Updated 10/19/2018-
Over President’s Day Weekend in mid-February 2018, superstar JAY Z made headline news with a then-relatively unknown Roc Nation executive named OG Juan. The Roc Nation crew celebrated OG Juan’s 50th birthday bash drinking and dining in excess surrounded by their closest friends – all to the tune of about $100k heard round the world. Bar tabs and receipts from the New York City party night quickly went viral, and everyone was left wondering… who was this dude rolling with Hova? Who warranted a hundred-thousand-dollar bar tab? What’s an OG Juan? The answer: Roc Nation Sports President and longtime Carter-Knowles family friend, a frequent mention in Hova’s shout outs, and husband to Roc Nation’s COO Desiree Perez who, together with OG Juan, make up the backbone of the entire Roc Nation empire.
Initial reports on OG Juan’s legendary birthday bash cited Jay as the big spender for the night out – splashing out $13,000 for dinner at Zuma in Midtown; splurging $9,000 on a round of drinks at Inwood hotspot Made In Mexico; and famously off to NYC nightclub Playroom where — even though the group had, at this point, dissipated to only 6 members — they ordered and paid full price for an astronomical 40 bottles of Ace of Spades Champagne, a luxury brand of bubbles is owned by Mr. Shawn Carter himself. Page six reported that the group was seen handing out bottles to other tables in the club and pouring dozens of rounds in celebration. The server at Playroom was delighted serving OG Juan and Jay, posting the check to Snapchat to show the whopping total of $91,135, including an epic $11,000+ tip.
After the bar tab and photos of receipts went viral, JAY Z took to DJ Khaled’s March 2nd release, “Top Off” to set the record straight on the baller bill. While most artists brag about their accumulated wealth, cars and bar tabs, Hova – being the man-on-top that he is – takes the swagger to the next level, bragging, “Dujac by the mag, that’s how we do wine / $91,000 for a wine bill / Keep it real with you, that was Juan’s bill.” In Jay’s world, we already know he’s capable of racking and paying any tab he could ever want. In Jay’s world, his success is measured and confirmed by the success of those around him. In Jay’s world, “Juan’s bill” is an extension of his own wealth. By declaring that he would “keep it real” and let the world know that OG Juan actually footed the bill, we see the entire dynamic of the Roc Nation empire at play: Jay looks out for his own, his best friends are family, and he keeps his family on top as to keep the whole crew successful – a barometer of his own astronomical wealth and success. The people surrounding Jay who make up Roc Nation are a combination of friends, family and business partners spanning decades of trust.
OG Juan Perez & JAY Z – Music
Juan “OG” Perez, 50, was born and raised in Harlem, attending Brandeis High School in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Heavily in the music and production scene around Harlem in the 1990’s, OG Juan was introduced to JAY Z in 1996 through Kareem “Biggs” Burke, co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records. At the time, Roc-A-Fella Records was but only a year in, founded by JAY Z, Damon “Dame” Dash and “Biggs” Burke in 1995, operating as a division of Def Jam Recordings and built by Jay to act as an independent outlet for the first JAY Z album. OG Juan partnered with Jay running studios throughout the late-90’s and early ‘00s.
Among these, OG Juan Perez ran the famous, long-running 26th Street Baseline Studio – now considered a cornerstone of the NYC hip-hop bred by artists like JAY Z in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. Known as the musical home of Roc-A-Fella Records from 2000 to 2003, OG Juan sold Baseline to power-producer Just Blaze in 2004 who ran the studio through 2010. The studio shared a rich history in the arts, but more than anything, the Baseline will be remembered for the hundreds of hits whose recordings called it home, from Jay-Z anthems to Just Blaze passion projects to Kanye behind production and more. Just as ‘Ye said on his Graduation hit and ode to “Big Brother” JAY Z, anyone who’s trying to rap in NYC can only dream of making it to Baseline: “Fresh off the plane, I’m off to Baseline / Nothin’ handed out, I’m ’bout to take mine.” With Jay’s “retirement” looming on the horizon in 2003, it looked like the upcoming The Black Album was to be his last. Jay and OG Juan recorded painstakingly in Baseline, with hits like “Public Service Announcement” being the last recorded Jay and OG Juan pairing in the sacred Baseline Studio. Jay even missed OG on a few moments of The Black Album, with “My 1st Song” having another Perez shout out: “OG Juan, whattup? I’m a little upset that you wasn’t involved in this whole process, but it’s all good,” possibly referring to Perez’ absence in the production on that particular song.
