Jay-Z is convinced that the sports agent profession is comprised of a group of lazy individuals. He has a few things for those agents to recognize — Jay-Z is coming, there are new rules and he is going to be a problem for them going forward.
This week, in an interview with The Breakfast Club on New York’s Power 105.1 radio station, Jay-Z said in reference to the agents who criticize him that, ”Those guys have been sitting around just doing the typical things…knock on the same doors. They go to Nike, they do the contract and then they sit back. They don’t do anything else. So they’ve been sitting around for 20-30 years just not doing anything.”
Jay-Z continued, “So me coming, that’s a problem for them. Cause now they have to go to work, now they have to wake up, now they have to do things. So they don’t want me around because now they have to do something for these athletes. The bigger goal is for all artists to get their just due. Not to get half-ass agents or people who rob them or people who don’t care about their finances. They’re just taking whatever is going to get them a check.”
ompetitors in the sports agency business have chastised Jay-Z for his entrance into their world; his ability to quickly snag clients represented by others and to do so with apparently little care for previously established players associations’ regulations governing their respective agents has resulted in a handful of agents speaking out against Jay-Z’s practices.
On a track titled, La FAMILIA on Jay-Z’s new album Magna Carta Holy Grail, Jay-Z raps, “NFL investigations. Oh, don’t make me laugh.” That same album contains a track with the lyrics, “Scott Boras, you over baby. Robinson Cano, you coming with me,” which is a clear reference to the New York Yankees second baseman leaving the veteran baseball agent for the newcomer.
Cano will not be the first nor last player to leave his agent in favor of Jay-Z and Roc Nation Sports. Yesterday it was reported that red-hot Los Angeles Dodgers 22-year-old Yasiel Puig and Oakland A’s outfielder Yoenis Cespedes may depart from their respective agents for Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports. Interestingly, in the same interview with Power 105.1, Jay-Z mentioned that he once received a letter concerning a claim of tortious interference when he once sought to manage rap artist Lil Wayne. If he overtly recruits players represented by other agents, he may begin to receive similar letters.
Meanwhile, Jay-Z remains undeterred by his new competition in the world of sports. ”They have that belief that you can only do one thing,” said Jay-Z to The Breakfast Club. “We don’t have that. We are not inflicted with that disease. I can walk and chew gum.”
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