Jay Z the Rap Artist and Business Mogul: His Rise to the Top

Jay Z the Rap Artist and Business Mogul: His Rise to the TopPlease read Chapter 4’s Case Study on pages 116-118 and answer the following questions: 1. As mentioned in the case, Jay-Z wears several hats with respect to the several business ventures he manages. What does this say about his time management skills? Time management means techniques designed to enable people to get more done in less time with better results. Jay-Z is known for multitasking. In the text it says research has found that people who multitask are actually less efficient than those who focus on one thing at a time. This was not the case for Jay-Z. Jay-Z took multitasking to a new level. He had many accomplishments including his musical career, co-owning the 40-40 club, partially owning the New Jersey Nets, and creating Rocawear. He also was the CEO of Def Jam Recordings, a founder of Roc-A-Fella Records, and the founder of Roc Nation. He also changed the face of Hip-Hop from baggy to dressy. What does this say about his time management? I would say that this says Jay-Z took time management and put a new face on it. He showed that he knew how to manage things while multitasking and become a very successful person. He analyzed his time well and showed that nothing is impossible. Not even multitasking.

He knew his priorities, objectives, and plans and he scheduled them perfectly. 2. Step 1 and 2 in the career planning model are self-assessment and career preference and exploration. What in the case will support the possibility that Jay-Z implicitly did a self-assessment before launching into a music career as a rapper?Jay-Z has always had a sense of his career preference. When his mother got him the boom box and he discovered how well he liked music he put it in his head that he was a entrepreneur just like other successful rappers. This showed that viewed himself as successful. He began rapping, writing music, and following these other successful and popular rappers. He set objectives and developed plans to achieve these objectives. He understood how to take control himself rather than depending on others. What does this say? This says that Jay-Z definitely had to do some sort of a self-assessment before launching his career. He knew what he wanted, who he was, his interests, values, needs, and skills. This is why he was able to become successful. He did his career planning correctly. 3. Assume you were Jay-Z and based on the facts of the case, what are some specific objectives that Jay-Z would have set for himself as part of his career plan?

According to the case Jay-Z set objectives and developed plans to achieve them. In the case Jay-Z understood that his objective was understanding the value of taking control of his career, rather than leaving it up to others. I believe some specific objectives Jay-Z would have set were to find a place in the recording industry, release a hit single, and own a piece of the recording industry. These seem like pretty solid goals. If these were the objectives he set then he did good planning because they happened. 4. Step 4 in the career planning model is to develop a plan that will enable you to attain your objectives. Cite an example in the case on how Jay-Z went about achieving his objective of taking control of his music career?Jay-Z “became the CEO of Def Jam.” This shows that he went straight to becoming a leader rather than becoming a rapper and listening to a manager. He knew he had the skills to do this, and he made it happen. 5. In terms of locus of control (Chapter 2), do you think Jay-Z has an internal or external locus of control and why?I believe that Jay-Z has an Internal Locus of control because he controls his career. He knows he can control it, and doesn’t want it any other way.

He also showed that he likes improvement. He focused on improving the music industry before promoting the rapper because he knew that without the improvement the rappers wouldn’t sell well. He also seems more confident and open to try things. He became a leading entrepreneur and changed the ways rappers dressed. He knew what he wanted and he went there. 6. In your opinion, does Jay-Z have a sense of his self-concept (Chapter 3) and what do you think influenced it?Jay-Z had a good sense of his self-concept. He kept a positive attitude about himself and knew himself even if others viewed him differently. I believe what influenced it had to do with his past and his future. He went from being the drug dealer in the projects to a successful business man. I think that his mother getting him the boom box gave him a sense of who he truly wanted to be. I also think that setting goals made him think more of his self-concept and raised his self-esteem when he achieved these goals. I also believe that he probably wanted to settle down. He did this by marrying Beyonce who is also another very successful person in the music industry.