I know y'all have probably already heard, but it was announced on Christmas Eve that Jay-Z has decided to step down from his position as the President of Def Jam. After a few long weeks of ongoing contract negotiations, Hova eventually decided it was in his best interest to leave the position. He says that his other business ventures are requiring more of his attention, and he is looking to take on "new challenges". Jay will remain on the Def Jam roster as an artist under his founding label: Roc-A-Fella Records, and is contractually obligated to put out at least two more albums in the deal. Since Jay was named President in 2005, he has brought a lot of successful artists into the forefront, most notably Ne-yo & Rihanna, both who have become bonafied stars under his guidance. However, there has been a lot of criticism thrown at Jigga from some unhappy employees, most notably veterans LL Cool J and Method Man who pointed out the clear conflict of interest by being both an artist and president of the label, and pointed out the label's lack of direction + marketing and a variety of other problems artist's faced under the control of "Carter Administration".

Personally, I think this was a good move for Jigga. After his retirement and subsequent comeback, he's shown that he still is an artist above everything, and although he did do a decent job running the label, I think there are a bunch of more qualified dudes out there who can take over the position and oversee Def Jam more efficiently. Plus, I'd like to see who LL and these other disgruntled veterans are going to point the finger and blame when they flop the next go round...I guess time can only tell.

What do y'all think of Jigga's decision to step down? Was it a good move or not? How would y'all rate the way he ran the label for the past 3 years? Leave a comment, let me know!