Jay-Z and Pharrell Are Making History, But Both Could Stand to Learn From It

 

Entrepreneur” is bootstraps logic, a capitalist fairy tale. Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

The deification of Jay-Z over the past decade has been tiresome — and not just because people bought into the God MC self-mythologizing to the extent that some people even seem to think having dinner with the man is a better investment for the future than $50,000 cash. Jay-Z is a fascinating character — not because he never misses but because he does miss. But he always learns from his mistakes. 1998’s Streets Is Watching, the Brooklyn tycoon’s first film foray, is a choppy visual album carrying a soundtrack whose main directive seemed to be spotlighting the Roc-A-Fella Records roster and previewing the album Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life. The next few Roc-A-Fella film endeavors — like the memorable rap documentaries Backstage and Fade to Black or the hood classics Paid in Full and State Property — are more fondly remembered. As co-owner of the Nets, Jay famously brought the New Jersey NBA team to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in 2013, facing loud criticism from locals who viewed the overarching Atlantic Yards project as a noisy land grab (facilitated in part by Michael Bloomberg, the New York mayor whose overly ambitious courtship of big business is coming home to roost as pet projects like the Hudson Yards mall flounder in the current financial crisis). Roc Nation Sports leads with a more delicate touch. Jay makes big moves, but keeping him afloat is a willingness to change course when he’s