Adding on to his recent Rolling Stone's interview, in which he spoke about how competing with young generation of artists helps him be “the best”, the article that is titled “King of America” covers topics ranging from his longevity in the game, his previous albums, and his and wife Beyonce’s taste in art. One most notably story is Jay-Z’s venture in the record labels, especially of the time he controlled, ran with, and then left Def Jam.

Jay-Z opened up about his tenure as President of Def Jam. When asked which times at the label were frustrating, he repiled, “Honestly? All of them. The culture there has been institutionalized. You had record executives who’ve been sitting in their office for 20 years because of one act. ‘But that’s the guy who signed Motley Crue!’ Seriously? That was fucking 25 years ago.

“When you look at what’s happening, the record business is purging itself,” elaborated Hov, pointing out that Def Jam oversaturated the market. “Def Jam released 57 albums one year. Are there 57 good artists in the world, let alone on one label? If you have 57 artists and four of them break, that’s bad business. What a terrible model. I told them, ‘How about this idea – instead of spending $300 million to break four acts, why don’t you just give me a credit line, and I’ll just do things. I won’t make music. I’ll go buy some headphones, or buy a clothing line, just be part of the culture.’ But the money scared them off, because they’re not used to thinking the way.”

The Rolling Stones issue is out now, not sure if we can get it in the UK but nonetheless, there should be different interesting segments of reading. Is Jay-Z really the King?