Whitlock's new column

I actually like what Jason Whitlock has to say on occasion, but this is particularly unfocused and rambling.

Jay-Z doesn't use athletes on his albums, he uses the best in the music business... Justin Timberlake is the "holy grail of pop music"... Jay-Z uses "nigga" (I don't know why "nigga" is better or considered censored when it's showed as "n*gga") too often, is a sell out and an uncle Tom... Back to Jay-Z not using athletes on his albums... Jay-Z becoming an agent is "idiotic" because sports are based on mainstream values and music is inherently "anti-establishment"... The NBA has lost relevance because it has embraced hip-hop culture... Lebron James is a mix of Tiger Woods and Mike Tyson... Jay-Z won't be approved as an NFL agent because he's un-American and uses "nigga" too much... The NFL has made a wise decision by keeping "youth music culture" at a distance... Jay-Z has nothing to offer Durant and Cano, because people can only do one thing well... A "Roots" reference and Jay-Z is a sellout... again...

I'm dizzy.

www.msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/jay-z-as-sports-agent-not-good-for-athletes-or-sports-070913

 

The column made sense to me, even when I didn't agree with it. Whitlock's point that Jay-Z uses talented musicians on his album is a good one, and meant to highlight the notion that athletes should probably rely on agents who actually know how to negotiate contracts.

That said, agents have never been, from my POV, particularly authentic folks. They're salesmen, pushy and polished. So when Whitlock paints Jay-Z as a con artist/peddler without comparison, he's kind of making the case for the rapper, not against him. As far as basketball being "irrelevant" compared to football, I'm not sure how playing off some of the most popular music in the industry contributes to that. A lot of young people love the NBA the way kids/young adults did for a decade 1985-1996. The music's a part of it.

Further, Whitlock's in deep for LeBron's crew. He wrote some fawning tapestry of them a few years back.

I get Whitlock's lament of real progress for blacks in America. He is, generally, right about it.

 

If he had stuck to the premise and continued to argue about Jay-Z's place in sports, this column could have been good. But Whitlock can't help being Whitlock and the rant about Jay-Z's music ruined this column for me.

 

I'd argue the opposite. While I don't agree with Whitlock's opinions on music, I get where he's coming from.

But he's being purposefully general about the situation. Jay-Z isn't opening a one-agent business where he does all the work. He's part of CAA. When it comes to contracts, he'll work with other agents, and they'll do the legalese and gruntwork. But I guarantee he'll do a lot with marketing, image, style, etc. He was president of Def Jam for awhile. Why wouldn't Jay-Z be good for that job?

 

Criticizing Jay-Z's music is a matter of taste. Criticizing his business skills is foolish on its face.

 

He treated Jay-Z as though he was Master P making decisions for Ricky Williams. The athletes who've signed with Jay-Z's company thus far, save for Geno Smith and Skylar Diggins, are fairly established with unquestionable earning potential in their careers. There's no negotiation needed to get clients max-earning potential on their next contracts. A Roc Nation affiliation is about transcending sports, and why not trust the vision of a guy who made the Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can?

Either way, Whitlock's argument is absurd because he's suggesting that people who earn their money doing one thing should stick to that one thing. The NFL is loaded with owners who've made their billions in other industries, and had enough money left over to buy a team without flinching. No one is telling Woody Johnson to stick to baby powder. Shahid Khan bought the Jaguars and is trying to turn them around, but no one told him to stick to auto parts and engineering. Why should Jay-Z be held to a different standard?

 

Moreover, Roc Nation Sports is working directly with Creative Artists Agency. This is not some amateur gimmick.

 

I believe this is called "I have a column due today, I'm uninterested in doing any reporting, I wonder if there is a topic that I can hammer home one of my usual frustrations with Afican Americans and what is considered an acceptable part of black culture."