Jay-Z Signs New Publishing Deal With Warner/Chappell Music

February 20, 2013

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Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Signs Publishing Deal With Warner/Chappell

Jay-Z’s wealth knows no end as the Hip-Hop mogul just announced that he’s entered into global music publishing administration agreements with Warner/Chappell Music, the music publishing arm of Warner Music Group.

The deal also includes the music publishing rosters of his entertainment company Roc Nation, which is home to some of the world’s top songwriters, artists and producers.

Effective immediately, Warner/Chappell will administer all of Jay-Z’s future works, alongside his catalog dating back to 2008, including No. 1 albums The Blueprint 3 and Watch the Throne, and worldwide hit singles such as “Empire State of Mind,” “Run This Town,” “Forever Young,” “N****s In Paris,” and “No Church In The Wild.”

By the end of 2013, the majority of Jay-Z’s songwriting catalog from the beginning of his career will also be administered by Warner/Chappell, including landmark albums such as The Blueprint, Vol. 2…Hard Knock Life, The Black Album, and classic tracks including “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem),” “Big Pimpin’,” “Can I Get A…” and “Dirt Off Your Shoulders.”

Under a separate agreement, which is also effective immediately, Warner/Chappell will administer Roc Nation’s entire music publishing repertoire, both past and future works.

Roc Nation’s songwriting roster includes Philip Lawrence (co-writer of B.o.B.’s “Nothin’ On You,” Bruno Mars’ “Just The Way You Are,” “Grenade,” “Lazy Song” and “Locked Out of Heaven,” Cee-Lo Green’s “F**k You,” Flo Rida’s “Right Round,” and Travy McCoy’s “Billionaire”);

S1 (co-writer of Kanye West’s “Power”, Beyoncé’s “Best Thing I Never Had” and 50 Cent’s “My Life” feat. Eminem and Adam Levine;

Carmen Key (co-writer of Flo Rida’s “Club Can’t Handle Me” and David Guetta’s “Pandemonium”);

and Rita Ora (the British singer-songwriter with the most number-one singles on the UK Singles Chart in 2012), among many others.

Speaking of the new deal, Jay-Z stated,

“The real meaning of success is being in the position to work with an individual you consider a friend. Jon Platt is such a person. He’s a man of extraordinary character as well as a remarkably talented executive with an ear for music and an eye for talent. It’s great to watch him grow to be one the best in the business”

Jon Platt, President, Creative – North America, Warner/Chappell Music, also added,

“I first partnered with Jay in 1996, and it’s been thrilling to work with my friend over the past 16 years as he’s grown into one of the world’s best songwriters and become a global icon. He consistently breaks new ground, producing an incredible body of work that will be enjoyed by generations of fans to come.

At the same time, Roc Nation is one of the most dynamic and influential music companies around. It is home to an extraordinary collection of hit-makers, who are writing and producing many of today’s most popular songs and collaborating with the world’s most successful artists.”

He also added,

“I couldn’t be happier to continue my relationships with Jay and Roc Nation and build on our partnerships at Warner/Chappell. We have the global expertise and resources to deliver new opportunities for their amazing catalogs, while helping them reach new heights of success around the world.”

Assata Shakur: From Fugitive to Freedom Fighter — Why the Culture Still Celebrates Her

Words by Dennis Byron

Kash Patel, I hear you. You wear the title of FBI Director today, but let’s be real—you weren’t even around when Assata Shakur’s name shook the system. You didn’t live through the era when the government put a bullseye on Black revolutionaries, when “justice” was too often just another word for oppression. I did. I remember it in real time. And I know the difference between a freedom fighter and a terrorist.

If America wants to have a serious conversation about domestic terror, let’s start with Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols blowing up federal buildings. Let’s talk Dylann Roof walking into a Black church and spraying bullets. Let’s talk George Zimmerman stalking Trayvon Martin, David Berkowitz terrorizing New York as the “Son of Sam,” or any number of men whose names will forever be synonymous with true terror. Don’t you dare put Assata Shakur in that same sentence.

A Panther With Purpose

Before the wanted posters and FBI most-wanted lists, Assata was JoAnne Chesimard—a young sister from Queens who stepped into the storm of the civil rights era. She joined the Black Panther Party and later the Black Liberation Army, not because it was trendy, but because it was survival.

She fed hungry kids when the government wouldn’t. She set up health clinics in communities the state ignored. She gave political education to the people so they could understand the systems stacked against them. That’s not terrorism—that’s love for your people in action.

The Case That Never Added Up

Fast-forward to 1973, a New Jersey turnpike, and a deadly shootout. A state trooper lost his life, and Assata was arrested, shot, and thrown into the legal grinder. By 1977, she was convicted, but ask anyone who truly studied the case—there were holes big enough to drive a truck through.

Assata Shakur and her daughter Kakuya in Cuba – photo via healer Ola Ronke

Jury bias. Coerced testimony. A courtroom atmosphere dripping with racism. It wasn’t just a trial—it was a setup. Human rights groups worldwide have said it loud: Assata didn’t get justice, she got railroaded.

So when she broke out of prison in 1979 and later landed in Cuba, it wasn’t about running—it was about surviving. And Cuba called it like it was: political asylum for a political prisoner.

The Voice That Won’t Die

Exile didn’t silence her. In 1987 she dropped Assata: An Autobiography—part testimony, part revolutionary gospel. Decades later, it’s still studied in classrooms, still quoted in movements, still moving people who see themselves in her story.

Hip hop never forgot either. Common immortalized her in “A Song for Assata.” Tupac—her godson—carried her influence in his bloodline. Her name gets invoked because she embodies that fight-back spirit that hip hop at its core represents.

Who’s the Real Terrorist?

The FBI slaps her on its “Most Wanted Terrorists” list, but let’s keep it a buck: the word “terrorist” loses its meaning when it’s used as a weapon against someone who uplifted her community.

Real terror was Oklahoma City. Real terror was Charleston. Real terror was Trayvon’s killer walking free. When we talk terrorism, those are the names that belong in bold print.

Assata Shakur? She’s a survivor. A symbol. A reminder that you can cage the body but not the spirit. And whether America likes it or not, she will be celebrated—not as a villain, but as a revolutionary who refused to bow down.

Because in the culture, we don’t just remember history—we correct it.

During her 1976 trial, Assata Shakur testified that she had raised her hands when state troopers stopped her vehicle, yet she was shot in the shoulder and back. A medical expert confirmed her injuries were consistent with this account. Despite the evidence, an all-white jury convicted her of first-degree murder in 1977. She was sentenced to the Clinton Correctional Institution in New York but escaped in 1979 and was later granted political asylum in Cuba.

About the Author:
Dennis E. Byron is an award-winning investigative journalist, photographer, and Editor-in-Chief of Hip Hop Enquirer Magazine. With over three decades of experience covering hip hop culture, celebrity trials, and social justice issues, Byron has been on the frontlines of some of the most high-profile stories shaping both the entertainment industry and American society. He is also the founder of Byron Media Group, where his work continues to amplify voices often overlooked by mainstream media.

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