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Jay-Z is one of the most successful rappers of all time. From dropping some of the most iconic songs of the late 90s and early 2000s to becoming rap’s first billionaire, Jay-Z has cemented himself as hip hop royalty.
Jay is one of the rare artists who can make deep, introspective songs that also appeal to the masses, which has helped him sell over 50 million albums worldwide. My personal favorite Jay-Z tracks are songs like Dead Presidents and Never Change, although he’s best known for classics like 99 Problems and Hard Knock Life. Our Jay Z Bio will take a closer look at the life and times of Shawn Carter, aka Jay-Z.
Jay-Z Birthplace
Jay-Z was born on December 4th, 1969, in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. He was raised by his mother, Gloria Carter, along with his three siblings in the Marcy Housing Projects on Nostrand Ave.
Jay-Z Parents
Jay-Z is the son of Gloria Carter and Adnis Reeves. Gloria and Adnis were together for 13 years and had four children together. But when Jay was 11 years old, Adnis abandoned the family and severed all ties.
Adnis suffered from alcoholism and heroin addiction, which was triggered by the unsolved murder of his brother.
After Adnis left, Gloria raised the family on her own. She worked as a clerk for the New York City Comptroller and even took on an extra job working as a security guard to make ends meet. The family struggled to get by after Adnis left, straining the relationship between Jay and his father.
The two didn’t speak for many years but briefly reconciled in 2003, just three months before Adnis passed away due to liver failure. Jay rapped about this relationship with his father on the track Moment of Clarity.
Jay-Z Early Life
Jay-Z grew up in the notorious Marcy Housing Projects in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. After his father abandoned the family, Jay started to get in trouble and became involved in the street culture around him.
He attended Eli Whitney High School, along with fellow rapper AZ. But that school eventually shut down due to poor attendance and violence in the halls.
After that, Jay attended George Westinghouse High School with more famous rappers Busta Rhymes and the Notorious BIG. He also briefly attended Trenton Central High School in Trenton, New Jersey, but dropped out before graduation.
But despite his troubles with the educational system, Jay always had a love for music. His mother claims that he used to wake up the family by pounding drum patterns on the kitchen table. So, she eventually bought him a boombox, which he used to start freestyling.
Jay-Z Professional Career
Jaz-O and the Originators
Jay’s career as a rapper began after he linked up with another rapper from his neighborhood named Jaz-O. Jaz became his mentor and showed him how to write rhymes and record music and some of Jay’s early features were on Jaz-O records.
Jay was also introduced to another NYC legend, Big Daddy Kane, and became his hype man on tour. He appeared on the posse cut Show and Prove on Kane’s 1994 album Daddy’s Home alongside the Wu-Tang Clan’s Old Dirty Bastard, Scoob Lover, Sauce Money and Shyheim.
Jay dropped his first official single, In My Lifetime, in 1994. The single failed to garner much mainstream attention but was one of the early releases on Roc-a-Fella Records, the label Jay founded alongside his business partners Damon “Dame” Dash and Kareem “Biggs” Burke.
Reasonable Doubt
After releasing In My Lifetime, Jay and Dame began selling the single from their cars. This guerilla marketing attracted the attention of an A&R at Payday Records, who agreed to sign Jay to a single deal and re-released the record. Rather than sign a longer contract with Pay Day, Jay decided to take the money he made and invest in his own label. They got an office space on John Street in Brooklyn and began marketing Jay’s music themselves, eventually striking a distribution deal with Priority Records.
Jay would release his debut album, Reasonable Doubt, on June 25th, 1995. The album debuted at number 23 on the Billboard chart and produced multiple successful singles, including Dead Presidents, Feelin’ it, and Can’t Knock the Hustle.
While Reasonable Doubt was not as commercially successful as some of Jay’s later albums, it was well-received critically. Today it’s often regarded as one of the best rap albums of all time.
In My Lifetime Volume 1, 2 and 3
The success of Reasonable Doubt landed Roc-a-fella a new distribution deal with Def Jam in 1997. Jay followed up with his sophomore album, In My Lifetime Volume 1, the same year. The album featured much glossier production than Reasonable Doubt and did better commercially, debuting at number three on the Billboard 200.
A year later, Jay followed up with Volume 2…Hardknock Life, which featured Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem). The single had a modified sample from the musical Annie and instantly became the biggest song of Jay’s career. It peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for the Best Rap Solo Performance at the 41st Grammy Awards.
