Jay-Z Roc Nation Sports Agency Roster Eyes Yasiel Puig & Yoenis Cespedes of MLB as Clients
Even as Jay-Z faces more criticism for his involvement in sports management, the rapper hasn't slowed down his pursuit of signing the country's top athletes to his Roc Nation Sports imprint.
In an article published on Thurdsay, a source told Yahoo! Sports the Brooklyn rapper is negotiating the acquisition of budding Los Angeles Dodgers star Yasiel Puig. Jay-Z is hoping to add the 22-year-old MLB slugger to his already impressive roster of professional athletes, including NBA All-Star Kevin Durant, New York Yankees batter Robinson Cano and the WNBA's Skylar Diggins. Puig attended a meeting in New York in mid-June at Jay-Z's 40/40 club and was reportedly intrigued by what Roc Nation Sports had to offer in regards to marketing and management.
Puig has spoke to other marketing agencies in New York but signing with Roc Nation, a company that negotiates contracts for players as well as implements marketing strategies, remains a possibility, the source said.
Jay-Z also has Cuban national and Oakland A's outfielder Yoenis Cespedes in his sights, according to the source. Cespedes will arrive soon in New York for the Home Run Derby, televised on July 15 as part of the MLB's All-Star Game weekend. It's not known whether Jay-Z plans to meet with the A's player during that time.
On Wednesday, Fox Sports writer Jason Whitlock became the latest pundit to protest Jay-Z's career move into the world of athlete representation. Whitlock said the rapper's ability to sign such marquee names is not because he's a marketing genius, which the reporter said is a myth, but more so because the athlete's are brainwashed by Jay-Z's "n***a rap," a term used to describe Mr. Carter's music throughout the article.
"Jay-Z is the holy grail of n*gga rap, the proper name for the genre of music that made Shawn Carter one of our president's best friends," Whitlock wrote in the opinions piece. "Our political system - on the right and left - is so bankrupt of ethics that President Obama has zero shame about embracing the king of black-denigration music. And neither do Kevin Durant and Robinson Cano."
