Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America. In 2012, Forbes estimated Carter's net worth at nearly $500 million.He has sold approximately 50 million albums worldwide, while receiving fourteen Grammy Awards for his musical work, and numerous additional nominations.He is consistently ranked as one of the greatest rappers of all-time. He was ranked #1 by MTV in their list of The Greatest MCs of All-Time in 2006.Two of his albums, Reasonable Doubt (1996) and The Blueprint (2001) are considered landmarks in the genre with both of them being ranked in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.Blender included the former on their 500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die.

 

Jay-Z co-owns the 40/40 Club, is part-owner of the National Basketball Association's Brooklyn Nets and is also the creator of the line Rocawear.He is the former CEO of Def Jam Recordings, one of the three founders of Roc-A-Fella Records, and the founder of Roc Nation.As an artist, he holds the record for most number one albums by a solo artist on the Billboard 200 with eleven.Jay-Z also has had four number ones on the Billboard Hot 100, one as lead artist.

 

He married American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles on April 4, 2008.They gave birth to a daughter named Blue Ivy Carter in January 2012. On December 11, 2009, Jay-Z was ranked as the 10th most successful artist of 2000s by Billboard and ranking as the 5th top solo male artist and as the 4th top rapper behind Eminem, Nelly, and 50 Cent.He is also ranked the 88th greatest artist of all time, according to Rolling Stone.

 

Early life

Originally from Marcy Houses, a housing project in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City,the future "Jay-Z" then known as Shawn Carter, was abandoned by his father and in 1982, he shot his brother in the shoulder for stealing his jewelry.Carter attended Eli Whitney High School in Brooklyn, along with future rapper AZ, until it was closed down. After that he attended George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School in Downtown Brooklyn, with fellow future rappers The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes, and Trenton Central High School in Trenton, New Jersey, but did not graduate.In his music he refers to having been involved in selling crack cocaine.

 

According to his mother, Gloria Carter, her son Shawn used to wake his siblings up at night banging out drum patterns on the kitchen table. Eventually, she bought him a boom box for his birthday, sparking his interest in music. He began freestyling, writing lyrics, and followed the music of many artists popular at the time.In his neighborhood, Carter was known as "Jazzy", a nickname that eventually developed into his showbiz/stage name, "Jay-Z". The moniker is also an homage to his musical mentor, Jaz-O, as well as to the J/Z subway lines that have a stop at Marcy Avenue in Brooklyn.

 

Jay-Z can briefly be heard on several of Jaz-O's early recordings in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including "The Originators" and "Hawaiian Sophie".Jay-Z was also involved in and won several battles with rapper LL Cool J in the early 90s as part of a plan to get a sought-after record deal.He first became known to a wide audience by being featured on the posse cut "Show and Prove" on the 1994 Big Daddy Kane album Daddy's Home. Jay-Z has been referred to as Big Daddy Kane's hype man during this period,though Kane explains that he didn't fill the traditional hype man role, instead Jay-Z "basically made cameo appearances on stage. When I would leave the stage to go change outfits, I would bring out Jay-Z and Positive K and let them freestyle until I came back to the stage".He made an appearance on a popular song by Big L, "Da Graveyard", and on Mic Geronimo's "Time to Build", which also featured early appearances by DMX, and Ja Rule in 1995. His first official rap single was called "In My Lifetime", for which he released a music video. An unreleased music video was also produced for the B-side, "I Can't Get With That."

 

Musical style

Influences

Jay-Z that states his earliest exposure to music was through his parents' record collection, which was mostly of soul artists such as Marvin Gaye and Donny Hathaway. He says "I grew up around music, listening to all types of people... I'm into music that has soul in it, whether it be rap, R&B, pop music, whatever. As long as I can feel their soul through the wax, that's what I really listen to."He often uses excerpts from these artists as samples in his work, particularly in the Kanye West-productions included on The Blueprint.

