He may still refer to himself as Young Hov, but the reality of the situation is: Shawn Carter’s all grown up. And as Jay’s gotten older, so too has his style of dress. If you couldn’t tell by his rhymes, just take a look at him—we don’t even think he wears Rocawear anymore, and he’s obviously given all his du-rags to Memph Bleek.
In the visual for his latest single from Blueprint 3, “Empire State of Mind,”, rap’s Frank Sinatra trades in the baggy jeans for some clean wool trousers, and goes with a navy-inspired duffle coat instead of North Face snorkel. Real classy. Read on to watch the video and learn how to get the look. But hurry before he’s on the next one…
Let’s be honest: before Beanie Sigel came along, Roc-A-Fella records was kind of a joke. Maybe not a joke, but it was at best nothing more than Jay-Z’s vanity brand, a crew that consisted of limited MCs like Memphis Bleek and Sauce Money, and R&B acts like Rell and Christión. But it wasn’t until the Broad Street Bully came into the crew in the late ’90s that the Roc finally got a lyrical heavyweight who could really go toe-to-toe with the the God MC, Jay-Hova.
10 years later, the New York-Philly alliance is finally over. After floundering in the wake of the Roc-A-Fella breakup, Beans finally put out a diss song directed at Jay-Z last night, along with an in-depth interview about his reasons. We can’t say we didn’t see it coming, but it’s still a sad day for old fans of the Roc. Follow us as we look back at the good days with The 10 Best Jay-Z/Beanie Sigel Collaborations…
You’re probably still debating over whether New York or Philadelphia has hotter girls (vote here), but there is a baseball series going on between both cities, you know? We kid. Of course you know. That’s not to say that you’ve been watching all the games though, no matter how sports savvy you try to act around your friends. In case you missed out, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys opened up Game 2 of the World Series last night with their NYC anthem, “Empire State Of Mind.” The boys in blue might wanna get Hov on the bill for all their games, because they walked away with the win. Watch the performance above.
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So by now you’re aware that the 50 Cent of today isn’t the 50 Cent of 2003. Or is he? The “aggressive content” is still there, the issues with other rappers are still there, and the hunger to get rich or die tryin’ is definitely still there. But while there’s a the-more-things-change-the-more-they-stay-the-same feel to it all, there are notable differences between Curtis Jacksons past and present.
He just did a New York reunion show at Governor’s Island where he embraced Jadakiss (whom he’s had problems with in the past), he hasn’t flown off the handle about his placement on the MTV list like he two years ago—and yesterday, as we sat down with 50 Cent in his unfinished new office, his answers to our questions seemed more methodical than ever. While he preps to release his oft-delayed album Before I Self Destruct on November 23, we spoke to 50 about possible tension with Dre, Fat Joe’s first-week sales, pulling a gun on Diddy, and how he really feels about Jay-Z’s “no one is scared of 50 Cent” comment. Yup, some things will never change…
After Hova officially blew down MSG for the umpteenth time on 9/11 (he’s like a young Marvin in his hey), one question was left lingering on many a mind: was or was that Alicia Keys stunt double going for dolo on “Empire State of Mind”? Plenty were asking, but none were answering, so we put our investigative cap on and sent the Complex interns detectives out to find out something about Bridget Kelly.
The 21-year-old Roc Nation signee and NYC local (she graduated from LaGuardia H.S. in Manhattan, the place that Fame was based on) is obviously easy on the ears, and it turns out she’s not so hard on the eyes, either. The resemblance to our girl Ms. Keys is a good start, but we went one better and scrounged up some clips of B.K. going hard. Listen, learn, and fall in love…
(On Jay-Z) G-Star Slim Tailor Denim Jacket, $275; G-Star 3301 Boot Jeans, $220 Jay-Z might not be the most stylish rapper in the game, but somehow, someway, dude always manages to look fly. We guess that’s what happens when your bank statements look like the population of a small country. Take the outfit he rocked at this year’s drama filled VMA’s (how you feelin’, Lil Mama?). Choosing to renege on his decision to stay in all black and to stop wearing Timberlands (what’s next? A T-Pain collabo?), Hov dons a classic Americana look: vintage denim, denim jacket, leather vest and, of course, the NY Yankee fitted. We’ve already showed you how to get his all-blackeverything look, now read on to learn how to get a tweaked version of his award show style…
Here’s a VMA recap in 11 words: Kanye acting like a dickhead at awards shows isn’t news anymore (though if you really want to blame someone, you can start with the Henny bottle he was toting on the red carpet before the event). Last night, the real breakout behavior belonged to Lil Mama, who displayed some truly Westian jackassness when she bum-rushed the stage to join Jay-Z & Alicia Keys in their performance…for reasons we’re still trying to figure out.
The thing is, the self-proclaimed “Voice of the Young People” is no stranger to bizarre moments. From her rants on America’s Best Dance Crew to her epic fashion failures, Lil Mama’s been getting it in for a minute. In honor of the WTF highlight of her career, here are the 8 steps to imperfection that got her where she is today—hungover and waiting on her MTV pink slip…
Unlike when Rell and Young Steff were signed to Roc-a-Fella, we feel pretty safe in assuming that when Jay-Z signed J. Cole as the first artist to this Roc Nation imprint, he wanted him to be a star. Our assumptions were verified when we learned the North Carolina-born rapper was going to be featured along side Hov on his much anticipated album The Blueprint 3 on a song called “A Star is Born.” It seemed pretty fitting, given the buzz Cole has been generating for himself, first with his “The Warm Up” mixtape, then with various features and freestyles. And to think, only a couple years ago, he was rockin’ a t-shirt saying “Produce for Jay-Z or Die Trying” hoping to get Mr. Carter to notice him.
Suffice to say, being featured on a Jay-Z album is more than a big deal. Besides the world knowing your name, being deemed worthy enough to share some track time with Hova is an honor in of itself. To find out what he’s been up to and how it really feels to appear on a Jay album, Complex caught up with J. Cole while he was in Manhattan beginning work on his Roc Nation debut. Clap for him!
