Roc Nation represents talent in both music and sports, including Rihanna and NBA star Kevin Durant. In 2008, Carter founded entertainment agency, Roc Nation, as part of a venture with Live Nation. Instead of signing with Def Jam, Carter eventually sold Roc-A-Fella Records to the label.ĭef Jam first purchased half of Roc-A-Fella Records in 1997 for $1.5 million, and then bought the remaining half in 2004 for $10 million, according to MTV. 'Now, we retained ownership in our own company, and it was the best thing for us.' 'We had a different negotiation, it wasn't the same artist-label relationship,' Carter said at the 2010 summit. In response, Carter replied, 'I own the company I rap for.' 'Then, the record companies came back to us.'ĭef Jam (a label that has now worked with artists like Justin Bieber and Kanye West) tried to offer Carter a deal at the time, according to The Wall Street Journal. We started selling our own CDs and built our own buzz,' Carter said in 2010. 'I think that was the genius thing we did. Though sales started slow, the album caught the attention of label executives. Carter released his debut album 'Reasonable Doubt' on Roc-A-Fella in 1996. Instead Carter, Dash and Burke, started their own label, called Roc-A-Fella Records, in 1994. We used that 'what do they know' approach. 'The genius thing that we did was we didn't give up. 'In the beginning, we went to every single label and every single label shut their door on us,' Carter said at the 2010 Forbes 400 summit, referring to himself and his then-business partners Damon Dash and Kareem Burke. In fact, Carter refers to it as a 'genius' move. When reflecting on his career in 2010, Carter recalled one thing in particular that he did early on that set him up for success. Carter will join Square's board of directors, and existing artist shareholders will be the remaining stakeholders, Square said. On Thursday, Jack Dorsey's digital payments company Square announced that it will acquire majority ownership stake in Carter's music streaming service Tidal for an expected $297 million in cash and stock.

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