Earlier this month, Jay-Z hopped on the celeb blog movement with his site Life + Times. But in true HOV fashion, he has taken the concept to a whole new level - Life + Times is not at all a place where Jay goes to bitch about another rapper's unwarranted success or give us the lowdown on what event he attended last night; rather, it's a site focused on culture - style, leisure, art & design, technology, music, and sports. Not only is the site informative and extremely well-written, it is stylish in both design and content. I would expect no less from the HOV.
Though he has enlisted a staff of writers to support the site, Jay is still heavily involved in the project - his informal interview of his "sister" Gwyneth Paltrow on her interest in hip-hop really struck me as an example of his engagement with the e-mag.
Jay-Z's mission statement for the site is "I want to make the ordinary, extraordinary" - six words that speak absolute volumes to the scope of this project. As a whole, the site carries with it an air of exclusivity, but exclusivity made accessible. When I peruse the site, it's as if I am caring about and listening to what Jay listens to and cares about. For whatever reason, that feeling gets me and keeps me coming back.
Man this guy never stops. Honestly its one deal after another for him. Everyone likes to talk about him being one of the greats in rap today and in rap history but I don't think he gets enough press for being one of the greatest business men of our time. His empire is so beyond rap anymore its incredible. I would love to see him put his business side on display in a show like Celebrity Apprentice or something. I think that could be an interesting look at him. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHOV!! Jay is the man, I mean the guy just has very good business sense. I at first wasn't a big fan due to my west coast bias but the talent cant be denied. I also wrote a post on his new lifestyle blog the day it came out. check it out here: http://respectmymental.blogspot.com/2011/04/place-that-gets-me.html
ReplyDeleteThe design of the site is great. I have been keeping up with it and like I said in my post the site just gets me! He inspires me and I appreciate his sense for what he is trying to create!