Jay-Z speaks on his retirement...

[GangstaBoogy]

Jay-Z isn't retiring in a Florida sense

By MICHAEL D. CLARK

Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

It's ironic that the words of a smooth-flowing rhyme-smith like Jay-Z could be so misconstrued. When the multiplatinum rapper announced last year that he was retiring upon the release of his last solo recording, The Black Album, he wasn't saying he was packing up his microphone never to be heard from again.

He simply meant there were new roads for an artist -- who also works as a producer, record label executive, fashion designer, and part-owner of a professional basketball team -- to travel.

"People took what I said too literally," says Jay-Z. "It's not like I'm packing up and moving to Florida or anything like that."

Actually, now that his girlfriend, Houston-based Destiny's Child diva Beyoncé, has a beachfront vacation getaway in the Sunshine State, that might happen. No longer shy to acknowledge that he and Beyoncé have a "thang" he's still not interested in hyping it.

"In celebrity relationships, the only time it's news is when people get together and when they break up," says Jay-Z. "We try not to do anything to heighten anybody's interest."

He's more apt to discuss his very busy "retirement." Careerwise, Jay-Z's interests are still about music, but these days they're not just about making music, even though the couplets keep flowing.

Even after The Black Album ultimatum, the artist also known as Hova couldn't help getting back into the studio with embattled R&B star R. Kelly to record new album Unfinished Business. The rapper said that Kelly's troubles -- he faces child pornography charges in Chicago -- didn't give him pause.

"R. Kelly and I are both from the same thing. We're people from the same upbringing, and we have a gift," says Jay-Z. "We went into the studio to make three or four songs together and ended up with an album."

The lyricist and loverman are currently tackling the "The Best of Both Worlds Tour" (named after their 2002 debut collaboration) together through the end of November, including a stop at the Toyota Center tonight.

Recording and touring are hardly the actions of a hip-hop entertainer getting ready to resign himself to a life of shuffleboard and bingo.

If anything, Jay-Z is not looking to leave the music business as much as he wants to change his role within it. Solo records and making videos don't appear to hold much allure for him anymore. Signing, bank-rolling and promoting new talent does, however.

"My next thing is to open up the door for black people to become record executives," says Jay-Z. "It's like people once saying that black people can't play quarterback.

"I want to be the next Richard Branson," he adds referring to the eccentric owner of the Virgin Music label.

Maybe the 33-year-old Jay-Z, who was born Shawn Carter in the Marcy Projects of Brooklyn, N.Y., isn't ready to have his own death-defying reality stunt show like Branson's The Rebel Billionaire, but he certainly is diversified. As a co-founder of Roc-a-Fella Records he has helped foster a new generation of rappers including Beanie Sigel and Memphis Bleek.

In recent years he has expanded his portfolio to include the multimillion-dollar annual grosses of Rocawear fashions, the 40/40 sports club in New York City and distribution of Armadale Scottish vodka in the United States. As part-owner of the New Jersey Nets, he and his partners are trying to move the NBA franchise to Brooklyn.

It's only in Jay-Z's recording endeavors that he is trying to get away from the commerce.

"The music business is not about music anymore," says Jay-Z who has sold over 30 million albums and won three Grammy awards since his debut album Reasonable Doubt in 1996. "I'm not worried about promotions. (Unfinished Business) is not for the critics. Whatever it sells, it sells."

R. Kelly and Jay-Z sent two Unfinished Business singles, Big Chips and Don't Let Me Die, to radio on Oct. 4. Besides their current tour, however, there is little other promotion being done and that includes videos.

"Everything is about having to do a video. You should be able to make music just to make music," says Jay-Z. "The music business is stale to me."

Jay-Z realizes that as a rapper who has fared very well on MTV, BET and other music video outlets some may see this nonvisual stance as hypocrisy. He makes no apologies.

To that end Jay-Z has switched from the small format video to a big screen movie. Fade to Black, a feature film capturing the the making of The Black Album as well as a Madison Square Garden concert from last November, is scheduled for a theatrical release Nov. 5. Guest performers include R. Kelly, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott, Slick Rick, P. Diddy and others.

"I'm not saying videos are wrong," he says. "For me it's more about doing something fresh and different. Too much of anything is bad for you."