GaryMrMets
11-13-2005, 10:26 PM
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/365008p-310879c.html
No sleep till Brooklyn
Part-owner Jay-Z won't rest until Nets take over town
By OHM YOUNGMISUK
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
http://www.nydailynews.com/images/editors/header_endzone.gif
In his posh VIP room at his 40/40 sports bar, Jay-Z is surrounded by a pool table, framed autographed jerseys, two arcade video games and two 42-inch flat screen televisions that are locked on ESPN.
This playboy's dream room is where the rap superstar likes to kick up his S. Carter Reeboks, put aside his CEO duties and rap persona and become a cheeseburger-eating sports fan.
"I think Allen Iverson broke dress code already," the rap mogul and part Nets owner says, jokingly, as he watches a clip of Iverson wearing a leather jacket on opening night.
David Stern doesn't have to sweat Jay-Z's outfit for the next Nets game. The retired rapper, who also goes by "Hova" and "Jigga," is more CEO than thug, more button-down shirt than throwback jersey and do-rag.
The man born as Shawn Carter is president of Def Jam Recordings, co-founder of Roc-A-Fella records and the Rocawear clothing line. He's the first non-athlete to have his own shoe line, which turned out to be the hottest selling Reebok ever, and his personal bling-bling wealth is estimated to be $320 million, according to Fortune magazine.
Everything Jay-Z raps turns to platinum. And now the self-proclaimed "best rapper alive" hopes to have the same effect on the Nets, an organization that has been about as hip as Vanilla Ice.
In his second full season of ownership, Jay-Z has recruited free agents, booked halftime talent and helped design a VIP room at the Meadowlands. In the spirit of his hit "Dirt Off Your Shoulder," the NBA's trendsetting owner is planning his most ambitious takeover yet: helping the soon-to-be Brooklyn Nets brush the Knicks aside.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Daily News, Carter rapped on everything from growing up in the projects, the dress code, and the relationship between hip-hop and the NBA to what it means to put Brooklyn back on the professional sports map.
"People grew up on the Knicks," the Brooklyn-born Carter says. "The Nets have always been the cousins. I hope to change that. On all fronts, whether it be my relationship with players or the (VIP) rooms... everything besides messing with Rod Thorn. I am like the guy in 'Ray' who turns down the lights. It needs to be done."
A HARD KNOCK LIFE
On the "December 4th" track on his last solo record, "The Black Album," Carter's mother discusses how avid a sports fan Carter was. Growing up in Brooklyn's notorious Marcy projects, Carter says he played everything he could but was never into organized sports.
Like most rappers, Carter was too busy getting into trouble.
"I was a bad kid," the 35-year-old Carter says. "Practice and all that meant more school and I didn't want to do none of that. Stay after school to play basketball? Naw."
Carter spent a portion of his late teens and early 20's dealing drugs. After nearly being shot, he stopped selling and focused his attention on his music.
With Damon Dash and Kareem Burke, Carter started the Roc-A-Fella label and did what struggling artists have to do to jump-start their careers.
"I was the CEO, executive producer of my first album," Carter says of "Reasonable Doubt," which went platinum in 1996. "I was the promotion guy, the artist, everything, the driver. We were vikings. We would go anywhere for a show. I drove two hours for a five-minute show one time somewhere in upstate New York. It was maybe 12 people and I might have performed in a classroom for maybe $1,500 dollars."
Ten platinum albums and over 33 million records later, Jay-Z is a multi-million dollar business. He launched a clothing line which reportedly generates $400 million a year.
Carter nearly risked it all when he was arrested for stabbing a rival producer, Lance Rivera, in a nightclub in 1999. He pleaded guilty and received three years' probation.
Carter said the incident shook him and made him more careful about his lifestyle and image. He became more of a businessman, venturing into the sports world. He opened his trendy sports club on W. 25th Street and named it for baseball's exclusive club of those who hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in a season.
Carter also joined forces with Reebok to design the S. Carter shoe line. The first limited-edition kicks sold out the day they debuted in April 2003, reportedly grossing $100 million in sales.
"How is that for a first-time designer?" says Carter, chuckling in his distinctive staccato laugh.
A piece of an NBA team, however, especially one that will move to Brooklyn, was never something Carter dreamed of adding to his empire.
At his much-anticipated Powerhouse concert last month at the Meadowlands Arena, Jay-Z welcomed a standing-room-only crowd that included several Nets.
"This is my house," Jay-Z screamed as thousands cheered. "I mean, this is my house. I own the Nets!"
The rapper said he wasn't bragging but sharing his joy.
"It is like score one for us, for all the disenfranchised, for all the kids that came up hard, all the kids from the projects," Carter says. "It gives them faith that this can happen to us too."
