Meek Mill has never been one to hold his tongue when it comes to the treatment of artists within the music industry, and this time isn’t any different. As the Philadelphia rapper celebrated the one-year anniversary of his fifth and final album for Atlantic Records, Meek got candid about how he aimed to use the release as a lesson on what not to do in business in the future.

Jay-Z’s Roc Nation is all about the business, man. According to HipHopDX, the company just appointed Brett Yormark as Chief Operating Officer. Previously, he worked as co-CEO of Roc Nation Unified and as President of Business Operations & Strategy. News from the agency world: Brett Yormark was promoted to COO of Roc Nation, CEO Desiree Perez (no relation) announced today. Yormark, who joined the firm in 2019, was co-CEO of Roc Nation Unified and President of Business Operations & Strategy. He will still lead that division. pic.twitter.com/2U0zlQc39Q — A.J. Perez (@byajperez) January 19, 2022 “Roc Nation is one of today’s most culturally rich, diverse and innovative companies,” said Yormark, according to HipHopDX. “After the past two years working at Roc Nation, I have seen first hand that with determination and an entrepreneurial spirit, anything is possible.”

Twitter co-founder and Block CEO Jack Dorsey just announced the official board members of his bitcoin development endowment in collaboration with Hip-Hop royalty Jay-Z. As previously reported by AfroTech, Dorsey has expressed interest in the power of bitcoin and other forms of cryptocurrency. He will now put some action behind the talk of using the digital form of currency to leverage his business. Jack Dorsey is following through on his commitment with Jay-Z to pledge 500 BTC to set up ₿trust, an endowment to fund bitcoin development focusing on teams based in Africa and India. When AfroTech first told you the news in February 2021, Dorsey mentioned needing three board members, but he’s now announced four. The team will take zero direction from Dorsey and Jay-Z when getting started.

Jay-Z’s Roc Nation has finally reached a settlement with its gaming subsidiary, Unanimous Games. On Saturday, Dec. 4, at the same time that the Hip-Hop mogul entered a new chapter of life, Roc Nation settled a lawsuit related to his cousin Briant Biggs and an alleged scam involving investor Blueprint Capital Holdings, according to reports from Thirsty For News. As previously reported by AfroTech, Biggs was accused of working with a group to raise $1.5 million for a new division of Roc Nation by the name of Unanimous Games. The games were to be focused on eSports and the video game industry. As you can already gather, that didn’t really play out so well.

Jay-Z’s Roc Nation has a hand in nearly every industry these days, and now it’s casting its net even wider with the future of esports. Roc Nation Sports has partnered up with the Gaming Community Network (GCN) — which is also part of GameSquare Esports Inc. — to create global gaming solutions for star-studded athletes and expand their presence in esports, a press release reports. The multi-year partnership intends to build on a collaboration that will develop “authentic bespoke athlete-centric strategies” for athletes — including esports tournaments, gaming content production, live streaming events as well as ​​offer content syndication across the GCN Network, which hosts 85-plus gaming and esports-centric websites. “Partnering with Roc Nation Sports continues our growth of building GameSquare into an esports powerhouse,” said GameSquare CEO Justin Kenna in a statement. “With our recent acquisitions of Complexity and Cut+Sew/Zoned and adding Paradigm Sports to our advisory board, we...

The Daily News reports that Jay-Z’s Roc Nation is facing legal action. Briant Biggs, the “Big Pimpin'” emcee’s cousin, allegedly played a role in the team responsible for raising $1.5 million for Roc Nation’s video game subsidiary Unanimous Games, court documents state. According to Blueprint Capital Holdings, an alleged investor in Unanimous Games, Biggs presented a business plan that was said to connect eSports and the entertainment industry with live events and mobile games. Ryan Collision, the president of Blueprint, revealed that he was under the impression that rappers signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation would participate in the partnerships. Some of these artists include Meek Mill, Jay Park, and Yo Gotti. After Collision claims he invested $250,000 in March 2018, the plan was allegedly for Unanimous Games to pay the minimum repayment amount plus interest by March 2021, but a Manhattan Federal Court suit announces that when the date came, they never received any payment. Not only...

Roc Nation is launching yet another culture-shifting platform for the world of luxury. Today, the Jay-Z founded company announced a partnership with Modern Luxury Media — America’s largest luxury media company — to launch a new disruptive brand and multimedia platform called “EDITION by Modern Luxury,” a press release reports. The new outlet aims to both “amplify and elevate voices that are shaping popular culture.” “The importance of elevating the voices of such a powerful community has never been greater,” Brett Yormark — president of business operations & strategy for Roc Nation — said in a statement. “We are excited to devote our efforts in creating a platform that is not only exciting but necessary in order to push the luxury media industry forward.” Roc Nation co-founder and CEO Desiree Perez echoed his statement noting Modern Luxury Media’s history of building brands in luxury that drive impactful content. “We couldn’t think of a better partner to launch EDITION,” she said,...

Jay-Z might be the new go-to source for all things authenticated in the collectibles space. According to Business Insider, the music and business mogul’s Roc Nation company has just invested in the transaction of Blackstone’s acquisition of the Certified Collectibles Group (CCG) — a company that authenticates collectible items such as comic books, magazines, trading cards and other items — which now values the company at more than $500 million. The outlet reports that CCG estimates it has certified over 62 million of its collectibles, with a combined fair market value reaching roughly $50 billion. Blackstone — which Bloomberg describes as the world’s largest alternative investment firm — also reports that its shares were up 0.3 percent last Friday (July 2) and now hopes to “develop CCG’s digital presence, add employees, and branch CCG’s geographic reach.” In addition to Roc Nation, other investors in the acquisition include but are not limited to Fanatics founder and executive...