While Jay-Z was busy basking in the "glory" of his newborn daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, former employees who one occupied his Rocawear offices in New York City had to find new jobs. The lifestyle clothing brand Hova co-founded laid off half of its staff in the Manhattan office, the day before Beyoncé gave birth to their daughter.

According to the New York State Department of Labor website, the massive firing took place on Jan. 6. A total of 28 workers lost their jobs with Rocawear due to "economic" problems. The company most recently caused a stir for attempting to cash in on the long-running Occupy Wall St. protest, by selling "Occupy All Streets" t-shirts for $22 a pop. "The 'Occupy All Streets' T shirt was created in support of the 'Occupy Wall Street' movement," a rep for the company told Gawker.com. "Rocawear strongly encourages all forms of constructive expression, whether it be artistic, political or social. 'Occupy All Streets' is our way of reminding people that there is change to be made everywhere, not just on Wall Street. At this time we have not made an official commitment to monetarily support the movement."

Amid the controversy, the shirts temporarily disappeared from the company website because they were on back order, but returned once the stock was replenished. While his company may be going through tough economic times, the brand that is Jay-Z continues to get bigger. Hova recently signed on as the spokesperson for Duracell Powermat, and has plans to re-open the flagship location of his newly renovated 40/40 Club at an "invite-only" soiree, Wednesday (Jan. 18).

Rocawear Pulls Jay-Z “Occupy” Line After Criticism

Jay-Z 'sOccupy Wall Street Rocawear t-shirts are seemingly off of the market.

According to reports, Rocawear pulled the "Occupy All Streets" t-shirts from their website after the criticism surrounding the sale of the line.

Before the shirts were pulled, Rocawear issued a statement stating that did not have plans to donate any proceeds from the sale of the shirts to the Occupy Wall Street movement:

The ‘Occupy All Streets' T shirt was created in support of the ‘Occupy Wall Street' movement. Rocawear strongly encourages all forms of constructive expression, whether it be artistic, political or social. ‘Occupy All Streets' is our way of reminding people that there is change to be made everywhere, not just on Wall Street. At this time we have not made an official commitment to monetarily support the movement.

This statement caused a strong backlash and the $22 shirts have been moved from the Rocawear website.

Rocawear has yet to release an official statement on the removal of the shirts.

There are a bunch of applications hitting the U.S. Patent and Trademark office from people trying to cash in on the "Occupy Wall Street" movement.

But Jay-Z is already locked in on one phrase, "Occupy All Streets" to cover a Rocawear shirt that will be in stores today.

Hov hasn't released any statement as to whether or not he's sharing the profits so let's just assume the slogan is meant to bring awareness for all and dollars for some.

Jay is supportive of the movement so he might just end up kicking back to the 99 percent.

Rapper Kendrick Lamar, executive Steve Stoute and stylist June Ambrose are a few of the people that lend their input to this video highlighting the impact and reach of the Rocawear brand started by Jay-Z and Damon Dash over a decade ago.

Naomi Campbell also spoke about her involvement in the ad campaigns and how much it meant to her.

Stoute claims that although we don't view Nike and Levi's as urban brands that they reach that demographic without trying. Rocawear set out to reach the urban youth but their classic style and the growth of the brand's creator helped them go much further.

Remember when the clothing line launched back in 1999? Certified Hip-Hop heads across the country were decked in baggy denim and logo hoodies trying to emulate the Roca-A-Fella Records style.

Fast forward to 2011, and the business savvy company births an online marketing campaign, featuring short videos from an array of talented artists, to essentially expand Rocawear's awareness beyond the urban street wear market. Smart move.

Peep The Interview On The Brand's growth.

[More]

And in it, we see the star of the "In The Flow" sketch comedy series donning a trademark baseball cap like Hov and rapping about the clothing line before breaking into a dance routine like Les Twins, the Hip-Hop dancers noted for Beyonce at the 2011 Billboard awards.

"Only rapper to rewrite fashion without a pen, No I.D. on the track...let the story begin," he raps.

Check out Affion Crockett playing Hov below.

The brand will seed the web with 37 short videos featuring an eclectic mix of musicians, poets, artists, and of course a troupe of double-dutchers.