In 2005, the two went in together on Roc-La-Familia, a record label founded by Jay with OG Juan at the helm as president. This sub-label to Roc-a-Fella focused on signing international artists, including reggaeton artists, Latin hip hop, reggae, pop, rock and more. The first signee to the label was Houston rapper Aztek Escobar. Prominent album releases from the label came from artists Hector “El Father”, Dimitri “El Boss”, and N.O.R.E.
OG Juan Perez & JAY Z – Sports
The dynamic duo turned to nightlife and sports in 2003 with the opening of sports bars and lounges around NYC – the first in NY’s Flatiron District dubbed The 40/40 Club. Named after a baseball term describing the rare occurrence of making 40 home runs and stealing 40 bases in a single season – a record only shared by four professional players – The 40/40 Club is an exclusive environment Perez described as “a combination of sports and an upscale hip lounge.” The restaurant expanded to five new locations over the next decade in hotspots like Atlantic City, the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Las Vegas and Atlanta. Known for their live music and celebrity guests, the NYC bars served as home base for Jay & Friends, even immortalized in Jay’s 2003 hit “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” – “Now you chillin’ with a boss, bitch of course SC on the sleeve / at the 40/40 club ESPN on the screen.” The club’s swanky décor is lined with luxurious sports paraphernalia, like a structure made of gold-plated baseball bats designed to mimic the shape of a sound wave, solidifying the vision of OG Juan and Jay’s mission, which at the core of the duo was two intertwining ideas: music and sports.
Aside from music, NYC sports have always been the driving force in both Jay’s and Perez’ lives. The 40/40 club quickly became the breeding ground for sports and music to meet, with high profile execs, Roc Nation fam and the country’s best athletes all at the same table, naturally leading to the progression of Jay and OG’s next venture into the world of sports. “Basically, me and Jay, we always had these athletes come to the club and guys ask us for advice,” Perez told the New York Post about his foray into the world of sports, sharing his inclination that The 40/40 Club was always just a starting point for something bigger that would cement Roc Nation’s place in entertainment outside of just music. Perez said that more and more, the athletes who were clientele at the bars were asking him and Jay for business advice in the sporting world – management, agents, contracts. The pair came to realize that there was a distinct future for Roc Nation to lead into sports – if not for just the love of the game, then for the expertise of the founders. “We talked about doing this maybe [2008 or 2009],” Perez said of he and Jay leading Roc Nation into a sports agency. “It’s just the time wasn’t right. Jay just brought it up to me again. ‘Why not just add the sports to [Roc Nation]?’ We always talk about how entertainment and sports go together, but nobody has put it together … let’s do it.”
JAY Z’s 2009 mega-hit “Empire State of Mind” went on to shout out his bud OG yet again: “catch me at the X with OG at a Yankee game” on The Blueprint 3, and just a few short years later, in the Spring of 2013, the new subdivision of Roc Nation – Roc Nation Sports – hit the sports scene in a big way. Jay and OG were caught at the X at a Yankee game in one of the most daring and bold moves in the history of sports agency, stepping on the scene with flair only reserved for men like Hov. The arrival of Roc Nation Sports hit with the bombshell steal of Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano away from his longtime, famous agent Scott Boras with whom Cano completely cut ties. This flash and pomp rolled over into Jay’s music, with tracks like “Crown” from Magna Carta Holy Grail: “Scott Boras, you over baby / Robinson Cano, you coming with me / These niggas like rotary phones / It’s a new day, hit up KD,” dually confirming the acquisition of superstar NBA player Kevin Durant – KD. Roc Nation Sports’ arrival turned the entire industry of athletic representation on its toes while reporting, media frenzy, industry scrutiny and distrust among agents hit all-time highs.
In a 2013 introduction of Roc Nation Sports to the world, Jay told Vanity Fair that his and OG Juan’s motivations were stemmed from “really want[ing] to help these athletes … they all come to the 40/40, we’ve been giving them advice for years. Do you know how many athletes go broke three years after they stop playing? I want to help them hold on to their money. I mean, I know about budgets. I was a drug dealer.” With Jay’s understanding and influence in entertainment and Perez’ ability to focus on each athlete, Roc Nation Sports was built to be a boutique management firm – only allowing the top talent, almost exclusive as a 40/40 itself. In focusing on player development along with business acumen, Roc Nation Sports crafted a new approach to sports management, lending each player a star possibility – a strategy missing from the larger firms with hundreds of athletes on their roster. “With us, everything is magnified. It’s bigger,” says Perez, adding that athletes signed to Roc Nation Sports “would be a regular guy with another agency,” but with his and Hova’s care and commitment, Roc Nation Sports could lead into the industry’s next generation of athletes. “Everybody here gets the same treatment,” as Perez told The Washington Post, “I treat everybody like a Jay Z.”
