two — I shot ‘Run This Town’ [and 'D.O.A. (Death of Auto Tune)'], I been shooting two at the same time. I’ll probably shoot ‘Venus’ and maybe ‘A Star Is Born.’ But I definitely wanna shoot ‘Venus’ — I got an amazing concept in my mind.”
I’m calling it now that So Ambitious gets a video instead of A Star Is Born (word to the mandatory Pharrell-produced/featured single).
Mr. Carter visits the Johnathan Ross show again while overseas for the 2010 BRIT Awards where he talks about his record-breaking 10 #1 albums, him playing the 2010 Wireless Festival which will take place from July 2 to July 4th (with Em apparently headlining one of the dates) and mentions creating Beyoncé’s dance moves. Umm..
“It was mutual,” Bleek said about not signing with Hov’s Roc Nation and choosing to go independent. “It was a conversation … I was asking him his next move. What is he gonna do? Where is Blueprint 3 coming out, since he had just left Def Jam. He was telling me he was doing this Roc Nation thing. He was trying to start a whole new venture, new label, new brand — a whole new everything. I was like, ‘Damn. What’s next for me?’ He was like, ‘Whatever you wanna do.’ After a little bit of thinking, I came to a decision: ‘It’s time for [my company] Get Lo to breathe. I can’t be under that umbrella forever.’ The conversation was more or less mutual.
“He’s giving me the free will to do whatever I want to do,” added Bleek, who said Just Blaze produced two songs on his upcoming LP. “Time for me to prove myself on my terms.” – MTV
