“Jay-Z sensed skepticism in the furrowed brows of the Def Jam bigwigs, but he came prepared. His only hobbies of late-- basketball and high-stakes poker-- had left him time to think, and he felt confident that his latest project, Operation: Female Demographic, would bring in the easy cheddar:
Russell Simmons: So, you finally came to announce the signing of Common and Mos Def, right? It took you lo”
