Jay-Z and the 40/40 Club

Image details: 40/40 Club Host Mary J. Blige & Jay-Z’s After Party served by picapp.com

When you look around, you realize that there are several rap stars who have branched out into all types of businesses. One great example is Jay-Z.

His earlier business ventures included being the CEO of Def Jam Records and an owner and founder of Roc-A-Fella Records. Roc-A-Fella Records also spawned Rocawear, a clothing line that helped bring a bit more refinement to hip-hop fashions. Jay-Z has moved on from all of these businesses, however, and is involved in a completely different, and very cool, venture.

Jay-Z is a co-owner of an upscale sports bar called The 40/40 Club. It started in NYC, but there are now locations in Atlantic City and Las Vegas, with new clubs planned for Tokyo, Japan and Macau, China.

When they say “upscale” in the descriptions of this place, they are so not kidding. The clubs are absolutely lavish. According to the mega-star, “I love sports and wanted to create an environment that is conducive to my lifestyle, while being able to watch the games at the same time.” Let me tell you, if this is his lifestyle, we should all be so fortunate.

The New York location has 23 televisions (LCD and plasma, of course) and is something like 8000 square feet. There are all different sizes of rooms for private events, and the furnishings alone are enough to make me willing to sit and watch golf, if that’s what it would take to hang out in this sports bar.

The name 40/40 is an allusion to the exclusivity of the club and comes from baseball. To get in the 40/40 Club, a player has to have 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season. Only four baseball players in history have managed it. Fortunately, it sounds like the bar lets in a few more than that on a Friday night.