American rapper, songwriter, and producer Jay-Z was raised in the drug-ridden Marcy Projects of Brooklyn. He originally appeared on Yo! MTV Raps in 1989 and used rap as an escape. Following his Roc-a-Fella label’s millions of record sales, Jay-Z launched an entertainment firm and his own apparel brand. In 2008, he married well-known singer and actress Beyoncé.
American rapper, songwriter, and producer Jay-Z was raised in the drug-ridden Marcy Projects of Brooklyn. He originally appeared on Yo! MTV Raps in 1989 and used rap as an escape. Following his Roc-a-Fella label’s millions of record sales, Jay-Z launched an entertainment firm and his own apparel brand. In 2008, he married well-known singer and actress Beyoncé.
Early Life: On December 4, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York, Shawn Corey Carter gave birth to rapper Jay-Z. Gloria Carter, the mother of Jay-Z, subsequently remembered, “I knew he was a special child because he was the last of my four children and the only one that didn’t give me any pain when I gave birth to him.” When Jay-Z was just eleven years old, his father, Adnes Reeves, abandoned the family. The drug-ridden Marcy Projects in Brooklyn were home to the young rapper and his mother.
Carter traded drugs and dabbled in gun violence during a difficult adolescence that is chronicled in several of his autobiographical songs. The renowned rapper Notorious B.I.G. was a classmate of his at George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School in downtown Brooklyn, one of the few high schools he attended. “December 4th” by Jay-Z later recounted, “I went to school, got good grades, could behave when I wanted/But I had demons deep inside that would raise when confronted.”
Get Started in Hip-Hop
At an early age, Carter resorted to rap as a way out of the drug abuse, violence, and destitution he experienced growing up in the Marcy Projects. He collaborated with the rapper Jaz-O, an elder artist who functioned as a mentor of sorts, on the song “The Originators,” which led to the two of them being featured in an episode of Yo! MTV Raps in 1989. At this point, Carter adopted the moniker Jay-Z, which was a play on his childhood nickname of “Jazzy,” a tribute to Jaz-O, and a reference to the J/Z subway station close to his Brooklyn apartment.
Jay-Z was largely unknown even with his stage name until he and two pals, Kareem Burke and Damon Dash, started their own record label, Roc-a-Fella Records, in 1996. That June, Jay-Z released Reasonable Doubt, his debut album. With tracks like “Can’t Knock the Hustle,” which features Mary J. Blige, and “Brooklyn’s Finest,” a joint effort with Notorious B.I.G., the album is now regarded as a classic hip-hop record even though it only peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard 200. Jay-Z gained notoriety as a rising hip-hop star because to Reasonable Doubt.
Jay-Z saw even more success two years later with the release of Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life. Jay-Z’s most successful single to date was the title tune, which famously sampled the chorus from the Broadway musical Annie. Following a successful run that saw him win a Grammy for Volume 2 and receive another nomination for “Hard Knock Life,” Jay-Z rose to prominence in the hip-hop industry.
The rapper put out a number of No. 1 albums and smash singles over those years. During this time, some of his most well-known songs are “Big Pimpin’,” “I Just Wanna Love U,” “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” and “03 Bonnie & Clyde,” a duet with Beyoncé Knowles, who would later become his wife. Jay-Z’s 2001 album The Blueprint was his most well-received release during this time, and it went on to rank highly among reviewers’ lists of the finest albums of the decade.
Jay-Z stunned the hip-hop community in 2003 when he dropped The Black Album and declared it to be his final solo album before retiring. When asked to explain his abrupt departure from the rap game, Jay-Z stated that he used to get inspiration from attempting to outdo other legendary MCs, but that he had grown bored because there wasn’t much competition. He remarked, “The game aint hot.” “I adore it when an album becomes popular and inspires others to create their own. I adore that. However, it’s not hot.
