The Community Advisory Committees approved two casino proposals in Queens and Yonkers, New York. This approval acts as a pre-requisite for applying for a commercial casino license for company, Resorts World New York City. Nas’s role is to act as a partner, “culture architect” for Hispanic, Black, and underrepresented communities. He would help Resorts World New York City, design community programs that represent authentic “hip-hop” and street culture. While the streets lauded this as a loss for Jay-Z and a win for Nas, going back to the Ether Campaign for the music industry in the early 2000’s, there is concern about the sustainability of Nas’ role with the current Trump DOJ restrictions of company DEI (Diversity Equity and Inclusion) policies.
Affiliations
Unlike Nas’s partnership with Resorts World New York City, Jay-Z’s casino project was that of a company partner, rather than an individual partnership of Nas. Jay-Z acting as a corporate partnership could have created an quiet issue with down the road royalties especially if Caesar’s Entertainment and SL Green Realty weren’t comfortable with the notion of “street culture” and Beyonce being brand affiliated with their companies. It’s certain this project took time, and the direction, Anti-DEI policies, and brewing morality policing that’s becoming apart of the current Trump Administration, wasn’t factored when Caesar’s Entertainment and SL Green Reality chose Roc Nation for this deal. The Time Square’s voting community also wasn’t shy about not caring about race-based issues and celebrity connections for an area of New York City, already flooded with top stars and high-value investors, who also are residents of the area. Whereas Nas could have been used to get the deal and suddenly be removed to appease the Anti-DEI policy by the Trump DOJ, and then change up for a more Christian Valued company, he was able to close a deal with a lower hill to climb. Despite the two different outcomes, no deal is stable as America changes up in 2025 where policies can overrule initial agreements.
Location
Let’s face it, Times Square is not Queens or Yonkers. And while there have been expansion projects from Fat Joe in Queens and other’s in the other boroughs, Jay-Z more than likely outweighed his welcome in Brooklyn due to the Barclay Center and 40/40 Bar- Brooklyn development, essentially pricing out its prior residents, and gentrified Brooklyn to a higher priced real estate. In some way, Jay-Z having a track record could have been weighed against him.
For Nas’s project his pitch was in a long-struggling area that was more like Flint, Michigan that could have benefited from an industrial/manufacturing project than jobs at a Casino but, that struggle narrative was more than likely easier to sell in Yonkers than Time Square. Nas’ just plucked from a lower hanging fruit and sold Casino culture to a more economically-disenfranchised area that Jay-Z. Sure there is gate-keeping in the Time’s Square project but, something says the current plans of the Trump Administration may play a bigger role in the future of Manhattan’s Trillion Dollar future and a looming supposed, anti Billionaire Mayoral Candidate, Zohran Mamdani. In the end, Yonkers and Queens is currently not on the radar thus, easier to sell to the community’s hopes of quick fixes rather than long term community building.
Roles
Nas may be a partner, but how long will his “For the People” stance hold up to Casino culture. How long before it turns into a Rapper version of the movie Him. And that role slowly morphs from partner to collaborating in the destruction of the socio-economic disenfranchised once the area starts to become more expensive. Nas has won now, but, that same community that celebrated the possible job influx could become priced out of the same community if this project succeeds.
Be Humble
What seems fair today, can change, and with Las Vegas going through an economic downturn, will those employees be brought to Yonkers and Queens or will there be a great bailout by a President that is very well established in Casino culture? Failure doesn’t even have to be financially based. The climate of the Black mogul, on the backs of street culture may not be the brand direction America is going now. The Trump Administration looks to bring more Christian values into the brand Identity of America and its hard to know what’s not Christian enough to last in the eyes of business and race. While Jay-Z didn’t technically win his bid, Nas’s win could very well destroy his conscious rapper image if he decided this next phase of his life to play heartless mogul. The real test is what happens to Yonkers and Queens if they becomes the New Brooklyn. Nas is not apart of publicly traded companies. Roc Nation affiliate Live Nation and Caesars Entertainment are publicly traded, which shows Jay-Z’s loss at a higher rate that could have further potential of gains down the road (selling of shares, proposed other locations), while Nas could unfortunately be priced out if he doesn’t double down on ownership. Either way, both rappers will have to cross a line now that gate-keeping is at an all time high.
Resorts World New York is not a publicly traded company. it is owned by MGM Resorts International