Jay-Z’s Roc Nation brand has gone from a label producing records and managing artists to a full-on media conglomerate, expanding into sports management, social justice, and now, even book publishing. Today, Roc Nation announced its partnership with Random House to form the publishing imprint Roc Lit 101 to publish books from “a wide range of subjects such as music, sports, pop culture, activism, and art.” Several books are slated for release within its first year, including books from rappers Fat Joe, Lil Uzi Vert, Meek Mill, and Young Gotti, baseball player CC Sabathia, and music journalist Danyel Smith.
Incidentally, Lil Uzi Vert and Meek Mill are signed to Roc Nation management. Uzi’s book is described as “illustrated fiction” in the press release (fingers crossed for a superhero comic featuring Uzi with superpowers), while Meek’s is a “personal narrative telling a ‘story of criminal justice and survival.’” Fat Joe, Sabathia, and Yo Gotti are contributing memoirs, while Smith’s Shine Bright will tell the story of Black women as the foundation of American pop music. Roc Lit 101 also plans to release children’s books and cookbooks, as well as works that “defy genre altogether.”
Chris Jackson, publisher/editor-in-chief of Random House imprint One World Books, and Jana Fleishman, Roc Nation executive VP, will oversee the new imprint, which Jackson says “isn’t just about the books – it’s also about audiences: we want to find new voices and new stories, but also new readers.”
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.