Rap Returns
Jay-Z announced his comeback to the music industry in 2006 with the release of his new album, Kingdom Come. Soon after, he put out two additional albums, Blueprint 3 in 2009 and American Gangster in 2007. Jay-Z’s earlier sound was significantly altered by these three albums, which featured more rock and soul influences in their production and mature subjects like the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Barack Obama’s election in 2008, and the dangers of fame and wealth. Jay-Z said that he was attempting to change his sound to better reflect his own middle age. “There’s not a lot of people who have come of age in rap because it’s only 30 years old,” he stated. “As more people come of age, hopefully the topics get broader and then the audience will stay around longer.”
Next, Jay-Z collaborated on 2011’s Watch the Throne with Kanye West, a former Roc-A-Fella protégé. Soon after its August release, the album went on to become a triple smash, topping the pop, R&B, and rap charts. After receiving numerous Grammy nominations, it went on to win the Best Rap Performance Grammy with “Otis,” a song that featured a sample of the late R&B singer Otis Redding.
Magna Carta Holy Grail, Jay-Z’s 12th studio album, was released in July 2013. While the album did not receive a favorable review from reviewers, it was highly received by fans and eventually reached double platinum status, topping the Billboard 200. Jay-Z had an incredible nine Grammy nominations that winter, and he and Justin Timberlake shared the victory for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for their smash hit song “Holy Grail.”
Tidal, Rocawear, and Other Commercial Efforts
Jay-Z focused on the business side of music during his break from rapping, rising to the position of president of Def Jam Recordings. In his capacity as president of Def Jam, Jay-Z signed well-known artists including Ne-Yo and Rihanna and facilitated Kanye West’s evolution from record producer to platinum-selling recording artist. However, Jay-Z’s tenure at the storied hip-hop label wasn’t without controversy. In 2007, he left as president of Def Jam, citing the company’s unwillingness to abandon its outdated business practices. “You have record executives who’ve been sitting in their office for 20 years because of one act,” he said.
Jay-Z and Live Nation, a concert promotion firm, inked a $150 million deal in 2008. This massive agreement gave rise to Roc Nation, a joint venture that manages almost every facet of its artists’ careers in the entertainment industry. In addition to Jay-Z, Roc Nation signed a number of well-known musicians to its roster, including T.I., Shakira, and Rihanna.
Two of Jay-Z’s other commercial endeavors include Roc-a-Fella Films and the well-known urban apparel brand Rocawear. In addition, he owns the 40/40 Club, a classy sports club that started out in New York City and eventually expanded to Atlantic City, Las Vegas, Atlanta, and (since closed) Las Vegas.
Jay-Z has been a part-owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team since 2004. He was instrumental in the team’s 2012 move to the Barclays Center, a brand-new facility in downtown Brooklyn. In order to obtain his certification as a sports agent, he liquidated his Brooklyn Nets shares and founded the full-service sports management company Roc Nation Sports in 2013. Jay-Z famously rapped, “I’m not a businessman / I’m a business, man,” in reference to his business empire.
When Jay-Z and a number of his powerful friends, including Madonna, Nicki Minaj, and Jack White, announced the relaunch of Tidal, a streaming music service, the firm grabbed headlines once more in March 2015. The program attracted a respectable number of users—a reported one million in September 2015—but it also faced legal troubles and a turnover in senior management. Early in2017, Sprint, the largest telecommunications company, acquired a 33 percent share in Tidal from Jay-Z.
Jay-Z was dubbed the first billionaire rapper by Forbes in June 2019, with contributions from his ownership of Uber and Armand de Brignac champagne. Not too long after, he moved into yet another emerging sector of the economy when he was hired as chief brand strategist by the Caliva cannabis company in California.
“4:44”
Jay-Z was the first rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 15, 2017. Regarding the honor, he tweeted, saying, “I recall when rap was said to be a fad.” Some of the greatest writers in history are now with us.
