According to a recent Boardroom article, as prosperous as Billionaire Hov is, his business acuity emanated from a place he hadn’t thought about when he formally entered the music industry categories.
The sensation of his debut album, Reasonable Doubt, wasn’t what made Jay-Z more of a business magnate. It was a song on that album placed on the soundtrack of an Eddie Murphy movie that led the Brooklyn-bred rapper toward becoming a billionaire.
The crowd didn’t gravitate to the album like the streets hugged it. Most of us know that the streets didn’t necessarily purchase records, precisely during that time. But, the inclusion of “Ain’t No…” featuring a 17-year-old Foxy Brown on The Nutty Professor soundtrack did more for his career than the lyrics he had done at that respective time.
The remake (the original The Nutty Professor came out in 1963 and featured comedian Jerry Lewis) featuring Murphy grossed $274 million at the box office. It’s a safe bet that most of those who saw the film and/or listened to the soundtrack did not know who Jay-Z was, but they knew after the movie’s release.
Landing a deal with Def Jam Records’ Russell Simmons to get the song on the soundtrack, it sold a million units. Jay-Z was at the onset of the commercial success he ultimately received.
“We learned about the business through that record,” Jay told MTV News. “We had a little of bargaining power. Our lack of knowledge of the business was made up because we had a hit record. A hit record helps you out, it makes you smarter than you really are.”
That hit record altered the career revolution of the richest hip-hop recording act (Net worth: $2.5 billion, according to Forbes).
After noticing how commercial success can be, he recorded 1997’s In My Lifetime, Vol. 1, with a different mindset. The album debuted at No. 3 on the US Billboard 200 chart and became his first platinum album. Since then, Jay-Z has proceeded to take over the entertainment space in varied paths.
© 2023 • Story By Edem Latsu Nukafu
Writer’s email: edemlatsu093@gmail.com
