He shouldn’t sell them. He’s not just a businessman he’s a BUSINESS man and those Masters will generate hefty generational wealth for him and his family for decades to come.
He’s probably got a top 5 most valuable Hip Hop discography of all time.
I remember when Nas was going through his divorce with Kelis and she was airing out all of his finances and business dealings that the public didn’t know about it and it came out that he makes 140K a MONTH in publishing residuals, now imagine what Jay-Z makes, and thats just PUBLISHING. Owning the Masters i’m pretty sure doubles that amount. Add in he can tour for the rest of his life. He can do documentaries on the making of Vol.1, Vol.2, The Blueprint, and American Gangster. He can clear samples & interpolations, he can put out “15-20-25-30 year” reissues of his classics. Selling would be absolutely retarded.
Hell I don’t blame Dame for not selling his portion of the RD Masters back to Jay. I’n sure he makes a pretty penny off all the sample clearances, interpolations, and licensing that comes along with it.
What people have to remember is that music is a WORLDWIDE business. Just because you may not hear Can’t Stop The Hustle or Feelin It in American commercials and movies, doesn’t mean their not being licensed in France or Germany or South Korea.
Jay-Z is not Future or The Dream. His catalogue actually MEANS something to the culture and will always be valuable. Hell I was shocked that RZA sold his Masters because Wu-Tang is one of the biggest worldwide BRANDS in music history, not just rap. I woulda thought RZA would be eating off that catalogue forever