Longevity is tough for most rappers, but Jay-Z makes it look easy. Still, Kris Ex writes in L.A. Weekly that no one is paying much attention to the rapper-cum-businessman's music anymore, including his next album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, which fans will be able to download through a Samsung phone app in July, and Jay couldn't care less.
It's almost a forgone conclusion that this deal is a loss-leader for Samsung — unless the Jay-Z association somehow translates into $5 million worth of smartphone and tablet sales, which would be pure magic. Jay-Z may be one of the most well-known living musicians on the planet, but his last two albums, The Blueprint 3 and Watch The Throne combined didn't sell one million copies in their respective first weeks. And, as he noted in a tweet (which did not come from an iPhone) this won't either.
See, not only is Billboard not counting these "sales" towards chart position, the app, despite being free, has been downloaded by less than 500,000 users so far. Still, the sound you hear right now is Jay-Z not giving a single f—k. His next album, Nicene Creed Immaculate Conception will probably come via a pair of Beats by Jay headphones and feature a tossed off aside about how he not only rules the Billboard charts, he changes them.
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Read Kris Ex's entire piece at LA Weekly.
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