He followed up the following year with the third installment of In My Lifetime, which sold over 3 million copies and featured his hit collaboration with Texas-based rap group UGK, Big Pimpin.
After that, Jay would give the other artists some shine and released The Dynasty: Roc-La-Familia, a hybrid solo album and label compilation with multiple appearances from Roc-a-Fella artists Freeway, Memphis Bleek, and Beanie Sigel. The album also featured early production from The Neptunes, Just Blaze, and Kanye West.
The Blueprint
On September 11th, 2001, Jay dropped his sixth studio album, The Blueprint. The album was regarded as an instant classic, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 and selling 427,000 copies in just two days. The Blueprint was a critical and commercial success and helped cement Jay-Z as a hip-hop icon.
In 2002, he followed up with the double album, The Blueprint2: the Gift & The Curse, which featured successful singles Excuse Me Miss and 03 Bonnie and Clyde.
The Black Album
While at the height of his fame, Jay made an unprecedented move and announced his retirement following the release of his next project, The Black Album.
The album was released on November 14th, 2003, and featured production from Just Blaze, Kanye West, Rick Rubin, The Neptunes, Timbaland, 9th Wonder, and more. The Black Album became Jay’s best-selling project of the decade and produced the successful singles Change Clothes, Dirt off Your Shoulder, and 99 Problems.
Despite announcing his retirement, Jay continued to collaborate, dropping a joint album with R Kelly called The Best of Both Worlds and an EP with Linkin Park called Collision Course.
In 2004, Jay stepped up to become the president and CEO of Def Jam. This promotion also coincided with Jay purchasing the remaining shares of Roc-a-Fella and taking control of both companies. The move came after Jay and Dame Dash butted heads about the company’s direction and decided to put an end to their partnership.
Post Retirement
Jay would officially come out of retirement as a rapper in 2006 with the album Kingdom Come. While the project did well commercially, it didn’t receive as much praise from the critics. He returned the following year with the album American Gangster, which was heavily inspired by the Frank Lucas biopic of the same name starring Denzel Washington. The album was met with a much warmer response from critics and often ranks among Jay’s best work.
On September 11th, 2009, he dropped the Blueprint 3 on the 8th anniversary of the original. The album was a huge hit commercially and spawned six successful singles, proving that Jay still had the talent and cultural reach to drop a successful rap album at 40.
Since then, Jay has released several successful projects including Watch the Throne with Kanye West, Magna Carta Holy Grail, 4:44, and Everything is Love with his wife, Beyonce. He has also built a massive business empire, having amassed a fortune of over $1.4 billion through his company Roc Nation and other investments.
Jay-Z Video
Jay-Z Family
Jay-Z married Beyonce Knowles on April 4th, 2008. Together they have three children, Blue Ivy, Sir, and Rumi Carter.
Jay-Z Dating and Relationship History
Jay has always been fairly quiet about his private life despite his fame and success. However, he has had several high-profile relationships. In the 1990s, Jay is rumored to have dated Lil Kim and Charli Baltimore.
He briefly dated singer and model Aaliyah in 1999. Not long after, he also dated actress Rosario Dawson. He began seeing his now-wife Beyonce Knowles in 2000, who he eventually married in 2008.
Jay-Z Controversies or Scandals
In 1999, Jay was accused of stabbing a record executive named Lance Riviera at a release party for Q-Tip’s album Amplified. Jay allegedly believed that Riviera was responsible for bootlegging his In My Lifetime Volume 3 album and had his associates cause a diversion so he could stab Riviera in the stomach. He eventually pled guilty to third-degree assault and was sentenced to three years of probation.
After the Met Gala in 2014, a video leaked showing Beyonce’s sister, Solange Knowles, punching Jay in an elevator. The footage quickly went viral and had fans curious about what caused the outburst.
They got the answer in 2016 when Beyonce released the album Lemonade, revealing to the public that Jay had cheated on her. He confirmed these rumors with his own album, 4:44, which provided context to the viral elevator video from 2014. Jay apologized for his infidelity, and the couple is still together to this day. But at the time, it was a major scandal and one of the most significant controversies of Jay’s otherwise flawless career.
Jay-Z Net Worth and Career Earnings
Jay-Z is one of the richest rappers of all time with a net worth of $1.3 Billion. He is estimated to make about $470 million per year, making him one of the highest-paid musicians in the world. But, despite his status as one of the world’s best-selling artists, only a fraction of his net worth comes from music.
