Samsung to Give Away 1 Million Copies of Jay-Z’s New Album

By Hannah Karp

Getty Images

Jay-Z on February 17, 2013 in Houston, Texas.

As the Miami Heat faced off against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the NBA finals Sunday night, a curious TV ad aired near the end of the second quarter featuring rap star Jay-Z in a studio, riffing with a cast of characters including producer Rick Rubin and artist Pharrell Williams. At one point, a member of the posse is shown taking notes on a tablet device. More than two minutes into the three-minute video Samsung Electronics Co. 005930.SE +0.51%’s tagline flashes across the screen: “The Next Big Thing.”

The connection: Samsung has purchased 1 million copies of Jay-Z’s coming album, entitled “Magna Carta Holy Grail,” slated for release July 4, and plans to give them to Samsung Galaxy smartphone users for free – 72 hours ahead of the release. The users are to receive the music through an app they’ll receive later this month. (Recipients won’t be able to share it until the official release date.)

Samsung paid $5 apiece for the albums, according to a person familiar with the matter. It wasn’t immediately clear if Nielsen SoundScan will count Samsung’s purchases in its sales tallies.

The partnership could help Samsung compete with Apple Inc. AAPL -1.36%, which recently announced the launch of iTunes Radio – an online radio service bundled onto Apple devices that promises to offer listeners access to certain tracks before they’re available elsewhere.

For Jay-Z, the deal is a precious advertising opportunity and gives him $5 million in sales before the album is even released. The agreement signals the increasing importance of corporate sponsors to the music industry, which has seen sales tank over the past decade.

Jay-Z hinted at the partnership on Twitter two days ago with a photo of a Samsung smartphone displaying text telling fans to “tune in” to the game.

Neither Samsung nor Jay-Z could immediately be reached for comment.

New Music: The-Dream x Jay-Z “High Art”

It’s been years in the making, but The-Dream and Hov hook up for their first collaboration. High art creates higher expectations. IV Play drops 28th.

Blue Ivy Looks More Grown Up Than Ever With Beyonce, Jay-Z: Pictures

Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z take their daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, out to lunch with them in Paris, 

Sacre Blue Ivy! Now a 15-month-old toddler, Beyonce and Jay-Z's growing little girl made her first appearance this month during a family lunch outing that was tres chic and cosmopolitan: At Szptime restaurant in Paris on Thursday, April 25.

PHOTOS: Blue Ivy shortly after her birth

Looking more grown up than ever, the famous music world baby showed off a full head of hair and wore a "Pump Up the Volume" t-shirt, blue jeans and stylish colorful sneakers. Going without makeup, Blue's 32-year-old mother (in the midst of her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour) held her little girl during the outing. Proud papa Jay-Z, 43, also took a turn holding and cuddling his little girl.

Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z take their daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, out to lunch with them in Paris, France.
Credit: FameFlynet

Guest What?, Beyoncé & Jay-Z They're Pop’s 1st BILLION Dollar Couple!

Hot DAYUM!

We knew Beyoncé and Jay-Z had more money than they knew what to do with, but billions?!

That’s like a whole lotta millions!

And it’s just what one of our fave couples has as Bey and Jay have been named pop’s first billion dollar couple.

We're guessing their 99 problems are GONE!

The two crossed the mark thanks to hard-working Bey's H&M bikini dealand her rockin' hot tour!

That’s right, the lady brought home the bacon!

No seriously, she is still bringing it home as she officially makes more money than Jay!

It’s like Beyoncé said, girls run the world!

Via http://perezhilton.com/2013-04-16-beyonce-jay-z-pop-music-first-billion-dollar-couple#.UW6wO4letDo

New Music: Jay-Z “Open Letter”

To whom it may concern. Produced by Timbaland and Swizz Beatz, Hov touches on his recent events from his controversial trip to Cuba to his Brooklyn Nets share. Listen up.

"Live In Brooklyn" Gets Delayed

Jay-Z is planning to release an eight-song collection of live performances from his special eight-show concert series at Brooklyn's Barclays Center. The project was slated to be released on Tuesday, October 9th, but has been pushed back 48 hours to Thursday, October 11th.

The EP's tracklist hasn't been revealed as of yet, but will include eight videos.

The project is Jay's first live album since 2001's Jay-Z: Unplugged, a set of acoustic performances from his The Blueprint album in which the hip hop star was backed by famed hip hop band The Roots.

