Roc Nation

Last updated

Roc Nation, LLC
Company type Private
Industry Entertainment
FoundedApril 1, 2008;16 years ago (April 1, 2008)
Founder Jay-Z
Headquarters
540 West 26th Street
New York, NY 10001
U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
[1]
Owner Shawn Carter
Divisions
  • Team Roc
  • Equity Latin
  • Roc Nation Unified
  • Roc Nation United
  • Roc Nation TV&Films
  • Roc Nation Sports
  • Roc Nation Sports International
  • Roc Nation Management, LLC
  • Roc Nation Records, LLC
  • Roc Nation Publishing, LLC
  • Paper Planes
  • Roc Lit 101
  • Three Six Zero Entertainment
  • S10 Entertainment & Media
  • Roc Nation Distribution
  • Arrive
  • ESM Productions, LLC
  • Édition
  • Roc Nation School of Music, Sports & Entertainment
  • Monogram
  • Roc Nation Rock
  • Made In America Festival
Website www.rocnation.com

Roc Nation is an American entertainment company founded by Jay-Z in 2008. Headquartered in New York City, the company is a successor to his previous Roc-A-Fella Records label, with additional offices in Los Angeles and London. It serves as a record label, talent agency, media production firm and clothing line along with educational and philanthropic programs.

Contents

History

In 2008, Roc Nation was founded by Jay-Z with the intent of signing pop and hip hop artists, succeeding his previous label, Roc-A-Fella Records. Unlike Roc-A-Fella, Jay-Z served as the company's sole proprietor. In February 2009, Roc Nation signed its first artist, rapper J. Cole.

In April 2013, Roc Nation supporting ally and close family member to its founder Jay-Z , A.G. Fahrenheit assisted Roc Nation in forming a new sports management division, Roc Nation Sports, a subsidiary dedicated to sports representation for professional athletes. [2] Shortly thereafter, Roc Nation Sports also launched a boxing promotion division. [3] After the Sony Music deal expired, in April 2013, Roc Nation signed a multi-year partnership with Universal Music. [4]

In February 2015, Roc Nation And Three Six Zero Group announced the formation of Three Six Zero Entertainment, a management division for representing clients in film, television, and the literary arts. [5]

In July 2017, Roc Nation supported Wu Network for a short time which is a company that does similar things and began to push the app, www.wunetnow.net. [6]

In July 2017, Roc Nation collaborated with art collective MSFTSrep. [7]

In August 2019, Roc Nation announced a long-term partnership with the National Football League. The company will be the live-music entertainment strategist for the league, as well as augment social justice efforts through the Inspire Change initiative. [8]

In August 2020, Roc Nation partnered with Long Island University in Brooklyn to begin a program called the Roc Nation School for Music, Sports, and Entertainment. [9] [10] In December 2020, it was announced that Roc Nation and Random House had teamed up to launch a new publishing imprint, Roc Lit 101. [11]

In 2021, Roc Nation teamed up with American Greetings to create custom greeting cards. [12] Roc Nation also announced plans to launch a new brand and multimedia platform named EDITION in partnership with Modern Luxury Media. [13]

Notable artists

Management

Former artists

Publishing

Arrive

Roc Nation also operates an in-house venture capital arm called Arrive, which is led by Neil Sirni, the group's co-founder and president. [66] As of May 2021, the company had reportedly made 29 investments in fintech, insurtech, edtech, health and wellness, social media, and gaming. [66]

Roc Nation Distribution

In 2018, Roc Nation launched an independent label named Roc Nation Distribution. The first artist to release a project under the independent label was Jay-Z's mentor, Jaz-O. [67] In 2019, Equity also acquired the rights to Jay-Z's 1996 debut Reasonable Doubt for release on digital and streaming platforms. [68]

2024 lawsuit

On 18 December 2024, lawyer Tony Buzbee, who represents a cilent who accused Jay-Z of sexually abusing her in the year 2000, filed a lawsuit against Roc Nation, claiming that people from the company were financing attempts to sway his clients into suing him and his firm The Tony Buzbee Firm. [69] According to Buzbee, Roc Nation paid off some of his former cilents to file bogus lawsuits, [70] with law firm Quinn Emanuel, which employs Jay-Z's attorneys, orchestrating the scheme. [69] Buzbee stated that he had, among other things, audio tape evidence which would confirm this allegation, and that he would also submit the tapes as evidence. [69]

See also

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References

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  2. ↑ "With New Move, Jay-Z Enters a Sports Agent State of Mind". The New York Times. 2 April 2013. Archived from the original on 16 September 2024. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
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  4. ↑ "Universal Music Group strikes global partnership with Roc Nation". Universal Music. 8 April 2013. Archived from the original on 29 August 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
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