Tag: Roc Nation

Lil Wayne teases track collaboration with LSU basketball’s Flau’jae Johnson

Lil Wayne and LSU basketball standout Flau’jae Johnson might collaborate on a track soon??

While talking with women’s basketball greats Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, rap legend Lil Wayne hinted that he’s going to be collaborating with an LSU star soon.

On ESPN’s The Bird & Taurasi Show, women’s basketball fan Lil Wayne shared that, thanks to LSU head coach Kim Mulkey, that he will be collaborating on a track with Tigers freshman guard Flau’jae Johnson.

Johnson just goes by “Flau’jae” for her aspiring rap career, one that Lil Wayne seems very interested in helping out in the studio.

“We’re about to connect musically soon,” Lil Wayne told the two on the alternate broadcast of Friday night’s LSU-Virginia Tech 2023 women’s NCAA tournament Final Four game. “Be looking out for that.”

Johnson actually signed a music deal with Jay Z’s Roc Nation label, so more collaborations could be on the horizon for the basketball player/musician.

She has also performed for her home crowd at LSU in the past.

The LSU women’s basketball team also practiced to one of Johnson’s freestyles ahead of Friday night’s Final Four win over Virginia Tech.

Johnson’s future certainly looks bright on the court and in the booth, and it seems like she’ll have plenty of opportunities to pursue both in the days ahead.

Two Aggies sign with Roc Nation Sports leading up the NFL combine

Jay-Z signs two Aggies to the star-studded roster at Roc Nation Sports

Roc Nation Sports is a sub-division of Roc Nation that founder Shawn Carter also known as “JAY-Z” established in the spring of 2013. They have an impressive roster that spans the globe across multiple sports. A few recognizable names are Dez Bryant, Saquon Barkey, Syler Diggins-Smith, LaMelo Ball, and the list goes on and on.

Roc Nation President Juan Perez gave his vision on how they can help represent their clients in an interview with Sports Business Journal.

“When we launched Roc Nation Sports the plan was to replicate what we did for music artists with athletes,”

Seeing that vision two of the Aggies entering the draft this year decided to join the stacked roster as they move forward with their professional journeys into the NFL. You can view the official announcements below from the Roc Nation Sports Instagram account for Devon Achane and Jaylon Jones.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CpLK1wsuktn/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CpLK-IzuxGD/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on Twitter: @whosnextsports1

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LaMelo Ball announces four-year scholarship at the Roc Nation School

LaMelo partners with Roc Nation to provide scholarships to sports management students.

Despite not going to college himself, LaMelo Ball is giving back to the college students.

On Wednesday, Roc Nation announced a partnership with LaMelo, which provides a four-year scholarship to the Roc Nation School at Long Island University.

This scholarship is for students majoring in Sports Management or Sports Communication & Marketing.

The deadline to apply is Dec. 1, 2021 and the scholarship will begin at the start of the Fall 2022 semester.

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Anthony Brown signs NIL deal with Roc Nation Sports

Anthony Brown has signed with JAY-Z’s company Roc Nation for representation in future NIL deals.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CShwdQAhf39/

Add Oregon Ducks quarterback Anthony Brown Jr. to the list of Oregon athletes who have signed a lucrative deal for themselves thanks to the new NCAA NIL deal.

Roc Nation, LLC is an entertainment company founded by JAY-Z in 2008 and will presumably represent Brown in future dealings that might come his way. In August 2019, Roc Nation announced a long-term partnership with the NFL.

Brown joined the Ducks before last season after three years at Boston College where he threw for 40 touchdowns. He also averaged 175 yards a game. But at Oregon, Brown started behind Tyler Shough before eventually earning to split reps with the former Duck quarterback when the season ended. He was 15-for-23 for 164 yards and two touchdowns.

Now as a super senior, Brown will begin the 2021 season as the starter on Sept. 4 when Oregon hosts Fresno State.

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Report: Spencer Dinwiddie parts ways with Roc Nation, may represent himself

Spencer Dinwiddie is considering going forward without an agent and instead, representing himself.

Up until Thursday, four members of the Brooklyn Nets’ roster were represented by Roc Nation Sports: Kyrie Irving, Caris LeVert, Spencer Dinwiddie and Wilson Chandler.

That number has dipped down to three.

Shams Charania of The Athletic is reporting Dinwiddie has “parted with Roc Nation,” and the Nets guard “is seriously considering representing himself.”

