Jay-Z opens up about the battle to get his masters: “It was the fight of my life”

Jay-Z has opened about about the battle to get his masters in a new interview, saying “it was the fight of my life.”

• READ MORE: The roots of… Jay-Z

Speaking to CBS news, Jay-Z discussed his time as the president and CEO of Def Jam from 2004 to 2007 and his fight to win control of his masters and publishing rights, which he successfully won in 2014.

“I get why people do it, I’ve been fortunate enough to make money in this place, but for me, it was the fight of my life,” Jay-Z told CBS.

“You know from being an independent company from the beginning and then going through the Def Jam system not really understanding how that works and then having my masters, then going back to Def Jam as the president and then saying, ‘Okay, I’ll do this job and part of this job is my masters has to be reverted back to me.’”

You can watch the interview here:

In the interview, he also said it will be up to his children as to what they ultimately do with his masters.

“I want my kids to see my work and if they decide to sell it, then it’s up to them,” he added.

In 2019, Forbes estimated that Jay-Z’s back catalogue was worth $75 million (£61million) making him the first hip-hop billionaire (via Consequence).

In more recent news, Jay-Z recently returned to the stage after four years to share an ‘Empire State of Mind’ remix featuring Gil Scott-Heron. The remix interpolates Scott-Heron’s song ‘New York Is Killing Me’ from his 2011 final album, ‘I’m New Here‘.

The rapper unveiled the remix at an event sponsored by the Louis Vuitton Foundation and Tiffany & Co in Paris on Friday (April 14). It was his first onstage appearance since 2019.

Jay-Z also revealed recently that Hype Williams once quoted him $1.8million (£1.4million) to direct a music video, something Jay-Z ultimately pushed back on.

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