General

Jay-Z Doesn’t Drink Champagne At 10 A.M., He’s Building An Empire

Oct 22, 2010, 9:14 PM UTC

Is it just me, or is Jay-Z quietly turning into one of the three or four coolest celebrities alive? Today’s Wall Street Journal feature only adds to the myth.

In the early days of his entrepreneurship, there were awkward exchanges with white-collar guys trying to relate. “In the beginning it was ’ ‘Sup, man!’ ” he says in his soft speaking voice. “But at this point, it’s pretty much accepted that I walk both worlds naturally.”

And my favorite part: “He says it wasn’t uncommon for radio stations to serve him chilled bottles of bubbly during morning promotional visits. ‘It’s 10 in the morning!’ [he’d say] ‘I don’t drink champagne all day, every day.’”

First of all, it’s great that hip-hop stations would do that. Second, I bet Jay-Z is among like 10% of rappers that turn it down. You think Flo-Rida’s turning down a free drink? Come on. Why do you think he got in this game in the first place? More links after the jump.

Bill Simmons came back with a two-part mailbag today that I thoroughly enjoyed.
The Kissing Suzy Kolber Sex/Fantasy Football mailbag.
The Veteran on the Rookie Mistakes of rating girls on a 1-10 scale.
I wish I could make this photo into a poster.
Things get weird with Tracy Morgan.

And finally, by far the weirdest story of the week:

A STOWAWAY crocodile on a flight escaped from its carrier bag and sparked an onboard stampede that caused the flight to crash, killing 19 passengers and crew. The croc had been hidden in a passenger's sports bag - allegedly with plans to sell it - but it tore loose and ran amok, sparking panic.

A stampede of terrified passengers caused the small aircraft to lose balance and tip over in mid-air during an internal flight in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The unbalanced load caused the aircraft, on a routine flight from the capital, Kinshasa, to the regional airport at Bandundu, to go into a spin and crash into a house.

And the best part: "The crocodile survived the crash before being cut up with a machete." Umm.... Pretty much the worst nightmare ever right there. But everything sounds better when British people say it.