In recent months mogul Jay-Z has found himself the target of strong criticism from promising former pupils Foxy Brown and Teairra Mari.

During a recent interview with AllHipHop.com, Jay-Z replied to the accusations levied at him by both artists, whom he personally signed during his reign as CEO of Roc-A-Fella and President of Def Jam.

“As far as Foxy or Teairra Mari, these are people that I have given chances to. Its understandable that they would be upset, but you got to look at it from my point of view as well, Jay-Z told AllHipHop.com. “I gave Teairra Mari the same shot I gave Rihanna. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt.

In her recent XXL cover feature, Foxy lamented over Jays lack of visitation and encouragement during her incarceration, emphasizing that everyone else in her circle made time beside him.

“There are times when I just really needed him and he just wasnt there, a disappointed Foxy disclosed. “That broke my heart more than anything. When they sent me to jail, I just knew he would be there, everyone came. But he never showed up.

R&B upstart Tierra Mari is equally upset at Jays absence from her career.

In a July interview with AllHipHop.com, Mari expressed her hurt that the man she called a father figure would not even call to let her know she was being dropped from Roc-A-Fella Records.

Jay-Z defended his actions from the perspective of a businessman.

“You know that stuff is going to happen, eventually its going to happen, Jay-Z told AllHipHop.com. “What Im happy about is, that no matter what people say, no one has ever said that I am dishonest or that I have taken one dime from them Ive never cheated anyone out of a dime. No ones ever said that, right?

Jay-Z is currently completing work on his highly anticipated Blueprint 3, which is projected for release in early 2009.

Source: AllHipHop.com