 

Rapping technique

Royce da 5'9" and Fredro Starr of Onyx both describe Jay-Z's emphasis on flow in the book How to Rap – Starr says that Jay-Z is "a master of the flow—he can flow fast, he can flow slow".The book describes how Jay-Z uses 'rests' to provide structure to a verse and how he uses 'partial linking' to add more rhymes to a verse.Jay-Z's early style is described by Vibe as "a distinctly Das EFX-type, stiggety style" on his 12" single "Can't Get With That",referring to the fast rhythms and vocal delivery of the group Das EFX. He is also known to write lyrics in his head, as described by Pusha T of Clipse in How to Rap,a style popular with many MCs such as The Notorious B.I.G.,Everlast,Bobby Creekwater and Guerilla Black. Shock G of Digital Underground describes Jay-Z's performance style, saying he "rarely breaks a sweat, and instead uses smoothness and clever wordplay to keep the audience interested and entertained."

 

Business ventures

Jay-Z has also established himself as an entrepreneur like his fellow hip hop moguls and friends, Russell Simmons, Dr. Dre and Sean "Diddy" Combs, who also have business holdings such as record companies and clothing lines. In an interview, he stated that "my brands are an extension of me. They're close to me. It's not like running GM, where there's no emotional attachment."He is the founder of the urban clothing brand Rocawear along with Damon Dash. Rocawear has clothing lines and accessories for men, women and children. The line was taken over by Jay-Z in early 2006 following a falling out with Dash. In March 2007, Jay-Z sold the rights to the Rocawear brand to Iconix Brand Group, for $204 million. He retains his stake in the company and continues to oversee the marketing, licensing and product development.He also co-owns the 40/40 Club, an upscale sports bar that started in New York City and has since expanded to Atlantic City and Chicago. In 2008, the 40/40 club in Las Vegas was closed down and bought back by the hotel after attendance steadily declined. Future plans will see 40/40 Clubs in Tokyo and Singapore. In 2005, Jay-Z became an investor in Carol's Daughter, a line of beauty products, including products for hair, skin, and hands.

 

Jay-Z serves as co-brand director for Budweiser Select and collaborates with the company on strategic marketing programs and creative ad development. He provides direction on brand programs and ads that appear on TV, radio, print, and high-profile events. He is also yet to expand his 40/40 Club sports bar in as many as 20 airports, as he makes deals with his business partners, Juan and Desiree Perez.He is a part-owner of the Brooklyn Nets NBA team, having paid a reported $4.5 million for his share. He encouraged the team's relocation to Brooklyn's Barclays Center (from New Jersey) in the 2012–2013 season, at which point the team took on the Brooklyn Nets moniker.In October 2005, he was reported in English media as considering buying a stake of Arsenal F.C., an English soccer team.He has also invested in a real estate development venture called J Hotels which recently acquired a $66 million mid-block parcel in Chelsea, New York. Jay-Z and his partners are contemplating constructing a high-end hotel or an art gallery building on the newly acquired site which has the potential to go up about twelve stories.Through his company Gain Global Investments Network LLC, he had an interest estimated between 2 and 7% in the Aqueduct Entertainment Group (AEG) consortium, which in January 2010 was awarded a contract to operate a 4,500 slot machine racino at the Aqueduct Race Track. Jay-Z became interested in the project after New York Governor David Paterson who awarded the contract said there had to be an affirmative action component to the ownership. Jay-Z initially approached Steve Wynn who was also bidding on the contract. On March 9, 2010, Jay-Z and Flake withdrew from the project and Paterson recused himself from further involvement.

 

On November 16, 2010, Jay-Z published a memoir entitled Decoded.

 

Jay-Z is also credited as the executive producer of the basketball video game NBA 2K13, where he worked on the look and feel of the game along with its soundtrack.

