Jay-Z once rapped that he's not a businessman, he's a business, man; and for a man grossing upwards of half a billion dollars that fact is hard to argue. As a businessman selling clothes and alcohol to urban communities, Jay-Z was seen as a commodity and non-threatening success story for corporate America. However, Jay-Z has jumped into uncharted and previously unforeseen territory for a rapper (or anyone from a place like Brooklyn's Marcy Projects) with his new venture of becoming the hottest new sports agent. And it's scaring the hell out of the good old boy establishment present in America's major league sports.
As soon as Jay-Z announced that he would open up his own sports agency, he was met with resistance from the National Football League (NFL). Immediately upon his announcement that he'd start targeting NFL players for his agency, the NFL enacted the "Jay-Z rule", which tightened the reigns on qualifications to become a certified NFL agent – namely requesting its agents have college degrees.
The NFL can say all the right things like they're trying to make sure celebrities don't get preferential treatment or ensure an equal playing field for all agents. But the fact is the NFL and Major League Baseball (MLB) understand the hold Jay-Z has on their players.
A couple of weeks ago, Jason Whitlock, who has made it his primary goal to unleash a full arsenal of unnecessary insults Jay-Z's way, wrote that the Aaron Hernandez murder case is a direct result of Jay's "violent" music. The article is troubling in its sweeping generalizations and an example of the misconceptions surrounding how Jay-Z influences young athletes (as an aside: I wonder what rapper is influencing the slew of arrests and alleged crimes committed by NFL front office executives this offseason, but that's a discussion for another day).
Yes, Jay-Z has captured the imagination of today's athlete, especially those from the inner city, but not as an ex-drug dealer or "gangsta rapper". In fact, the heart of his music has always been capitalism and economic success by any means. Jay-Z has inspired young Americans as a businessman; someone who used ingenuity and marketing acumen to climb the ladder of corporate America and work it to his advantage. Especially coming off the heels of a deal in which he managed to get Samsung to buy a million copies of his album up front before it was even finished recording. There may not be a better, more rags-to-extreme riches story in the United States right now.
When basketball superstar LeBron James quotes Jay-Z lyrics, he doesn't quote lyrics about drug dealing. He quotes lyrics about success. Hustling in business. Becoming a one-man band.
And that's what scares the NFL and MLB. The National Basketball Association (NBA) has already become a sport where the individual athlete becomes the brand bigger than the team. But MLB has positioned itself to where "tradition" is more important than the individual (which is especially important in case said individual gets outed as a steroid user), and the NFL is about teams, something that is easier when individual faces are hidden behind helmets. This allows the owners and agents to juggle power amongst themselves. Jay-Z, though, is a wildcard who is threatening to upset that balance. By promising to turn individual athletes in these sports into brands, the Brooklyn MC is threatening to diminish the power of the team owner and traditional agent.
And let's not get silly here: Jay-Z is just the face of his agency, more consultant and manager than actual agent. He's not getting on the phone with Snickers to wrangle a few extra million for Robinson Cano ad placements. He's just face and reminder of what shrewd business looks like.
Jay-Z's obstacles are only going to increase, though, as his bragging on his latest album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, is just going to alienate him more from the fraternity. On the song "Crown" Jay raps: "Scott Boras, you over baby/ Robinson Cano, you coming with me." The line is brash, unapologetic and one that's not going to endear Jay-Z to the establishment. The backlash from a radio personality like Mike Silva who tweeted, "Jay-Z has to realize this isn't the ghetto where you hold up owners with a gun to get what you want," is an example of what he'll face probably forever.
Jay-Z has never been a rapper with a particularly overt subversive message. He's never been a musician who has sparked a movement or been the voice of protest. Instead, Shawn Carter has played the system and been a shrewd businessman throughout. While the old guard may only see him as a rapper who glorifies violence or drugs, his new venture into sports agency may be the move that defines his legacy more than any bar he's ever rapped over a beat
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Really? Racial segregation was more shameful than looking the other way about steroids? You don't say! 