Dinwiddie is no stranger to doing things unconventionally. He launched his own shoe brand, K8iros, early on in 2019. Also, before the 2019-20 season, Dinwiddie ran into problems with the NBA as he tried to launch a digital investment vehicle, using his NBA contract as part of the process.

Dinwiddie has since moved forward with his app, Calaxy, which he describes as “a platform for community engagement around a new generation of influencers and creators.”

Dinwiddie is set to make $11,454,048 in 2020-21 as a member of the Nets and $12,302,496 in 2021-22, though he can opt-out of his current deal after this upcoming season.

RELATED: Spencer Dinwiddie explains his plan to ‘future-proof’ his contract

Lonzo Ball joins Rich Paul and Klutch Sports after brief stint with Roc Nation

After a very brief stint with Roc Nation Sports with his brothers, Lonzo Ball has left the agency to join Klutch Sports and Rich Paul.

Lonzo Ball made yet another agent change on Monday, leaving Roc Nation Sports after a very brief stint with the agency to join Klutch Sports and Rich Paul. Ball spoke with Malika Andrews of ESPN about making the switch to his fourth agency in his three seasons in the NBA.

“I wanted to lead my career. Picking my own representation — just solely as my decision — was step one in that process. For me, it was an easy call, and it was the right time to make that call.”

The move comes very much as a surprise after Ball and his brothers LaMelo and LiAngelo joined Roc Nation this summer. Roc Nation officially announced their arrival in June after the group reportedly agreed to terms during the global lockdown.

However, a disappointing end to the season led Ball to re-evaluate his options once more, leaving Roc Nation for Klutch Sports.

Ball has had a wild ride through agencies. After coming up with friend Harrison Gaines representing him, the two mutually parted ways in April of 2019 in the wake of the Alan Foster scandal.

Ball and his brothers joined Creative Artists Agency (CAA) shortly thereafter and stayed with the agency for roughly one year. However, in March of this year, Ball and his brothers left CAA and began evaluating new landing spots. Eventually, the group joined Roc Nation and LaMelo quickly parlayed that partnership into a shoe deal with Puma.

Lonzo, though, joins Klutch Sports after many rumors of doing so in previous years. The loudest the noise got came after his father LaVar was spotted courtside with Paul during a Lakers-Pelicans game this season.

It’s an important move for Lonzo to join Klutch Sports and Paul. Negotiations for his upcoming extension can take place this off-season as he enters his final year in his rookie contract in the 2020-21 season.

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LaVar Ball reveals plan for family, sons to meet with Jay-Z before pandemic

Prior to the pandemic closing the world down, LaVar Ball and the Ball family had a meeting planned with Jay-Z and Roc Nation.

While the Ball family’s decision to join Roc Nation came as a surprise to many, it was a move that LaVar Ball revealed was long in the works. LaMelo Ball and Jermaine Jackson teased a meeting on Jay-Z’s private jet but a much bigger meeting was in the works.

On his appearance on Complex’s Load Management podcast, Ball was asked about Jay-Z’s involvement in the recruiting of the family to Roc Nation.

“You know Jay got to get involved. Here’s the thing. I ain’t talked to Jay. He’s got people that work for him so we have to talk to them first. But he’s done talked to my boys. I just haven’t talked to him but my boys have talked to them. And the guys that he’s got lined up that’s on his team, I’ve talked to them. I talked to them over the phone…but with the pandemic going on, nobody can fly around and get that collaboration.

We were actually going to meet up right before everything happened. It was a Clipper game and he was going to come down and watch the Pelicans play the Clippers and that was perfect time but we never got a chance to do that.”

The Clippers game mentioned was slated for Friday, March 13, two days after Rudy Gobert’s positive test for COVID-19 brought the league to a screeching halt. Despite not being able to meet face-to-face, though, the family was able to come to an agreement with Roc Nation.

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LaVar Ball says family considered signing with Klutch Sports before choosing Roc Nation

Prior to joining Jay-Z and Roc Nation, LaVar Ball revealed he and his family considered signing with Klutch Sports and Rich Paul.

For the third time in nearly as many years, the Ball family switched agencies. This change was the most high-profile yet for the family as they left Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and joined Jay-Z’s Roc Nation.

The move was a bit of a surprise as the family has remained linked to Klutch Sports even prior to signing with CAA. Lonzo Ball and LeBron James’ relationship was the main link tying the family to Klutch prior to joining CAA and this time around, LaVar Ball’s relationship with Rich Paul served as more fuel to the fire.

During a podcast appearance on Complex’s Load Management, Ball talked about the process of joining Roc Nation and whether he and the family considered Klutch.

