Not to beat a dead horse, but to discount Jay-Z's business acumen simply because he's a rapper shows a lack of knowledge of his history (and of hip hop).
Yes, he got rich rapping, but he got RICH from rapping by starting his own label and being independent (which most rappers did not do pre-Jigga). Before he signed to Def Jam, he had Rocafella Records w/ Dame Dash. Even though his albums weren't going platinum, they were STILL raking in money because they owned their own label and thus kept the profits (think self-publishing vs. traditional publishing).
When they PARTNERED with Def Jam, he got even more money yet retained his label (which led to him spinning off Rocawear, which he sold for $204 million IN CASH & kept stock in the company. If this is not "fastlane" I'm not sure what is).
Just because Jay-Z continues to rap & make business deals does not mean he isn't a fastlane entrepreneur. Dude is like 43 and worth HALF A BILLION dollars (ok, $475 mill to be exact).
To be clear, he does not have to keep rapping to stay wealthy and he didn't simply make millions "from being popular." His popularity came after YEARS of working on his own company (and selling it...uh, hello Fastlane), working to make the Rocafella brand (and later Rocawear & now Roc Nation and Rock Nation Sports) popular. That didn't just happen because he was a cool rapper. This was PRE-the internet. That was hustling & lots and lots of smart moves.
I'm partial to Nas, but you cannot front on Jay's business deals, both BEFORE and after becoming a household name.
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