Jay-Z

Jay-Z
Age	50 years
Also known as	Jigga HOV
Birthdate	December 4, 1969
Birth name	Shawn Corey Carter
Born in	Brooklyn, New York, United States
Origin
Current City	Tribeca, New York City
Styles	Hip-Hop
Occupation(s)	Rapper, Record producer, entrepreneur
Years active	1986–present
Label(s)	Def Jam, Roc-A-Fella Records (record label), Roc Nation (record label)
Associated acts
Website

Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known by his stage name Jay-Z (sometimes styled JAY Z), is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and investor. 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 17 Grammy Awards for his musical work, and numerous additional nominations. Consistently ranked as one of the greatest rappers of all-time, he was ranked number one 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.

As an entrepreneur and investor, Jay-Z co-owns the 40/40 Club, has a minority stake in NBA's Brooklyn Nets, and is also co-creator of the clothing line Rocawear. He is the former CEO of Def Jam Recordings, co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records, and the founder of Roc Nation. He also founded the sports agency Roc Nation Sports and is a certified NBA and MLB sports agent. As an artist, he holds the record for most number-one albums by a solo artist on the Billboard 200 with 12. Jay-Z also has had four number ones on the Billboard Hot 100, one as the lead artist. On December 11, 2009, Jay-Z was ranked as the tenth-most successful artist of the 2000s by Billboard as well as the fifth top solo male artist and fourth top rapper behind Eminem (rapper), Nelly (rapper), and 50 Cent (rapper). He was also ranked the 88th-greatest artist of all time by Rolling Stone.

Jay-Z married American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles in 2008. They have a daughter named Blue Ivy Carter, born January 7, 2012.

Early life

Shawn Carter is originally from Marcy Houses, a housing project in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City. He and his three siblings were raised by their mother, Gloria Carter after their father abandoned the family. He claims in his lyrics that in 1982, at the age of 12, he shot his older 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. He has also said he had been shot at three times during this time in his life.

According to his mother, Carter 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 services that have a stop at Marcy Avenue in Brooklyn. On 18 July 2013, he announced he was dropping the hyphen and prefers to be known as Jay Z.

Early career

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 efforts to get a 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, although Kane explains that he didn't fill the traditional hype man role, instead "basically ma[king] 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". The young Jay-Z 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 (rapper) and Ja Rule (rapper) 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."

Links

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay-Z

See Also

• List of CEO's
• List of American rappers and rap groups
• List of American rappers
• List of American hip-hop record producers
• List of Record Producers
• List of Rappers and Rap Groups
• List of Rappers
• List of New York Metropolitan Area rappers and rap groups

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Jay-Z