Jay-Z Leaves Def Jam

(NEWSER) - Kanye West says Jay-Z’s new album, Blueprint 3, will not feature the Auto-Tune effects West himself has relied on in the past, MTV reports. “We actually removed all the songs with Auto-Tune off of his album to make the point that this is an anti-Auto-Tune album,” said West, who is producing the record. “Even though I released an album that has all Auto-Tune!” More»

Rap's up-and-coming name follows in the footsteps of Kanye West, Andre 3000

(NEWSER) - The premise of Kanye West protégé Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon: The End of the Day is that he’s “not on the same planet as other rappers. The truth is that he’s not in the same genre,” writes Julian Benbow for the Boston Globe. The debut album “is a lot of things. It’s spacey, adventurous, and ridiculously intriguing if only because it’s so different. But it’s not rap”—more like “experimental and emotional hip-hop.” Elsewhere: More»

(NEWSER) - Jay-Z's new Blueprint 3 seems to have critics divided. Some see flashes of brilliance showing the rap veteran at his best, while others see a mediocre effort that relies too much on celebrity.

• Jay-Z sounds "hungrier than he has in years on about half the tracks, while sharing time with guest stars or grappling with undercooked production on the rest," writes Greg Kot for the Los Angeles Times. "Yet even at three-quarters speed, Jay-Z can still be formidable."

Mogul discusses business, music as release approaches

(NEWSER) - As he comes full circle with the Sept. 11 release of The Blueprint 3, exactly 8 years after the original Blueprint, Jay-Z discusses his journey from the projects of Brooklyn to the top of Forbes’ Hip-Hop Cash King list with Billboard. “We—Usher, Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, myself—are becoming the people that we looked up to musically growing up, like Marvin Gaye and Frank Sinatra,” he says. More»

Conflicting reports leave it unclear where former Def Jam artist will move

(NEWSER) - Following his departure from Def Jam, Jay-Z is close to making a deal with a new label—the question is, which one? Sources tell Billboard a deal with Sony’s Epic Records “is 95% complete,” while the New York Daily News reports a deal with Warner Music Group/Atlantic is in the works. The rapper has close ties to execs in both camps, and has reportedly held secret meetings with both. More»