Jay-Z

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Jay-Z

Rap/hip-hop artist

In early December of 1999 when rapper Jay-Z was arrested for the stabbing of record executive Lance “Un” Rivera, at a Times Square nightclub, the news came at the wrong time. His much-awaited new CD, Volume 3: The Life & Times of S. Carter, was due to be released right after Christmas. With parents hesitant enough to allow their teens to buy music they don’t understand in the first place, the question was asked whether this latest incident would hurt sales due to the negative publicity. For a guy who grew up on the mean streets of Brooklyn, New York, this was just another one of the “hard knocks” that has formed his voice in rap.

Jay-Z was born Shawn Carter on December 4, 1970, in Brooklyn, New York, the youngest of four children. He grew up in the well-known Marcy Projects, where the J and Z subway trains run. He has gained his fans despite of, or maybe because of his life as a cocaine dealer before he joined the world of rap. Jay-Z rose to fame with his 1996 gold-certified single, a duet with Foxy Brown. The controversy started immediately. Its title, “Ain’t No N-G-A” (Like the One I Got) was not the language that even the most daring disc jockeys wanted to play.

According to Janine McAdams of Billboard in June of 1996, “For now, ‘Ain’t No N-G-A’ has radio production rooms working overtime. None of the stations contacted for this story advocate the use of the n-word over the air, but their solutions are varied: Some edit the word out; others substitute ‘brother’ or ‘player.’” Still, radio stations pointed out that, however reluctant they were to broadcast that and other offensive words, the public knew when it was cut out anyway. In some cases, the change altered the content enough to lose its intended impact and appeal. Yet it was Jay-Z who also began to transform the hip-hop scene from its hardcore “gangsta rap” to something that bears a more refined style—that of “Armani suits, alligator boots, Rolex watches, expensive cars, broads and Cristel,” noted Shawnee Smith of Billboard, in November of 1999.

Jay-Z’s drug days and the hustling that went with them was a theme that would permeate all of his music. When an article in the Village Voice appeared in August in of 1996 at the beginning of his career, Jay-Z said his philosophy was very much an important piece of understanding his music. The other subject of the article was fellow rapper, Nas, and the contrast between the two of them was highlighted. “Nas is a radical philosopher in the tradition of Rakim and Nietzsche…. Jay-Z is strictly business, with visions of expansion (’Dabbled in crazy weight/…I’m still spending money from ‘88’). Nas is a pensive poet with a vast vocabulary. Jay-Z is a sharp conversationalist with impeccable timing,” the reporters noted. “Mostly,” they said, “Nas and Jay-Z were born to rhyme.”

For the Record…

Born Shawn Carter on December 4, 1970, in Brooklyn, New York.

Rap artist, performing pop-rap, crossover rap, harcore rap, East Coast rap, urban, hip-hop for Def Jam, Priority, Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam, BMG International labels; released debut album, Reasonable Doubt, Freeze/Rock-A-Fella, 1996; In My Lifetime, Vol. 1, Rock-A-Fella/Def Jam, 1997; released Vol. 2: Hard Nock Life, Rock-A-Fella/Def Jam, 1998; released Vol. 3: The Life and Times of Shawn Carter, Def Jam, 1999.

Awards: Grammy Award, Best Rap Album of 1998, for Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life, 1998.

Addresses: Record company —Def Jam Records, 160 Varick St, 12^thFloor, New York City, NY 10013, phone: (212) 229-5200, fax: (212) 229-5299.

At the end of 1996, Havelock Nelson reflected on the year in rap for Bilboard. Nelson summarized the movement Jay-Z had made when he said that he, “masterfully reinvented himself after receiving battle scars from his previous rhyme life.” Jay-Z indicated his interest in the corporate side of the business, too. Since 1994, Jay-Z had been producing records for other artists as chief of operations for the Roc-A-Fella label. The same handle he had for money in the drug business translated well into the music industry. He talked about his future at that time; “Although my album has already gone gold, it will be my last one. From this point, it’s all about the business.” Obviously, Jay-Z could not stay away from performing any more than he could make a bad business decision. He came back in 1997, with his album, In My Lifetime, and in 1998 his bestselling, Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life, won him a Grammy as best rap album.

On December 27, 1999, Steve Jones of USA Today talked about the artist Jay-Z. When Jones sat in on a session with Jay-Z and rapper Beanie Sigel, he noticed that Jay-Z never writes down a lyric. “I don’t write songs. I just sit there and listen to the track, and I come up with the words. It’s a gift. A gift from God.” Jay-Z also had big anticipation for his upcoming album, Vol 3: The Life & Times of Shawn Carter. He talked about how his life had changed in the few short years of his success. “With five million records out there, there are all kinds of things that you have to deal with,” he said. “Even though it’s just been a year, people think that things change with you and start treating you differently. Street people start thinking that maybe you’ve gone soft. But I’m the same dude. That’s why I did the song, ‘Come and Get Me.’ I’m still holding firm in my position.”

When Vol 3… came out, reviews were mixed. Soren Baker wrote in The Los Angeles Times, on December 31, 1999, the week the new release came out, “For a man who rode to commercial prominence with the help of up-tempo, dance-ready tracks, Jay-Z is sounding pretty laid-back.” According to Baker, the album fell behind his Grammy-winning Vol. 2, out last year. It was from a calmer, even less-clever and humorous Jay-Z, in that reviewer’s opinion.

In the weeks between the stabbing incident in New York, and the release of his new album, Jon Caramanica talked about Jay-Z’s difficult week in early December of 1999. Jay-Z has denied his guilt and made a plea of “not guilty” when he went to court on January 31, 2000. The case is still pending. “After the breakout success of last year’s Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life, the expectations on Jay-Z were greater than ever,” Caramanica wrote. “In fact, it’s been speculated that the entire stabbing incident was part of some large marketing conspiracy to guarantee strong buzz and sales. In hip-hop, where crime is often flipped as a marketing tool, having your artist splashed across the cover of the Daily News may well work financial wonders, but that option seems absurd for a man in Jay’s position. Still, the very existence of such a theory hints at an underlying belief that Jay, of all rappers, is too smart to go out like this. Business, never personal.” A Mariah Carey special recorded prior to the incident that included Jay-Z as a featured guest star was not edited to exclude him for the January broadcast.

Jay-Z has worked with some of the biggest stars of the rap and hip-hop scene, including, Lil’ Kim, Jermaine Dupri, Busta Rhymes, Kelly Price, Doug Wilson, Sean “Puffy” Combs, Nasheim Myrick, Kid Capri, Mase, Deric Angelettie, Too $hort, Joe Quinde, Sauce Money, Stephen Dent, Big Jaz, and Stevie J.

Whatever the reviews on his Life and Times of Shawn Carter said or did not say about him, Jay-Z showed no signs of retiring. The album was an instant platinum success, emphasizing what a number one seller he still was in the genre he has helped to define. For this man who was “born to rhyme” Jay-Z did not seem to be running out of words any time soon.