Jay-Z and Diddy: A Combined Force
Going back to Diddy and his heartfelt Instagram post he talked about the redesign that everyone must go through and I all could think of was his good friend Sean “Jay-Z” Carter. Both Diddy and Jay are no strangers to first being black and then being in music and both redesigning while doing superpower moves. They have both traded back and forth the number #1 cash earning positions on the Forbes list in the hip-hop and it’s all due to their redesign.
They both a long list of business accomplishments but the most notable are back in 2008 Jay Z, created a partnership with Live Nation the global entertainment company with revenues north of 10 Billion Dollars gave birth to Roc-Nation the entertainment company. Roc Nation has a reach an artist and producer management, sports management, touring and film. Some reports read as of today Roc Nation has over $600 million worth of athlete contracts and endorsements in their portfolio. Roc Nation has newly formed publishing arms which is rumored to have close to $50 million dollars’ worth of assets is that power business is music all spearheaded by Jay Z. Then in 2015 Jay-Z acquired a 56-million-dollar global subscription-based music streaming company named Tidal. Currently, Tidal is valued north of $500 million.
Sean Diddy Combs continues to add to his legacy of power business with his long-lasting relationship with spirit brands Cîroc and Deleon Tequila which both have a massive global reach and continue to evolve.
Revolt TV the digital cable television network created by Diddy is in its 6th year of operation and has a growing subscriber base with shows like State of the Culture, The Breakfast Club broadcast and its array of eclectic music videos.
Diddy also has a portfolio that includes a calorie-free beverage Aqua hydrate for athlete a Charter preparatory school in Harlem, New York and let’s not forget the Sean John clothing brand established back in 1998 still garners global sales and adds to his Sean Combs Enterprises brand.
More times than not in today’s media black men are portrayed in a negative light and the music industry sometimes gets that same stigma but the combination of black men in music and with the recent headlines black music has been BAD! The good news is that there is a large group of black men in music who are doing power business moves not just in the United States but across the globe.
This list is growing and as an elder in this music business told me, “Black people and our music are the architecture of cool and OUR Cool is what makes the world turn and be a better place.”
Lamonte Hayes is a Cultural Maven and Brand Builder and managing partner at BWP Marketing.
