JAY-Z LEAVING DEF JAM?

Many of you might not know this but Jay-Z's Def Jam contract expires at the end of this month but renewal negotiations between the mogul and parent company, Universal Music, have reportedly reached an impasse. According to New York's Daily News, a source from Universal says that Jigga wants too much money that is "out of sync with the realities of today's record business".

"People have lost count of how many times he's come out of retirement," the source said. "Everybody knows he's not around the office much. Everybody at Universal loves him, but they can't justify paying him the money he wants when so many people have been laid off."

But obviously Jay doesn't care that people are being laid off, he knows his worth and anybody in the business can see that he has brought tremendous success to Def Jam with artists such as Ne-Yo, Rihanna, Nas, Rick Ross and Fabolous.

After negotiating with him for a couple of weeks now, Island/Def Jam CEO L.A. Reid and his boss, Doug Morris, CEO of Universal Music are said to have found Jay's demands "excessive."

But friends of Hov rebuffed the claim that Reid and Morris have had it with Jay, saying, "They are still actively negotiating,"

Rumours are also rife that he is planning to join Rick Rubin at Columbia Records in a high-level executive role.

One person close to Jay said, "The talks will continue when [Hov] returns to New York. They still have a ways to go before a decision."

The rapper-turned-CEO recently celebrated his 38th birthday in Paris with the lovely B by his side.