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For the first time in history, a hip-hop artist has reached $1 billion in worth.  Yes, Jay-Z is now the first hip-hop billionaire due to his partnership with liquor brands ($410 million), Tidal ($100 million) and Roc Nation ($75 million.  Then there’s his $220 million in cash and investments.

I know a lot of you, like me, thought Dr. Dre already hit the billion dollar mark when he sold Beats By Dre to Apple for $3 billion but Forbes claims that his net worth is at $850 million.

There is a small rumor that Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake wil be performing during the 2018 Super Bowl half time in February.  Don’t get your panties in a wad just yet.  It’s only a small rumor but I think it would be a great show.  As long as we don’t have to see that horrible old man show that is..The Who.

I tried not to pay attention to this but you heard about Jay-Z dissing MC Hammer on the Kanye track “So Appalled”. Jay-Z’s verse was

“And Hammer went broke so you know I’m more focused/I lost 30 mil so I spent another 30/Cause unlike Hammer 30 million can’t hurt me.”

Hammer was pissed so he started talking on his Twitter then put out this song “Better Run Run” with a look a like Jay-Z. Check it out.

Damn just when you think he’s done it all, he comes up again. He started a new line of clothing for the New York Yankees with hoodies, hats and t-shirts that will go on sale today. The line will be for both women and men and will have the logo from Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 3. He created the line to commemorate the first official stadium concerts on September 13th and 14th when he and Eminem will co-headline a concert there.

Ok so I’m sure you heard about Dr. Dre and his “Beats By Dre” that he started with Jimmy Lovine from Interscope records. Well HP created a laptop and netbook line called “Envy” and the ad campaign with ‘Under Pressure’ which collaborates Dre with Jay-Z as the soundtrack. Check out the ad:

Jack White recently told GQ that he collaborated on a song with Jay-Z. He said

“We did a song together a few weeks ago. It was incredible. I played him something that I’ve been kicking around for a while and he immediately came out with words for it. It’s unbelievable-sounding.”

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is happening again this year from April 16 to April 18 in Indio California.  The big names this year is Jay-Z, LCD Soundsystem, Muse, Faith No More, Gorillaz, Thom Yorke and Pavement.  There are a crap load more  bands.  Check their site:  Coachella

Jay-Z is adding yet another item on his impressive resume.  He is now going to be an author.  He’s putting out a book based on his lyrics from his biggest songs.  The title of the book is ‘Decoded’ and Jay-Z says “I named it Decoded because I’m decoding all the lyrics from my records.”

Geez, more money!

Not like this is a big surprise but Jay-Z has been awarded as the biggest earning hip-hop artist of the last year.  Forbes publication stated he earned a whopping $35 million in the past 12 months.  Back in June, I posted about him being on the Forbes 100 most powerful celebrities in the world at #32.  Here is the top 10 earning hip-hop artists according to Forbes:

1. Jay-Z – $35 million
2. Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs – $30 million
3. Kanye West – $25 million
4. 50 Cent – $20 million
5. Akon – $20 million
6. Lil Wayne – $18 million
7. Timbaland – $17 million
8. Pharrell Williams – $15 million
9. T-Pain – $15 million
10. Eminem – $14 million