Sometimes, all it has to take to get your financial breakthrough is just one connection. This statement seems to hold for Phil Manzanera, a veteran guitarist who has spent over 50 years as a musician.
In his newly released memoir, “Revolución to Roxy,” the former Roxy Music guitarist revealed that a guitar riff he contributed to Jay-Z and Kanye West‘s iconic album Watch the Throne earned him more money than his entire five-decade tenure with the renowned English rock band.
The revelation, first shared in an excerpt published by iNews, details how producer 88-Keys sampled a section of Manzanera’s 1978 solo track K-Scope for the opening song No Church in the Wild on the rap duo’s collaborative masterpiece.
“No Church in the Wild was the first track [off Watch the Throne], with my guitar riff playing throughout the whole song and included vocals by Frank Ocean and The-Dream. The album went gold in the UK and Italy, and platinum in the United States and Denmark. It was used in the trailer, and in a scene in the film The Great Gatsby, in an advertisement for Audi cars, and in another TV ad for Dodge Dart, which ran during the half-time break of the Super Bowl.”
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Manzanera’s unexpected windfall resulted in a substantial royalty share, with the guitarist receiving one-third of the song’s recording royalties and one-third of its publishing revenue.
“Who knew that I would earn more money from a short guitar riff that I wrote one evening on a sofa in front of the telly in 1978 than I ever earned in the entire 50 years as a member of Roxy Music?” Manzanera marveled. “Thank you, Kanye West, thank you, Jay-Z, thank you Virgin and Universal, and thank you to the capricious mistress that is rock’n’roll.”
Yo Gotti hails Jay-Z as inspiration
Meanwhile, American rapper Yo Gotti has been making waves in the music industry for over two decades but is not content with being a successful artist.
He is also a savvy businessman who has diversified his portfolio and invested in various ventures, from sports to restaurants. He credits Hip Hop mogul Jay-Z for inspiring him to further his education and learn more about business.
In an exclusive interview with Forbes, Yo Gotti revealed that watching how Jay-Z has handled himself over the years motivated him to enrol in classes at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, one of the top business schools in the country.