It also gives athletes something to shoot for after they retire. Toronto's Jalen Rose says Carter is proof that African-Americans, even those with a rough past, can become owners. Carter is aware of this.
"They know I am a real person," Carter says of why he relates to athletes like no other owner. "Not like these politicians who have never stolen anything out of their Mom's purse or inhaled or anything like that. I am a real person who has made mistakes and I have tried to correct them. But for the most part, I am just a good guy."
RATNER AND THE RAPPER
Jay-Z's involvement with the Nets began with an assist from - who else? - Jason Kidd.
Two years ago, Kidd threw a birthday party at 4-0/40 when the Nets' point guard approached Carter with the idea of buying into the Nets. A joke turned into several meetings and before Carter knew it, he was signing up with principal owner Bruce Ratner to bring professional sports back to Brooklyn.
"We were laughing about it," Carter says of Kidd and himself. "I knew Drew Katz who started with the old ownership, who knew this person and it all came together in some weird way. I still didn't believe it happened even as I was signing the contract to be a part of the ownership. I was like, 'What is this? Is this real?' It was just so surreal. I still can't believe when I say it."
Ratner didn't know much about Jay-Z or the rap world before he met Carter.
The bespectacled Ratner and Jay-Z, whose songs contain what some consider to be misogynistic lyrics, are an unlikely marriage. When the two recently greeted each other after a game, they shared an awkward hug, hardly the handshake and quick embrace rappers and players usually exchange.
"I really didn't know very much about rap," Ratner says. "Someone in my office gave me the lyrics to one of his rap songs off the Internet and I said, 'Oh my God.'"
But the charming and approachable Carter, who seemingly never turns down autograph and picture requests at games, eased Ratner's worries in a meeting in Brooklyn. Jay-Z doesn't run with huge entourages or a posse of bodyguards.
"Any preconceived notion I had about rap artists - the lyrics made me wonder - changed," Ratner says. "You could see right away, you spend 10 minutes with Jay-Z, he is a soft-spoken, mild-mannered, intelligent guy who really knows what is going on. Then I (later) learned there was something called the radio version."
If anything, Ratner had to convince Carter to buy a piece of the Nets. Both sides declined to reveal how much of a stake Carter has and while league sources say it is less than 5%, Carter makes it clear he is not just lending his fame to Ratner's group for street credibility.
"Nobody gave me anything," says Carter, who Ratner says is one of his five most active investors in the team. "I spent my money like everyone else and I came in and added value."
No sleep till Brooklyn
Part-owner Jay-Z won't rest until Nets take over town
By OHM YOUNGMISUK
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
http://www.nydailynews.com/images/editors/header_endzone.gif
In his posh VIP room at his 40/40 sports bar, Jay-Z is surrounded by a pool table, framed autographed jerseys, two arcade video games and two 42-inch flat screen televisions that are locked on ESPN.
This playboy's dream room is where the rap superstar likes to kick up his S. Carter Reeboks, put aside his CEO duties and rap persona and become a cheeseburger-eating sports fan.
"I think Allen Iverson broke dress code already," the rap mogul and part Nets owner says, jokingly, as he watches a clip of Iverson wearing a leather jacket on opening night.
David Stern doesn't have to sweat Jay-Z's outfit for the next Nets game. The retired rapper, who also goes by "Hova" and "Jigga," is more CEO than thug, more button-down shirt than throwback jersey and do-rag.
The man born as Shawn Carter is president of Def Jam Recordings, co-founder of Roc-A-Fella records and the Rocawear clothing line. He's the first non-athlete to have his own shoe line, which turned out to be the hottest selling Reebok ever, and his personal bling-bling wealth is estimated to be $320 million, according to Fortune magazine.
Everything Jay-Z raps turns to platinum. And now the self-proclaimed "best rapper alive" hopes to have the same effect on the Nets, an organization that has been about as hip as Vanilla Ice.
In his second full season of ownership, Jay-Z has recruited free agents, booked halftime talent and helped design a VIP room at the Meadowlands. In the spirit of his hit "Dirt Off Your Shoulder," the NBA's trendsetting owner is planning his most ambitious takeover yet: helping the soon-to-be Brooklyn Nets brush the Knicks aside.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Daily News, Carter rapped on everything from growing up in the projects, the dress code, and the relationship between hip-hop and the NBA to what it means to put Brooklyn back on the professional sports map.
"People grew up on the Knicks," the Brooklyn-born Carter says. "The Nets have always been the cousins. I hope to change that. On all fronts, whether it be my relationship with players or the (VIP) rooms... everything besides messing with Rod Thorn. I am like the guy in 'Ray' who turns down the lights. It needs to be done."