Obama Jokes About Jay-Z

President Obama hung out with Jay-Z and Beyonce as the Carters hosted a fundraiser for the president's re-election at the 40/40 Club in Manhattan. The Commander-In-Chief even got in a few jokes and some praise for his super-famous celebrity hosts. "Jay-Z now knows, you know, what my life is like," Obama said. "We both have daughters. And our wives are more popular than we are ... So we've got a little bond there. It's hard, but it's okay." He praised Beyonce for all of her accomplishments and said that his daughters look up to the star. "Beyoncé could not be a better role model for our daughters because she carries herself with such class and poise," he said. "And has so much talent."

President Obama hung out with Jay-Z and Beyonce as the Carters hosted a fundraiser for the president's re-election at the 40/40 Club in Manhattan. The Commander-In-Chief even got in a few jokes and some praise for his super-famous celebrity hosts.

"Jay-Z now knows, you know, what my life is like," Obama said. "We both have daughters. And our wives are more popular than we are ... So we've got a little bond there. It's hard, but it's okay."

He praised Beyonce for all of her accomplishments and said that his daughters look up to the star.

"Beyoncé could not be a better role model for our daughters because she carries herself with such class and poise," he said. "And has so much talent."

Sean Paul Recalls Beyonce Rumors

Sean Paul dug up some old dirt in a recent interview with MTV. The dancehall star was at the center of a little rumored controversy about a decade ago, when he filmed the video for Beyonce's hit single "Baby Boy." He and Bey were filmed seperately, and for some reason, when Paul failed to perform the song with Beyonce at the 2003 VMAs, somehow it got out that it was because her boyfriend-at-the-time Jay-Z didn't like how close Paul was getting to his girl.

"The whole direction of the video was sold to me as, 'You're in a dream world,'" Sean Paul told "RapFix Live." "It was not a big deal to me, but it really blew up into crazy stuff."

"That's a rumor that started. I've known Jay-Z from before I knew her," he said.

"The general public blew it up in certain things. I just remained quiet about it for years because it was doing its work. There was just a lot of controversy," he said. "She's an amazing artist, the song was at #1 for like nine weeks, so that was a very special time for me and for dancehall."

Kanye Leads @BET Hip Hop Awards

The BET Hip Hop Awards take place at the end of the month, and the nominations have been made public for the September 29th ceremony. Kanye West leads all nominees for this year's ceremony. The hip hop superstar received 17 nods. 2 Chainz follows with 13 nominations and Drake landed 11.

The seventh annual BET Hip Hop awards will air on October 9th.

MVP of the Year nominees include 2 Chainz, J. Cole, Jay-Z, Rick Ross and Kanye West. Lyricist of the Year nominees are J. Cole, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Nas and Kanye West.

NBA 2K13 - Official Trailer

If you weren't excited already, here is the brand new NBA 2K13 Official Trailer to fill your appetite! Featuring the work of Momentous.




Pre-order NBA 2K13 to lock up the NBA 2K13 All-Star add-on content here:http://2kgam.es/BuyNBA2K13

ESRB Rating: EVERYONE

Budweiser #MadeInAmerica schedule released! + MIA MAP Tell us your daily schedule?

Budweiser Made In America schedule released! Tell us your daily schedule?

MIA MAP

Jay-Z & Alicia Keys Claim Highest-Selling Single

Jay-Z and Alicia Keys have made a little more history--adding to the list of accomplishments in both artists' storied careers. Their hit 2009 single "Empire State of Mind" has passed the just surpassed the 5 million mark in digital sale.

The song was one of the biggest hits in recent years, but few could have expected it would become the biggest-selling single of all time.

This is the high-water mark for sales for both artists' careers. Neither artist had ever reached the 5X platinum mark for any of their previous hits

Beanie Sigel Discusses Prison, Jay-Z

In a few weeks, rapper Beanie Sigel will begin a two-year prison sentence for failure to pay his taxes. Talking to XXL, Beanie discussed his state of mind heading back into jail and how he plans on changing his life once he's released in 2014.

"I’m done [with prison]. It’s over!" he said. "In that environment, this outside world…you gotta hang all that up. When I go in there, I won’t be Beanie Sigel. I’ll be 57613-066. That’s who I’ll be. I won’t be Beanie Sigel. I’m not gonna sit in my cell and write rhymes everyday. That’s a real thing inside. There’s people inside who ain’t ever coming out of those buildings. I would talk to them and do my best to be a window for some of ’em who are never gonna make it outta there. We all have the same commissary, we all have the same amount of money on our books, we all gonna eat the same food and nobody cell gonna look different. I’m gonna be a number like everybody else."

He also downplayed any chance of a reconciliation with Jay-Z; but revealed that he holds no animosity towards his former mentor.

