Jay-Z vs Roc-A-Fella
A musical insight into the forces of evolution
And the winner is?
With a caveat, I’ll answer this question at the end of the article.
This is the story of two tagging forces in evolution, as seen in the life of Jay-Z and his record label, Roc-A-Fella.
It would help if you would fit yourself in his shoes, as big as they are. At the same time, I would want you to imagine how a baby would feel fresh from the womb.
So, let’s say you have just been born.
In your family, you were the odd one out. Everyone knew how to smile, you didn’t. Everyone was happy and you were crying. You were yanked from your home for the last 9 or so months with your head or if you were lucky, with your legs.
Your home which was also a pool, has always been the best place to be.
Always floating. If you got excited or mad, you would kick your walls. Those resilient walls.
I cannot imagine you kicked your mother, your source of daily bread from day one. This kind of love is unfounded.
So when you got out of your rent-free house (with free food) you made a whelp of vengeance.
You cried.
The smiling faces around you did not make it any better.
You then decided to give them the ultimate treatment — the silent treatment.
In your head, it was a good idea.
In reality, they started passing you around to every other person in the room. Because you were experientially blind (a fancy way for saying your eyes could not understand what was going on because in your previous house and past life, you did not need to open your eyes. You knew where everything was).
It was blow after blow.
The world was cold.
Now your chest has to make rhythmic movements because you must breathe.
You used to dine in red wine, now you have to take in dust particles.
Again, through your nose.
They think you are breathing, but in a real sense, you are teeming with anger. It is evident from your rapid chest movements.
Then someone, out of nowhere, places this supple tip next to your mouth. The smell has been passed down through several generations. It ignites a reflex.
You grasp the supplest wine glass known to man and decide to get drunk. It is so fulfilling you take it with your eyes closed. It takes you back to when you had the good stuff going through your veins.
In a fit of nostalgia, you develop a bond with your new favourite white drink served in the best well-preserved storage device. The living device.
You can even bite it and not care how the owner feels. I mean, you have been kicking her, biting is no different.
Over time, you develop a bond with your mother, your spring of flowing milk.
You learned it’s called milk. Not white wine. Milk.
And it is running out fast.
Rather, your appetite increases by the day. It no longer brings you the satisfaction it used to. Although you have a good bond with your mother, you want something more.
Your legs and curiosity take you outside. You discover there are others like you.
There are more folk like you.
This time around, you were not yanked out of this house.
You took yourself outside.
You find there is more to life than your home.
Now, with pruned edges, you and Jay-Z have a similar story.
However, he goes on to have a different life before he meets the Roc Boys, in Brooklyn, probably.
Outside their homes, they decide to make an empire.
They called it Roc-A-Fella. They birthed it into life.
Their platinum child, Roc-A-Fella.
Little did they know the kind of life they gave their mother was about to hit them.
The platinum child was up and about in no time, exploring, winning, and sometimes getting slapped by big authorities figures, and institutions. Other times, their child learned to clap back.
As the child grew, conflicts began to brew.
There was once a partnership between Jay Z and Nas. A friendship.
But then, best friends became enemies.
Nas released his album. Jay-Z released his. Later came the Blueprint.
The beef was like no other. It was steaming hot but it would leave you with chills.
In due time, came a super producer, from Chicago. He was a master with the beats but wanted to rap. He had to do it through the wire, but once he did, he blew up.
He then wrote a song to thank his big brother, Jay-Z. But, soon enough, he realizes, to become big, he has to beat his big brother.
A few years pass and Jay-Z and Nas reconcile. Sorry, they are not sorry.
But between Jay and the super producer, there is much we do not know.
You may think this is a story only about legendary hip-hop artists. In part, it is.
But it is also a story about evolution.
From Marcy, a legend, Jay-Z, unites a group of artists from all over the country. Together, they trump other record labels.
However, inside it, others want more and compete from within. From this cake the group has won, selfishness sticks its ugly head out. Hatred spurs separation.
Then again, you might think I am only talking about Jay-Z’s record label. I am not. I am talking about your family.
Confusing? Let me explain.
When you were growing up as a child, there was a lot to share.
Cooperation was the order of the day.
You would boast how your father was the stronger of the fathers among your friends. If you had a father. Or how your mother made the best of meals. If you had a mother.
Or how you have that fancy TV or radio set.
You had to defend your family. You had to stick it out for them. Cooperation was necessary to defeat your friends no matter the debate.
Back then, you were hardly a pre-teen.
As you grew older, you wanted to chart your path.
There were times you wanted to assert your existence among your parents. They still thought you were their small child. Maybe you even rebelled.
It was no longer cooperation.
You wanted to do your own thing. Your selfish side wanted a piece of the cake.
This selfish side was suppressed so much in your early life, it grew a rogue cheek and went all guns blazing.
Your story growing up is similar to the story of Roc-A-Fella, from birth to eventual unique paths in life.
The central insight is:
When groups compete with other groups, the more cooperative group wins.
- The family defeated the ranting child when it was young.
- Through cooperation, the record label, Roc-A-Fella, defeated individual artists outside the label.
- As a child, your family took first priority, before your selfish individual side started taking precedence
Here’s the flip side of it:
Within a group with cooperative tendencies, the competitive ones outcompete the cooperative ones.
Members of a record label will fall out. Some will try to outsell another artist’s album. Beef is started and diffused every other time.
This is the story of group vs individual selection.
As a cooperative front, Roc-A-Fella wins when competing with other labels. However, inside it, the competitive ones win.
I do not want to claim there is no solid ground within the music empire. I have never even stepped into the country, let alone claim there is anything within a closely-knit group. Jay-Z even clarified his stance with the founders of the label.
My story goes only to prove a point many evolutionary biologists believe. That is:
When groups compete, the cooperative ones win over the less cooperative ones. Within the cooperative groups, the competitive ones excel more than the cooperative ones.
Roc-A-Fella has produced many great hits. They have even ran towns.
But the winner is? Jay-Z?
Well, yes…but
My theory gives a different answer.
And the answer is counterintuitive, just like the very concept of cooperation and competition between and within groups.
Music, like evolution, is always evolving.
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