 

Personal life

Relationship with Beyoncé

Jay-Z is married to American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles. In 2002, Jay-Z and Knowles collaborated for the song "'03 Bonnie & Clyde". Jay-Z also appeared on Knowles' hit single "Crazy In Love" and as well as "That's How You Like It" from her debut Dangerously in Love. On her second album, B'Day, he made appearances on the 2006 hits, "Déjà Vu" and "Upgrade U". In the video for the latter song, she comically imitates his appearance.The couple generally avoid discussing their relationship. Knowles has stated that she believes that not publicly discussing their relationship has helped them. Jay-Z said in a People article, "We don't play with our relationship."They kept a low profile while dating, and married quietly in April 2008.It became a matter of public record on April 22, 2008,but Knowles did not publicly debut her $5 million Lorraine Schwartz-designed wedding ring until the Fashion Rocks concert on September 5, 2008 in New York City.Knowles and Jay-Z were listed as the most powerful couple for TIME magazine's 100 most influential people of 2006.In January 2009, Forbes ranked them as Hollywood's top-earning couple, with a combined total of $162 million.They also made it to the top of the list the following year, with a combined total of $122 million between June 2008 and June 2009.At the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, Beyoncé revealed that she was pregnant with their first child and on January 7, 2012, she gave birth to their daughter, named Blue Ivy Carter, at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. On January 9, 2012, Jay-Z released "Glory", a song dedicated to their child, on his social website LifeandTimes.com.The song detailed the couple's pregnancy struggles, including a miscarriage Knowles suffered before becoming pregnant with their daughter.Because Blue's cries were included at the end of the song and she was officially credited on the song as "B.I.C", at 2 days old she became the youngest person ever to appear on a Billboard chart when "Glory" debuted on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at number 74.

 

Philanthropy

During his retirement, Jay-Z also became involved in philanthropic activity. On August 9, 2006, he met with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan at the organization's headquarters in New York City. The rapper pledged to use his upcoming world tour to raise awareness of and combat global water shortage. Already on the look-out for a way to, in his own words, "become helpful", he had been made aware of this issue during a visit to Africa.[122] The effort took place in partnership with the UN, as well as MTV, which produced a documentary entitled Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life, first airing in November 2006.Along with Sean "Diddy" Combs, Jay-Z pledged $1 million to the American Red Cross' relief effort after Hurricane Katrina.Jay-Z stated his support for Kanye West after the latter's outburst against President Bush during a live Katrina charity telethon. He also addressed the issue of the Katrina disaster, and the government's response, in his song "Minority Report".

 

Politics

Jay-Z got actively involved in politics during the 2008 presidential campaign, where he supported increased voter participation and helped send voters to polling stations.He was an early supporter for the candidacy of Illinois senator and subsequent U.S. president Barack Obama, performing for free in voter-drive concerts financed by the Democrats' campaign. He also became acquainted with Obama himself, who stated "Every time I talk to Jay-Z, who is a brilliant talent and a good guy, I enjoy how he thinks. That's somebody who is going to start branching out and can help shape attitudes in a real positive way."During the 2010 mid-term elections' campaign, Jay-Z appeared, along with other artists, in an ad prepared by the HeadCount organization, urging voters, and especially younger ones, to register and vote.In May 2012, Jay-Z announced his endorsement of President Obama's support of same-sex marriage for gay couples.

 

Harry Belafonte has been openly critical of Jay-Z and Beyoncé's relatively safe political stances, saying that they "have turned their back on social responsibility" in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter. During Obama's re-election campaign, Jay-Z altered the lyrics of 99 Problems with the line "I've got 99 problems but Mitt ain't one."

 

Discography

Studio albums

• Reasonable Doubt (1996)

• In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1997)

• Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life (1998)

• Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter (1999)

• The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2000)

• The Blueprint (2001)

• The Blueprint2: The Gift & The Curse (2002)

• The Black Album (2003)

• Kingdom Come (2006)

• American Gangster (2007)

• The Blueprint 3 (2009)

 

Collaboration albums

• Jay-Z: Unplugged (with The Roots) (2001)

• The Best of Both Worlds (with R. Kelly) (2002)

• Unfinished Business (with R. Kelly) (2004)

• Collision Course (with Linkin Park) (2004)

• Watch the Throne (with Kanye West) (2011)

• Watch the Throne 2 (with Kanye West) (2013) [135]