"There’s no need for that conversation anymore [with Jay-Z]...it’s been too long," he said. "That’s all I ever wanted. Jay-Z don’t owe me a dime. What me and Jay had or what I thought we had was a brothership that was beyond music and business. A brothership that I trusted and that I’d put my life in harm’s way for ‘this thing of ours, this La Familia.’ I thought it was bigger than music, I thought it was bigger than business, but as I got older and thought about it…that’s all it was, it was business. So, the conversation is for what? I kind of understand…Jay was growing, he’s in a different space, he was rubbing shoulders with different people and when you get around certain people and you get into a certain bracket, sometimes you got to disassociate yourselves with the hoodlums...at one point, I thought this rap sh*t ruined me. I got in more trouble being Beanie Sigel than when I was just Mac."

Nas In Ghostwriting Controversy

An offhand tweet by writer/filmmaker dream hampton has caused a small firestorm amongst hip hop fans. hampton claimed in a tweet that Nas' "Untitled" album was mostly written by dead prez member stic-man and Roc Nation emcee Jay Electronica. The claim raised the ire of Nas fans online, and stic-man addressed the controversy on Twitter and issued a statement on Facebook denying that he ghostwrote for Nas.

"As far as the rumors about myself and jay electronika ghost writing for Nas, let me say this. Nas is one of the if not the most prolific original lyricist to EVER do it," he tweeted. "My contributions to his album was a collaboration and an honor and under his direction of what he wanted to convey and say. Haters cant discredit that man's genuis. Nas is the Don. [sic]"

He then addressed dream via Facebook.

"Dream Hampton. I certainly don't mean to call u a hater. I am just being brought up to speed about your tweet. I heard the "rumors" from other tweets and a few emails from fans. I still haven't read your tweet. So my statement was just being clear on how I felt about the collab. That was a great opportunity for me to work with one of the most influential emcees to my own personal flow and craft. I can't speak on what Jay and Nas collab was cause I wasn't there and that's there business. Both of those cats are awesome lyricists in my opinion. But for me I was just a white belt that answered the call for a session with a master of the craft. And I assisted where it was requested with ideas, beats and some writing. Not because Nas "needed" me lol...Again I was just honored to get the call. Nas new album Life is Good is lyrically magnificent and his skills have always spoken for them self. So that's just my view I respect that folks may field different ways about it. Just clarifying my position. And I referred to it as a "rumor" because obviously no one of the people talking about it were present in the session. So people can sometimes think they know but weren't present so they speak on what they think as opposed to being there. [sic]"

Jay-Z & Beyonce Are the Highest Paid Couple

Jay-Z and Beyonce have once again been named the highest-paid celebrity couple, according to Forbes magazine. The Carters have an estimated annual income of $78 million, which is Beyonce's $40 million and Jay-Z's $38 million combined.

Reportedly, Beyonce makes the majority of her money from royalties from her catalog, endorsement deals and other business ventures. Jay's high-grossing tour with Kanye West and several business endeavors (including ad firms and cosmetics companies) contributed to his wealth over the last year.

Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady enter at No. 2 on the list with $72 million, while David Beckham and Victoria Beckham nab No. 3 ($54 million), Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie come at No. 4 ($45 million) and Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith round it out at No. 5 ($40 million).

Watch The Throne Documentary

Here is the full 11-minute mini documentary for Watch The Throne. This documentary is an inside look at the making of Kanye West and Jay Z’s collaborative album, “Watch The Throne”. Directed, Edited, and Photographed by Robert Lopuski.

In the world of hip-hop, anybody who does something different is a genius, anybody who does something successful is making history; you know it all becomes these exaggerated, bombastic endeavors. And so, for me, I was not interested in that; I was more interested in the smaller moments. The quiet power of talent. - Robert Lopuski.

Rocawear Presents: JAY-Z from "Marcy to Barclays" Extended Version

Welcome to the Future…Again

Rick Ross feat. Dr. Dre and JAY Z - 3 Kings (MMG Visual Piece)

Jay-Z Named Exec. Producer For NBA 2K13

Jay-Z will be serving as executive producer for NBA 2K13, the popular sports video game that is currently available for pre-order. The game officially releases October 2nd.

Jay's website Life+Times made the official announcement earlier today (July 30th.) He also released a video promo featuring his 2003 song "Public Service Announcement."

The announcement comes on the heels of a flurry of basketball-related activity for Jay-Z; from being named director of the Barclay's Arena to his Brooklyn Nets' high-profile offseason acquisitions.