This new move is supposed to shift the label from urban to mainstream, touching people from all backgrounds.

“We are a great American brand. We don't envision ourselves as an urban brand or streetwear brand,” explained Jay-Z. “We wanted to show people how we've evolved and repositioned ourselves, without abandoning our original DNA.”

Jay-Z continued to speak on the culture of the business and why he wants to expand it.

“It's all walks of life. When I played the Glastonbury music festival people said a hip-hop artist couldn't play a rock festival. But culture isn't segmented like that any more. There's so much cross-pollinization and the same thing is true for clothes."

Further, on Monday Rocawear will open a pop-up shop at 201 Mulberry Street in Manhattan's NoLIta neighborhood.

Rather than sell merchandise, the space will serve as a brand showcase and the company is inviting celebrities, bloggers, radio personalities and students to come in and tape reactions on their impressions of the brand.

You can peep 2 of the 37 web videos already released on ThatsRocawear.com.

The cover duo who became internet sensations with their covers of Lil Wayne's "6'7'" and Chris Brown's "Look At Me Now," has now tackled a Hov classic off the Black album.

Rumored to have already signed with Epic Records by L.A. Reid, peep the video below and let us know what you think of Karmin's skills.

Peep the photos recently shot in Puerto Rico by clicking The Page #'s Below

]]> http://hiphopwired.com/2011/02/05/trey-songz-melanie-fiona-are-doing-what-together/feed/ 4 http://hiphopwired.com/2009/12/01/jay-z-gives-dame-dash-props-for-rocawear/ http://hiphopwired.com/2009/12/01/jay-z-gives-dame-dash-props-for-rocawear/#comments Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:18:07 +0000 Justin T. Stewart justinstewart http://hiphopwired.com/?p=17782

“We really should have done some Rihanna Rocawear umbrellas when that song became a hit.  We could have made a load of money on those.  I'm still kicking myself.”

For all of the chaos that was left in the wake of the Roc-A-Fella break up, there is still some positivity that can be found if a person searches through the rubble of the Dynasty.

Aside from being business partners in their musical venture, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Damon Dash also decided to take a crack at the fashion industry.  A true hustler knows that various paychecks becomes much more beneficial than a single check so the two needed to find a means to use their exposure to broaden their brand.

Officially launched in 1999, the line has developed clothing for adults and children and has expanded by creating handbags, jewelry and even sunglasses.

Unfortunately the break up found Dash selling his stake in the enterprise to Jay for $20 million.  Jigga would later sell his own rights in March 2007 to Iconix Brand Group for $204 million.  Jay, however, was still given the ability to oversee the marketing, licensing and product development.   

As Jay caught up with Women's Wear Daily, Mr. Carter actually gave his former business partner his due for his work with the clothing line.  He also added how their different mentalities in business were a reason behind the rift.

“Dame did a great job when he was here.  I just feel that I have a different way of running things, which I think is working out well. I let people make mistakes, and push them to be creative. I let a design team design. When they feel good about something they have created, it makes them want to do more. It makes them want to do their best. People are happy here. I'm not a controlling manager and I have a great team that makes me confident that things can run well when I'm on the road, and I'm proud of that.”

Jay also expressed how the brand has been absorbed by the community and established itself within the marketplace.

 “Rocawear has always been a part of the whole overall culture.  It's connected to everything that I do.  So, coming in full time was important to me.  It's something I really believe in and something I want to protect.” 

Always known to be a trendsetter, Hov explained how the actual idea of the brand was sparked back in 1997 while the rapper was on stage.

“I would be onstage performing, and I noticed that all the kids were wearing iceberg jeans.  The same jeans that I would wear.  So, we thought, ‘Why should we let Iceberg get all this business when we can do it ourselves?”

Acting as a catalyst to having young African-American males ditching sports jerseys and throwing on button ups, Rocawear was able to hit the fashion industry by storm.  As FUBU was, the new brand from Jay and Dame was fully embraced by the urban community. 

Estimates show that Rocawear has annual sales of $800 million.  In March 2009, reports stated that the brand launched its first social networking site which offers things such as style news, music and fashion.

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