JAY-Z Compact Biography
► WHO IS JAY-Z? ◄
Shawn Corey Carter, known as Jay-Z, is an American rapper and businessman born on 4th December 1969, in Brooklyn, NY. Shawn used to wake up his siblings at night, showing off his talent by banging out drum patterns on the kitchen table.
The young Jay-Z started developing skills like freestyling and writing lyrics after his mother bought him a boom box for his birthday. In high school, Jay-Z was a colleague with The Notorious B.I.G and Busta Rhymes.
Shawn Carter became known to a wider audience after his appearance on Big Daddy Kane’s track “Show and Prove.” The 1995 underground hit “In My Lifetime” is his debut single, released in the same year when Jay-Z teamed up with Kareem Biggs and Damon Dash to create Roc-A-Fella Records Label.
- In 1996, his debut album ”Reasonable Doubt” peaked at #23 on Billboard 200, however, it remains the lowest charting album of his career.
According to Forbes, Jay-Z hit the billionaire status in 2019, becoming the first hip-hop artist with a net worth of $1 billion.
Jay-z Biography
∎ Born Date: December 4, 1969
∎ Born Place: Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
∎ Nationality: American
∎ Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius
∎ Height: 6′ 2″ (1.88 m)
∎ Eye Color: Black
∎ Years active: 1986–present
∎ Claim to Fame: “Dead Presidents”
∎ Genres: Hip Hop
∎ Labels: Roc-A-Fella Records, Priority, Def Jam, Roc Nation
∎ Nick names: Jay-Z, Hova, Jigga, Young Hov, Jiggaman, J-Hova, Jazzy
Jay-z Discography
∎ In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1997)
∎ Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life (1998) became his first number-one album in the United States.
∎ Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter (1999)
∎ The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2000) was ranked by Billboard the 20th highest selling R&B/Hip-Hop Album of the 2000 decade.
∎ The Blueprint (2001)
∎ The Blueprint2: The Gift & The Curse (2002)
∎ The Black Album (2003)
∎ Kingdom Come (2006)
∎ American Gangster (2007)
∎ The Blueprint 3 (2009)
∎ Magna Carta Holy Grail (2013)
∎ 4:44 (2017)
Jay-z Facts
∎ Shawn Carter is the owner of the most expensive Hublot watch in the world.
∎ His daughter, Blue Ivy, is the youngest person to ever enter on a Billboard chart after ∎ Jay-Z used her cooing in the song “Glory.”
∎ Shawn C. Carter can freestyle and beatbox at the same time.
∎ His stage name, Jay-Z, was inspired by his old nickname Jazzy.
Jay-z Favorite Things
Cigar: Montecristos, Cohiba Comando
Sports Team: New York Jets
Drink: Champagne Armand de Brignac
Movie: Godfather 2, True Romance
jay-z has received 68 awards throughout his career, here are few of most important:
∎ In 2010, he won three Grammy Awards – The single “Run This Town” received two of them, the Best Rap Song and the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (shared with Rihanna and Kanye West). The third Grammy he won was for the Best Rap Solo Performance, with to the track “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune).”
∎ 1 People’s Choice Award and 1 BRIT Award.
∎ 2 Billboard Music Awards — In 1998, Shawn Carter won his first BMA for the “R&B Albums Artist of the Year.” Jay-Z’s second BMA came in 1999 when he won “The Rap Artist of the Year.”
∎ 3 American Music Awards — In 2009, Shawn Carter won two AMAs, the Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album for “The Blueprint 3,” and obtained the trophy Favorite Rap|Hip-Hop Male Artist for 2nd time in his thirty-two years of an active career.
∎ 8 MTV Video Music Awards
GO TO OFFICIAL LINKS
Website: rocknation.com
Jay-z History Records
► The Rolling Stone magazine ranked three of his albums, The Black Album (2003), The Blueprint (2001), and Reasonable Doubt (1996) among The 500 Greatest recording artists ever, with over 100 million Albums of All Time.
► In 2006, MTV recognized Jay-Z as the “Greatest MC of all time,” and Rolling Stone ranked him as the “88th-greatest artist of all time.”
► Currently, Jay-Z holds the record for most #1 albums by a solo artist on the US Billboard 200 chart with 14, and overall the record is held by Beatles (19).
► In 2009, Billboard magazine ranked Jay-Z as the 5th top solo male artist and as the 4th top rapper behind Eminem, Nelly, and 50 Cent.
► In 2017, Forbes estimated Jay-Z’s net worth at $810 million, ranking him the second-richest hip hop artist in the U.S. after Sean Combs.
► Jay-Z is the founder of the entertainment company Roc Nation (established in 2008), and the former president of Def Jam Recordings.
Jay-z Filmography
(2000) Backstage
(2002) State Property
(2002) Paper Soldiers
(2004) Fade to Black
(2013) Made in America
(2014) Annie (producer)
Did You Know..?
• Jay-Z’s debut album “Reasonable Doubt” was originally called “Heir To The Throne.”
• In October 2001, the NY based-rapper pleaded culpable after stabbing the music producer Lance Rivera, at the Kit Kat Klub in New York City.
• The Grammy awarded sound engineer, Young Guru, declared that Shawn Carter has nearly 100 unreleased records.
• Shawn Carter’s favorite book is Dick Gregory’s “Nigger: An Autobiography.”
JAY-Z QUOTES
“I went through hell, I’m expecting heaven”
“I’m not afraid of dying. I’m afraid of not trying.”“I believe excellence is being able to perform at a high level over and over.”
“I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man!”
Q&A with Jay-Z
Q: When did you realize that rapping was a career possibility, after you saw Sugarhill on TV?
Jay-Z: “Yeah, but I still didn’t really think it was a possibility for me. It wasn’t until Jaz-O got a contract that I was like, “Wow, this stuff is going to happen.” He went to London to make an album, and took me with him. I was a kid from Marcy projects, and I spent two months in a London flat.”
Q: Did Obama’s victory change the way black men are perceived?
Jay-Z: “It also changed the way the world sees America. America is supposed to be the land of the free and home of the brave, so how is it possible to have 43 presidents of the same background?”
Q: Is there anything else you still want to do?
Jay-Z: “I want to represent hip-hop culture positively. No one in my family is wanting for a meal right now, so that part is done. Rap is what took me out of my situation, and now I must care for it. I have to leave it as I found it—or better—for the next generation of kids. Then maybe they can change their situation like I did.”
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