OG Juan Perez & JAY Z – Roc Nation Family
This success garnered between the two partners throughout music, sports, entertainment and hospitality over decades of friendship has also crossed familial lines for both men. Perez’ wife, Desiree Perez, has also been close to Jay and Beyoncé for decades and serves as head honcho COO of Roc Nation. As one of the top executives in the music industry, Dez has accumulated a number of prestigious titles, including the accolade for Billboard’s “Most Powerful” women in the industry. Billboard revealed Desiree Perez’ reputation in the industry as a tough negotiator, highlighting landmark deals for which Dez has been responsible, like Sprint’s $200 million investment in TIDAL announced in 2018, Jay’s sponsorship with Sprint for the record-release of 4:44 and a Live Nation deal with Jay signing a long-term $200 million touring partnership in Spring 2017, among others.
In July of 2018, Desiree Perez almost single-handedly saved the future of Made in America – the annual Philadelphia music festival founded by Jay in 2012. Since its inception, MIA has always gone down on Labor Day weekend, occupying the legendary Benjamin Franklin Parkway for two days of festival performances that span genres. This year, in an embarrassing act of confusion amongst city officials, Mayor Jim Kenney’s office released a statement revealing to Roc Nation (and the world) that this would be the last year Made in America Festival could take place in the Parkway – a strange sort of eviction notice for Jay and Desiree. Jay immediately responded with an open letter published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, where he expressed his frustration with the announcement, highlighting all of the positive impact the festival has had on the city over the years – both culturally and economically. Jay revealed that the mayor’s office never bothered to discuss this first with Roc Nation in order to find a peaceful resolution, and thus the media storm began. Desiree Perez again jumped into action, holding interviews with entertainment publications to spread knowledge on MIA’s vast fingerprint on the city, and personally meeting Mayor Kenney to try to find a solution for both parties.
After days of negotiations, and describing the situation as an “unfortunate misunderstanding,” Mayor Kenney stated along with Perez, “we are happy to announce the Made in America festival will continue at the heart of the Philadelphia, the Benjamin Franklin Parkway for many years to come.” Perez’ astute skill in leveraging results that win for Roc Nation culminated in the win-win for Made in America and the City of Brotherly Love. After a “candid and constructive discussion with the Mayor,” said Perez, “we are confident any miscommunication is corrected, and we are proactively addressing any concerns.”
Mainstays of the Hova Circle of Influence, OG Juan and Desiree Perez feature heavily on the breakout Jay & Beyoncé 2018 collaboration for The Carter’s Everything is Love. The sixth track “Friends” is a celebration for Jay & Bey to acknowledge the circle that they’ve built around them, steady pillars of trust and kinship: “My friends, real friends, better than your friends / That’s how we keep poppin’ out that Benz, yeah / No faux, real friends, we ain’t even got to pretend, yeah.” Over the steady beat, Beyoncé coos while JAY Z pulls up to his verse in the song, shouting out their closest compadres by name: “Ty-Ty there, E there, Breezy there, Juan there / High here, Chaka there, Law there, they all here, ah yeah / Dez there, Kawanna here, sh*t feel like nirvana here.” Unlike other hip-hop artists who might brag on their famous acquaintances or name-drop in their flow, Jay uses his moments in the song to revel in the relationships brought on by his most trusted companions – cousin Emory Jones, childhood best friend Ty Smith, close friend and Roc Nation co-founder Jay Brown, OG Juan and Desiree Perez. The Carter’s most trusted confidants, “Closer than kin, I’m
blessed,” says Bey in confirming that friends like OG Juan and Desiree Perez “pull me up, and never let me down.”