Subsequently, on June 30, Jay-Z made his 13th solo album, 4:44, available only to Sprint and Tidal users. Based only on download counts, the Recording Industry Association of America certified it platinum less than a week after its release. The extremely personal album, which features Beyoncé, Damian Marley, and Frank Ocean as special guests, became an instant financial and critical hit and was hailed for the rapper’s open lyrics and newfound artistic maturity.
During an iHeartMedia interview, Jay-Z referred to the album’s first single, “4:44,” as “one of the best songs I’ve ever written.” It seems that his lyrics speak to the marital problems and adultery that Beyoncé, his wife, discussed in her candid record Lemonade:
In reference to the birth of their children, he sings in the song, “I apologize, often womanize / Took for my child to be born / See through a woman’s eyes / Took for these natural twins to believe in miracles / Took me too long for this song / I don’t deserve you.”
A commentary on the culture of success, “The Story of OJ,” and “Kill Jay-Z,” which the rapper told iHeartMedia “is about killing off the ego,” are two more songs. According to him, “‘The Story of OJ’ is really a song about we as a culture, having a plan, how we’re gonna push this forward,” during the iHeartMedia interview. “Everyone makes money, and especially artists lose money sometimes. However, how do you build that into something greater when you achieve some level of success?”
In November, when the nominees for the Grammy Awards for the year were revealed, Jay-Z took the lead with eight nominations for his album 4:44. Though he did won the 2018 Salute to Industry Icons Award, he ultimately lost out when the winners were revealed in January of that year.
‘Everything Is Love’ and OTR II
Shortly after, the king of hip-hop declared that he and Beyoncé would be joining together for the OTR II Tour, which would be an extension of their 2014 endeavor. The tour began on June 6 in Cardiff, Wales, and ten days later, the couple released a collaborative album titled Everything Is Love, giving their fans even more reason to celebrate. The album was first only available for streaming on Jay-Z’s Tidal. A music video for the song “Apes**t,” which featured the Carters in an aristocratic setting while they sung and rapped amidst the iconic artwork of the Louvre in Paris, was also released along with the album.
Work in Politics and Charity
Following a significant period of time spent out of politics, Jay-Z became one of Obama’s most ardent backers during his 2008 presidential campaign. He said nothing but positive remarks about the African American candidate when he showed up at rallies. Jay-Z stated to the assembled people at one demonstration that “Rosa Parks sat so that Martin Luther King could walk.” It was so Barack Obama could run that Martin Luther King walked. Obama is running in order for us all to fly.”
Jay-Z supported Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign once more. He came out as an advocate for gay marriage in that same year. Denying same-sex couples the opportunity to marry “is no different than discriminating against Blacks,” he said in an interview with CNN. It’s prejudice, that much is clear.”
Tidal X: 10/20, Jay-Z’s inaugural yearly charity event, included Beyoncé, Minaj, Lil Wayne, Usher, and other platinum-selling performers in October 2015. In February of the following year, it was revealed that Tidal was giving $1.5 million from the proceeds of its concerts to a variety of causes, such as Black Lives Matter and Harry Belafonte’s nonprofit group Sankofa.
NFL Collaboration
The National Football League and Jay-Z announced a relationship in August 2019 that included Roc Nation providing entertainment recommendations for NFL events and promotional appearances, including the Super Bowl. The parties also decided to collaborate on social activity projects under the NFL’s Inspire Change program.
Supporters of quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who had not played in the NFL since sparking a controversy in 2016 by kneeling during the playing of the national anthem, expressed disapproval of the announcement, but the hip-hop mogul expressed confidence that collaborating with the influential sports league would help Kaepernick achieve his goals of social change.”You can either go home, you can pack your bag and sit in the house, or you can choose to take it head-on,” Jay-Z stated. And that’s essentially the way Roc Nation runs. We look for opportunities to contribute and areas in which we feel we can bring value. Then, we jump in and offer our views.”
