JAY-Z Explains Why He’ll Never Sell His Masters
JAY-Z’s latest interview—a rare occasion with Gayle King—has given fans insight into his illustrious career, including his writing process, how he got the name “One-Take-HOV,” and more. In the latest sneak peek from the series, scheduled to premiere on Thursday (Oct 26), the businessman revealed why he's unlikely ever to sell his masters.
2021 witnessed a surge in the trend of artists selling the rights to their music. Notable stars such as Metro Boomin, Justin Bieber, Future, and even Dr. Dre opted to sell partial or complete rights to their music within this year alone.
However, while touring the halls of the Brooklyn Library, the current location of his tribute exhibition, “The Book of HOV,” the mogul explained that getting the rights to his music was one of the most significant battles of his career.
“I get why people do it. I’ve been fortunate enough to make money in this place, but for me, [that] was the fight of my life,” the “4:44” emcee shared.
He continued, “From being an independent company from the beginning and the going through the Def Jam system, not really understanding how that works and them having my masters, then going back to Def Jam as the president and then saying ‘ok I’ll do this job and part of this job is my masters have to revert back to me…”
JAY-Z, who is dad to Blue Ivy, and twins Sir and Rumi, hopes to hand his masters someday down to his children, noting that “if they decide to sell it, it’s up to them.”