______________________________________________________________
Hip-hop icon JAY Z really knows how to show the bday love. Hova hit the town over Presidents’ Day weekend, reportedly shelling out around $113,000 during birthday celebrations for close friend and business partner, Juan “OG” Perez. Joined by a small group of close friends, the Roc Nation Sports president and Carter-Knowles chum rang in his 50th year with unimaginable style that included a lavish price tag: $13k on dinner, another $9k on drinks, and a (now legendary) $91k tab at the club…we’re going to need an itemized receipt on this one:
According to Page Six, JAY Z and OG Perez, Roc Nation execs, OG’s wife Desiree Perez and friends started the extravagant night in Midtown, dining at internationally-acclaimed modern Japanese restaurant Zuma Sunday evening. A well-known Bey & Jay fave, Zuma served the party an opulent spread of lobster, steak and sushi to the tune of $13,000. The group then made its way to Made in Mexico, a restaurant-nightclub hotspot in Inwood. Splurging on drinks for the group, Hova racked up another $9,000 in liquor, with sources reporting the rapper continuously ordering D’USSÉ – a Cognac for which the mega-mogul heads global strategy and serves as a partial owner. Keep it in the fam, Hov.
Here is where OG’s birthday really soars: JAY Z and friends ended the night at Playroom Nightclub, where they balled out on 40 bottles of champagne, racking up a $91,000 bill – a price tag for a night cap that could otherwise purchase your own private island.
After the first round of drinks, the group reportedly split, with only JAY Z, Perez and four other friends closing down the night at Playroom Nightclub. The Roc Nation crew partied into the early morning, indulging on 20 bottles of Ace of Spades Gold champagne and another 20 of the Ace of Spades Rosé. An auspicious server posted the crew’s receipt on Snapchat, quickly turning the “OG Perez Birthday Bash” story viral. The tab shows the 40 bottles totaling $74,000, the added tax of $6,035 and gratuity of $11,100 making the total just over $91,000. After the story broke, Twitter erupted with queries as to why 40 bottles were split between a party of 6, with reactions ranging from confusion to elaborate jokes on affluent waste and conspiracy, but the Page Six report clarified that the group was seen mingling and handing out bottles of bubbly to other tables in the club all night.
The brilliance here is really watching Jay at work. First, enjoying his own label D’USSÉ Cognac at Made in Mexico, then closing the night with almost $100,000 in Ace of Spades – a champagne brand purchased by Jay in 2014. Twitter user @padresj broke it down in a way which we’d be remiss to note: the Roc Nation crew spending tens of thousands of dollars partying on Jay’s products only helps to continue to line Jay’s pockets; AND, on top of that, the sensation caused by Juan “OG” Perez’ now infamous birthday tab has provided countless dollars of free advertising for Jay’s brands. Our hats off to the crew – well played, gentlemen.
With a famous friendship that has spanned decades and business ventures, it’s no surprise that Jay made a splurge for his bud’s 50th celebration. Among Hova’s trusted circle, OG and his wife Desiree Perez have been quietly running business operations behind the mogul for more than 20 years.
“OG Juan, Whattup? … Whassup Dez?” / The Black Album, 2003
The Early Years
Juan “OG” Perez, 50, was born and raised in Harlem and attended Brandeis High School in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. First introduced to JAY Z in ’96 through Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Kareem “Biggs” Burke, Perez says the connection with Jay was instant, bonding on entertainment, life in New York and the love of NYC Sports. The pair were naturally positioned as allies, Juan receiving his first shout out in Jay’s lyrics on 2003’s The Black Album, “OG Juan, Whattup? / Whassup Dez?” referencing OG and his wife while Perez was the owner of Baseline Studios. The “whattup” line to OG goes on to state “I’m a little upset you wasn’t involved in this whole process, but it’s all good,” referencing their close collaboration in the early years of friendship and Perez’ apparent lack of involvement in The Black Album. Perez helped run studios with Jay throughout these early years, then in 2003, the pair put their common interests into action with the opening of sports bars and lounges around NYC – the first in NY’s Flatiron District – The 40/40 Club, an environment Perez describes as “a combination of sports and an upscale hip lounge.” The restaurant expanded to five new locations over the next 11 years, including spots in Atlantic City, the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, plus Las Vegas, and Atlanta.
Known for their live music and celebrity guests, the NYC bars serve as a game-spot for Hova & Friends, and had a stint in the spotlight with the line “Now you chillin’ with a boss, bitch of course SC on the sleeve / at the 40/40 club ESPN on the screen” in Jay’s 2003 hit “Dirt Off Your Shoulder.” The club’s walls are lined with gold-plated baseball bats designed in an architectural arrangement to mimic a sound wave, making the duo’s mission statement very clear – at the core of Jay & OG Perez’ business acumen are two things: music and sports.
Roc Nation Sports
NYC sports have always been the driving force in Jay’s and Perez’ intimate partnership. JAY Z decorated mega-hits with nods to his business partner, like “catch me at the X with OG at a Yankee game” on The Blueprint 3 banger “Empire State of Mind.” It didn’t take any time for the pair’s hotspot 40/40 Club to catch on in the world of New York sports’ celebrity.
