Via High Snobiety

“As part of the inaugural World Basketball Festival – brought together by Converse, the Jordan Brand and Nike Basketball – recording artist JAY-Z will take the stage at New York’s Radio City Music Hall on Thursday August 12, 2010, following an on-court showcase featuring finalists for the 2010 USA Basketball World Championship Team.

In addition to his performance, JAY-Z has joined forces with Nike to create an iconic collection of Air Force Ones – the All Black Everything collection inspired by the World Basketball Festival. Nike has donated the shoes to the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation who in turn have linked up with eBay on a charity auction that begins on August 12th at www.ebay.com/jayznikewbf. Only two pairs of each of the five designs will be created, one for the winning bidder and one for the man behind the design, JAY-Z.

The entire Radio City Music Hall basketball and musical performance will stream live on http://www.facebook.com/wbf beginning at 6:30 p.m. EDT until its conclusion.”

ABSOLUT Vodka presents “NY-Z”, a new 15-minute documentary featuring Jay-Z. The film was directed by Danny Clinch.

Hype Williams directs the visuals to the anthem.

Jay-Z shut down MSG in NYC last night.. I was playing a party so missed watching the concert live.. Fuse aired Jay-Z’s “Answer the Call” benefit concert live on 9/11 & he definitely pulled out all the stops, giving fans much more than their money’s worth. Guest appearances included Beyoncé, Kanye West, Rihanna, Mary J. Blige, Diddy, John Mayer, Kid Cudi, and more..  helped Hov make it a night to remember.

Watch the monumental show in its entirety below, courtesy of Nahright. Also, big shouts to my dude Neil Armstrong for holding it down as Jay-Z’s official tour DJ!

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Hov recreates every album cover in one take.. Haven’t seen a music-related commercial as clever as this in a while – had to post it!

Rhapsody press release:

Jay-Z has teamed up with Rhapsody® and MTV to promote the highly-anticipated release of his new album, “The Blueprint 3.” As part of the partnership, the entire album will be available for fans to listen to for free on Rhapsody.com and from MTV’s “The Leak”, almost two weeks prior to its official release. In addition, Rhapsody will also make the new album available for purchase beginning September 8, three days ahead of the street release, and will include two exclusive bonus tracks.

Leading this partnership, three new Rhapsody TV spots will debut starting on September 1 across MTV Networks. In addition to two 30-second ads, Rhapsody will premiere a 60-second version of the ad in the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards on September 13.

The Jay-Z spots are the latest installment of Rhapsody’s ongoing “Fans Get It” campaign. Rhapsody’s “Fans Get It” campaign kicked off earlier this year with a massive promotion around Green Day’s hugely successful release “21st Century Breakdown,” followed with more promotions with top artists in genres from pop to country. The “Fans Get It” campaign has utilized a similar treatment through all the ads, which celebrate the culture and iconography of artists’ careers, enabling them direct involvement in the creative development of the spot. These high-profile promotions both serve as a great vehicle to further connect music fans with the artists they love.

In October 2007, I envisioned a mixtape project that would cross borders from one country to another. From one city to the next, I wanted to ‘Bridge The Gap’ and provide Toronto based artists, producers, labels etc. an outlet and opportunity to shine south of the border.

In December 2007, I put my ideas together and dropped BRIDGING THE GAP VOL. 1 – TORONTO TO NYC

It featured a freestyle by a 19 year old kid named Drake over Jay-Z’s classic, “Dead Presidents”

Listen – “Drake – Dead Presidents Freestyle”

3 years later and dude is in the studio with Jay-Z and even called it himself on the interlude to this freestyle.. All I can say is, congratulations homey.. The world is finally waking up 3 years later.. Get em’ !

Funkmaster Flex Introduces Drake to Major Radio via Hot 97 NYC:

Caught this on the homie Mick Boogie’s blog..

An inside look at one of my (and probably your) favourite rappers, business men, and icon’s in the game.
Click on image below to read.

Annnnd I’m off to The Guvernment for D’Luxe Lounge Saturdays. Peace.