About $425 million of his fortune comes from other investments, as he owns a stake in major companies like Uber, Square, and Space X. He recently sold half of his champaign company Armand de Brignac to luxury conglomerate LVMH for $320 million and a majority stake in his streaming company Tidal to Jack Dorsey’s company Square for $297 million.
His entertainment company Roc Nation is also worth about $140 million, while his cognac brand D’Usse is worth around $120 million.
Not to mention, his music catalog is valued at $95 million, his impressive art collection is valued at $70 million, and his real estate portfolio is worth around $50 million.
Jay-Z Real Estate and Residence History
A sizeable portion of Jay-Z’s total net worth is in his real estate portfolio. He and his wife, Beyonce, own several luxurious estates all across the world.
In 2017, they purchased a seven-bedroom, seven-and-a-half-bathroom mansion in Easthampton, New York, for $26 million. The property includes an onsite pond, meadow preserve, and an 1800-square-foot guest house. They also own an $88 million Bel Air Mansion with eight bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, a 15-car garage, a basketball court, and more.
The couple also owns a seventh-floor penthouse in Tribeca that Jay purchased in 2004 for $6.85 million. The 8,000 square foot apartment has 3000 feet of terrace space and was the location of their wedding in 2008.
In addition to these luxury estates, they also previously owned a compound in Miami Beach and a former church in the Garden District of New Orleans, which they have since sold.
Jay-Z Famous Quotes
“I’d rather die enormous than live dormant” – Jay-Z
“I’m not afraid of dying I’m afraid of not trying” – Jay-Z
“Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther King walked so Obama could run. Obama’s running so we all can fly.” – Jay-Z
Jay-Z Discography
- 1996 – Reasonable Doubt
- 1997 – In My Lifetime, Vol 1
- 1998 – Vol. 2…Hard Knock Life
- 1999 – Vol. 3…. Life and Times of S. Carter
- 2000 – The Dynasty Roc La Familia
- 2001 – Unplugged
- 2001 – The Blueprint
- 2002 – The Best of Both Worlds (with R. Kelly)
- 2002 – The Blueprint 2 – The Gift & the Curse
- 2003 – The Black Album
- 2004 – Unfinished Business (with R. Kelly)
- 2006 – Kingdom Come
- 2007 – American Gangster
- 2009 – The Blueprint 3
- 2011 – Watch the Throne (with Kanye West)
- 2013 – Magna Carta…Holy Grail
- 2017 – 4:44
- 2018 – Everything is Love (with Beyonce)
FAQs
Answer: Kanye West first got his big break as Jay-Z’s producer, and the two eventually developed a close relationship.
But despite all the success they’ve shared, their relationship has gone through its ups and downs. As Kanye became more successful in his own right, sources say that Jay, who is much humbler and more reserved, grew annoyed at Ye’s arrogance and ego.
After Jay failed to appear at Kanye’s 2014 wedding to Kim Kardashian, rumors began circulating about a strain in their relationship.
Kanye later confirmed this while ranting on stage during his Life of Pablo tour, making wild accusations about his former mentor. Jay later addressed the rant on his 4:44 album on the track Kill Jay-Z. The same year, Kanye left Jay-Z’s streaming service Tidal, claiming they owed him unpaid fees.
But despite the tension, it seems like they have since made up. The two moguls have been spotted out in public, and Jay even appeared on Kanye’s 2021 album Donda on the song Jail. So, while they may not be as close as when they were first working on the Blueprint, it seems like they have patched things up and are still on good terms.
Answer: Jay-Z became a billionaire by leveraging his success in the music industry to build companies and make wise investments. One of his smartest business moves was creating his own label and retaining ownership of his masters, which allowed him to keep the profits from all his music sales. He also owns various businesses, including Tidal, Roc Nation, Dusse, Rocawear, etc. Not to mention he owns an impressive art collection and has real estate holdings worldwide.
Answer: Jay-Z shocked the world in 2003 by announcing that he was retiring from rap at the height of his success. However, he reversed that decision just a few years later by dropping Kingdom Come in 2006.
Today, Jay is kept plenty busy by managing his vast business empire. He may not be as active in the music scene as he once was. But he continues to do features, and there are rumors that he may be planning a new tour soon. So, while his focus may not be on rap, it seems unlikely he will ever completely retire.