“Basically, me and Jay, we always had these athletes come to the club and guys ask us for advice,” Perez recalls to the New York Post about his celebrity clientele, sharing the feeling that there was always something just beyond the horizon of 40/40 – something that would tie the duo’s stronghold in entertainment with the opportunities the city had in the sporting world. Perez has said that the more these athletes came to Hova for advice, the more Jay insisted there was a future for the brand in sports. “We talked about doing this maybe [2008 or 2009],” Perez said of starting a sports agency with JAY Z. “It’s just the time wasn’t right. Jay just brought it up to me again. ‘Why not just add the sports to [Roc Nation]?’ We always talk about how entertainment and sports go together, but nobody has put it together … let’s do it.”
Fast forward to the spring of 2013, the Roc Boys did it again with the flair saved for the nation’s top entertainers, announcing the arrival of Roc Nation Sports with a bombshell — the cop of Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano from longtime mega-agent Scott Boras with whom Cano completely cut ties.
If the extension of Shawn Carter’s rags-to-riches, come-up tale was Roc Nation, the subsidiary that managed sports played with the same tenacity – flashy and aggressive, even calling out Boras by name in the lyrics from 2013’s track “Crown” from Magna Carta Holy Grail: “Scott Boras, you over baby / Robinson Cano, you coming with me / These niggas like rotary phones / It’s a new day, hit up KD,” also confirming the acquisition of superstar NBA player Kevin Durant, aka, KD. Their arrival turned the cutthroat world of athletic representation on its toes, with scrutiny and suspect hitting industry highs; while, at the same time the agency’s intentional lack of media contact along with strategic athlete selectivity generated curiosity from competitors and potential clients alike.
At its core, the Roc Nation Sports mission statement follows the path of its namesake: “supporting athletes in the same way Roc Nation has been working alongside and advocating for artists in the music industry for years. Roc Nation Sports focuses on elevating athletes’ career on a global scale both on and off the field.” By opening up the world of athletic representation to look more like Roc Nation’s uber-successful artistic representation (queue Rihanna, J. Cole and Shakira, among dozens of other household names), the sports agency was setting itself up as something entirely fresh. Roc Nation Sports was setting out to mold players “off the field,” with deals that are usually saved for entertainers. The success of the sports division has proven that Jay and OG’s ventures work based on this yin and yang that relies on each man delivering a distinct and special component.
With Jay’s insight and leverage in the entertainment industry and Perez’ keen ability to focus on each individual athlete’s needs, Roc Nation Sports was built to be what the big guys couldn’t. By focusing on personal player development and outreach, Perez crafted a new approach to sports management, giving each player a star power – a strategy missing from the larger firms with hundreds of athletes on their roster. “With us, everything is magnified. It’s bigger,” says Perez, adding that athletes signed to Roc Nation Sports “would be a regular guy with another agency,” but the care and commitment to each on a personal level is what is breaking boundaries. “Everybody here gets the same treatment,” as Perez famously told The Washington Post, “I treat everybody like a Jay Z.”
But don’t just leave it to Jay and OG to tell you – their roster of athletes speaks for themselves. “It’s a family,” says 24-year-old Sacramento Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein, signed to the agency in 2015. “You gotta feel special when [Roc Nation Sports] asking you to join them … It’s so exclusive.”
In a sprawling interview with Vanity Fair introducing Roc Nation Sports to the world, Jay explained his and OG Perez’ motivations as “really want[ing] to help these athletes … they all come to the 40/40, we’ve been giving them advice for years. Do you know how many athletes go broke three years after they stop playing? I want to help them hold on to their money. I mean, I know about budgets. I was a drug dealer.” Couple Perez’ personalized, family-first strategy with the meeting endorsements, charity opportunities, contract negotiations and cash knowledge that only a mega-star and business magnate like JAY Z could produce, and Roc Nation Sports just worked.
In its first year, the agency went on to sign New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz, WNBA prospect Skylar Diggins and NHL prospect Seth Jones to show their range among the country’s professional leagues. In May 2013, the crew signed New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith as the second NFL player to join Roc Nation Sports, and the next month NBA superstar Kevin Durant from Oklahoma City Thunder, who immediately became the most high-profile triumph for the agency. To this day, the group adheres to their core values, keeping the representation to a minimum number of clients (versus the quantity over quality mantra of mega-conglomerate agencies). The Roc Nation Sports roster now boasts marketing and contract rights to some of the world’s top athletes, including: Dez Bryant, Kevin Durant, Rusney Castillo, CC Sabathia, Robinson Cano and Yeonis Cespedes.