A HARD KNOCK LIFE
On the "December 4th" track on his last solo record, "The Black Album," Carter's mother discusses how avid a sports fan Carter was. Growing up in Brooklyn's notorious Marcy projects, Carter says he played everything he could but was never into organized sports.
Like most rappers, Carter was too busy getting into trouble.
"I was a bad kid," the 35-year-old Carter says. "Practice and all that meant more school and I didn't want to do none of that. Stay after school to play basketball? Naw."
Carter spent a portion of his late teens and early 20's dealing drugs. After nearly being shot, he stopped selling and focused his attention on his music.
With Damon Dash and Kareem Burke, Carter started the Roc-A-Fella label and did what struggling artists have to do to jump-start their careers.
"I was the CEO, executive producer of my first album," Carter says of "Reasonable Doubt," which went platinum in 1996. "I was the promotion guy, the artist, everything, the driver. We were vikings. We would go anywhere for a show. I drove two hours for a five-minute show one time somewhere in upstate New York. It was maybe 12 people and I might have performed in a classroom for maybe $1,500 dollars."
Ten platinum albums and over 33 million records later, Jay-Z is a multi-million dollar business. He launched a clothing line which reportedly generates $400 million a year.
Carter nearly risked it all when he was arrested for stabbing a rival producer, Lance Rivera, in a nightclub in 1999. He pleaded guilty and received three years' probation.
Carter said the incident shook him and made him more careful about his lifestyle and image. He became more of a businessman, venturing into the sports world. He opened his trendy sports club on W. 25th Street and named it for baseball's exclusive club of those who hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in a season.
Carter also joined forces with Reebok to design the S. Carter shoe line. The first limited-edition kicks sold out the day they debuted in April 2003, reportedly grossing $100 million in sales.
"How is that for a first-time designer?" says Carter, chuckling in his distinctive staccato laugh.
A piece of an NBA team, however, especially one that will move to Brooklyn, was never something Carter dreamed of adding to his empire.
At his much-anticipated Powerhouse concert last month at the Meadowlands Arena, Jay-Z welcomed a standing-room-only crowd that included several Nets.
"This is my house," Jay-Z screamed as thousands cheered. "I mean, this is my house. I own the Nets!"
The rapper said he wasn't bragging but sharing his joy.
"It is like score one for us, for all the disenfranchised, for all the kids that came up hard, all the kids from the projects," Carter says. "It gives them faith that this can happen to us too."
It also gives athletes something to shoot for after they retire. Toronto's Jalen Rose says Carter is proof that African-Americans, even those with a rough past, can become owners. Carter is aware of this.
"They know I am a real person," Carter says of why he relates to athletes like no other owner. "Not like these politicians who have never stolen anything out of their Mom's purse or inhaled or anything like that. I am a real person who has made mistakes and I have tried to correct them. But for the most part, I am just a good guy."
RATNER AND THE RAPPER
Jay-Z's involvement with the Nets began with an assist from - who else? - Jason Kidd.
Two years ago, Kidd threw a birthday party at 4-0/40 when the Nets' point guard approached Carter with the idea of buying into the Nets. A joke turned into several meetings and before Carter knew it, he was signing up with principal owner Bruce Ratner to bring professional sports back to Brooklyn.
"We were laughing about it," Carter says of Kidd and himself. "I knew Drew Katz who started with the old ownership, who knew this person and it all came together in some weird way. I still didn't believe it happened even as I was signing the contract to be a part of the ownership. I was like, 'What is this? Is this real?' It was just so surreal. I still can't believe when I say it."
Ratner didn't know much about Jay-Z or the rap world before he met Carter.
The bespectacled Ratner and Jay-Z, whose songs contain what some consider to be misogynistic lyrics, are an unlikely marriage. When the two recently greeted each other after a game, they shared an awkward hug, hardly the handshake and quick embrace rappers and players usually exchange.
"I really didn't know very much about rap," Ratner says. "Someone in my office gave me the lyrics to one of his rap songs off the Internet and I said, 'Oh my God.'"
But the charming and approachable Carter, who seemingly never turns down autograph and picture requests at games, eased Ratner's worries in a meeting in Brooklyn. Jay-Z doesn't run with huge entourages or a posse of bodyguards.
"Any preconceived notion I had about rap artists - the lyrics made me wonder - changed," Ratner says. "You could see right away, you spend 10 minutes with Jay-Z, he is a soft-spoken, mild-mannered, intelligent guy who really knows what is going on. Then I (later) learned there was something called the radio version."
If anything, Ratner had to convince Carter to buy a piece of the Nets. Both sides declined to reveal how much of a stake Carter has and while league sources say it is less than 5%, Carter makes it clear he is not just lending his fame to Ratner's group for street credibility.
"Nobody gave me anything," says Carter, who Ratner says is one of his five most active investors in the team. "I spent my money like everyone else and I came in and added value."