“I think you have to feel it out and see what it is. It might have been Klutch. I still talk to Rich Paul. He’s a good friend. But I got to see what’s best for my boys and their situation for what we’re trying to do.”

This was similar reasoning Ball recently gave as to why the family joined Roc Nation. Ball and the family were focused on a company that put their interests first while alluding to that not happening at CAA.

There are questions as to how much that could happen at Klutch, either. Aside from LeBron James, Klutch hasn’t had many other clients with ventures outside of basketball. That runs in direct contrast to the Ball family, who already notably have a successful reality Facebook series in “Ball in the Family.”

With Roc Nation, the family will be a priority with a company that has its hands in multiple avenues that could pave the way for more opportunities for the family moving forward.

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LaMelo Ball posts Jay-Z song to Instagram story, hints at potential next move

With his deal with Roc Nation Sports announced, LaMelo Ball could be hinting at his next move with a shoe company on social media.

On Monday, Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball signed with Roc Nation, ending multiple weeks of speculation as to which agency would be the family’s next stop after leaving Creative Artists Agency. While the family will be represented by Raymond Brothers, Roc Nation is obviously known for its founder, Jay-Z.

Also notable is Jay-Z’s involvement in PUMA. In early 2018, Jay-Z was named the head of PUMA Basketball. Around that time, the company began a more aggressive approach in bringing in basketball talent, landing DeAndre Ayton, Marvin Bagley and RJ Barrett.

LaMelo took to his Instagram on Tuesday to upload a series of posts to his story with Jay-Z’s “Song Cry” in the background.

Shortly after, Ball tweeted another cryptic message foretelling more moves to come for him and his family.

Ball’s next big move will likely be his shoe deal, which will almost certainly be the biggest one of his draft class. His manager Jermaine Jackson noted that he is still fielding offers but aligning with Roc Nation and Jay-Z likely gives PUMA an inside track.

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What to make of Lonzo, LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball’s plans to sign with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation agency

The Ball family is making moves together again.

The Ball brothers are changing agents in their latest business move together. They’re all planning on signing representation agreements with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports, according to a report from ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.

The brothers — Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo — were previously all represented by CAA but left the agency in March after signing on a year before.

Signing with Roc Nation feels very much so like a Ball family move. I mean, it’s Jay-Z’s sports agency. It doesn’t really get more “high profile” than that. And high-profile has very much so been apart of the Ball brand since Lonzo entered the NBA.

The big difference here — it seems from what we know so far — is that the brothers, and not their ever-involved father LaVar, are handling more of the decision making.

LaMelo Ball’s manager, Jermaine Jackson, was the one who broke the story to Givony, saying “They are brothers and they love each other and that’s how they roll” and “They don’t separate from each other.”

The allure of working with Jay-Z and building beyond basketball factored in the decision.

“This was a family decision,” Jackson said. “This is now an extended family. They put together a beautiful game plan with Jay-Z. The basketball game is about to change. They are going to create something totally new.”

The Dynasty: Ball La Familia album confirmed. Clearly.

In all seriousness, though, the timing of this is … curious. The most obvious thing is LaMelo Ball’s draft status. He’s a consensus top 3 pick in the NBA draft right now and could potentially land with the Knicks next season in New York where Roc Nation is based.

On top of that, Lonzo Ball is up for an extension this offseason. And on top of that,  LiAngelo Ball had finally worked his way into a shot in the G-League, before coronavirus canceled everything, by agreeing to a deal with the OKC Blue.

And we haven’t even mentioned the shoe deals that Lonzo and LaMelo are looking for after ditching the Big Baller Brand founded by their father, LaVar.

Jay-Z is Puma’s Creative Director, so they’ll have a connection there. But there’s also a pretty clear line to Nike, seeing as though LaMelo and Lonzo have almost exclusively worn Nike’s since leaving Big Baller Brand. LaMelo, in particular, will have every brand knocking on his door as a potential No. 1 overall pick.

All this is to say they’re all at pretty pivotal points in the early stages of their careers right now. Nailing their representation is essential right now to make the most out of it.

It’s difficult to figure out the Ball family’s dynamics, even if they often air their grievances on a reality show. LaVar Ball became one of the most controversial people in sports with his bold schemes and audacious proclamations — some of which were actually admirable — but ultimately his inexperience may have hurt his sons along the way.

So if the Ball sons are finally getting more of say over the family business and opting to pair with Roc Nation, then maybe they’re more prepared than they’ve ever been for what’s next.