Michael R. Yormark, Roc Nation’s president and chief of branding and strategy, described Jay and Juan’s success with the sports branch as being “absolutely contagious” in its unparalleled risk and reward. Yormark thanks the leadership and vision from Jay and OG, crediting the pair’s determination and core values as the inspiration for the rest of the Roc Nation brands. “We believe there’s nothing we can’t accomplish and that is a testament to the attitude that Jay and Roc Nation Sports President Juan Perez has instilled in us.”
“OG, tell these boys!” / American Gangster, 2007
Keeping it in the Family
2007’s track “Success” plays on an overarching theme of Jay’s career – on the surface, an ode to the material: watches, apartments, cars, chains; but lurking under all things shiny is what Jay has referenced as the “this is it?” moment. Even with all the cars and money, Jay brings it back to the people around him that matter in his world – his blood family and his Roc Nation family.
In an interview in 2007 with Blender magazine, Hov explained that being rich isn’t exactly what he had come to expect: “In the context of the album, it was that Scarface moment when Tony Montana sits in the restaurant and looks around and says, ‘This is all it’s about?’ You get to that point where it’s like, ‘Okay, I drove the Rolls Phantom around the corner and… nothing happened.’ And you ask yourself, ‘That’s it? I thought blondes was gonna be jumping on my hood!’” It’s in these moments of jaded success that Jay reaches out to the singular other on the entirety of the track, asking his long-time friend OG to “tell these boys” what Hov is really about.
This interplay between Hova and Juan “OG” Perez has stood the test of time and familial lines. Perez’ wife, Desiree Perez, has also been close to Jay and family for decades. As serving COO of Roc Nation, Dez is another force to be reckoned with, credited to be the authority behind the deals made for streaming music app Tidal. A mainstay of the Hova Circle of Influence that includes OG (President, Roc Nation Sports), Jay Brown (Co-Founder and CEO, Roc Nation), TyTy Smith (head of A&R, Roc Nation Records), Chaka Pilgrim (President, Roc Nation Records) and Jana Fleischman (Marketing & Communications, Roc Nation), Dez and OG are cemented in an elite group that collectively runs the Roc Nation empire and its offsets.
Dez’ list of major accomplishments includes: acquiring a seat at the table with Roc Nation’s $150-million deal with concert-promotions giant Live Nation in 2008, one of the biggest music contracts ever awarded at the time; negotiating a landmark $25-million collaboration with Samsung in promoting Rihanna’s ANTI tour in 2016, cementing Riri’s superstar status that same year; and leading the discussions at TIDAL’s negotiations with Sprint’s $200-million investment in January of 2017 – an astute business move which boosted Jay’s release of 4:44 to reach platinum in record-level time even before the official release of the album that same quarter. According to insiders, Dez Perez is Jay’s righthand woman when it comes to the art of the deal, known amongst colleagues for her sharp negotiation skills and insight into the pulse of the industry.
In keeping with the familial themes of the entirety of the Roc brand, Hov keeps his products close – having been known to splurge on his own brands of champagne and Cognac – and his family ties closer. Over the past 2 decades, the Perez’ have become family to Jay, trusted advisors and key components of the mogul’s widespread conglomerate. From Roc Nation to Roc Nation Sports, spanning business ventures in recording studios, nightclubs and labels, OG lives up to his name – an “OG” friend and a brother to Hov. After all the years and all the gains, what is $100 thousand on a birthday, anyway?
Juan and Desiree Perez have somehow managed to stay out of the spotlight in all their years in the industry. “It’s not about us,” says Desiree, “we put our family first and the light shines on the entertainment.” Their ability to balance friendships, business affairs and decades of marriage speaks volumes to their focus and drive in sustaining the alliances that have made Roc Nation such a success. Jet’s quarterback and Roc Nation Sports athlete Gene Smith says of the duo, “Juan and Desiree do a great job keeping the family environment and that atmosphere. We all hang out a bunch. We just do normal things. We don’t want to be in the spotlight. Obviously, we are because of our positions and Jay, but we’re normal people. They’re good to my family. That’s what I like.” Rest assured that as long as Hova is on top – in any form or fashion – the Perez’ are close behind, fully committed to the empire and its state of mind.
Leave a Reply
Be the First to Comment!
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.