Jay-Z

1970—

Rap artist

Jay-Z is all too familiar with the hard knock life. In his hit single "Hard Knock Life," Jay-Z samples the musical Annie's signature song of the same name. "These kids sing about the hard knock life, things everyone in the ghetto feels coming up," Jay-Z was quoted in People as saying of the orphans in Annie. "That's the ghetto anthem." The rap star grew up in a single-parent household in the projects of Brooklyn, New York. Known for his honesty, Jay-Z has admitted in both his autobiographical lyrics and interviews that he sold drugs as a teenager. For Jay-Z, rap was a way out of the hard knock life. First, the money that came with a successful rap career would take him out of the Brooklyn projects. Second, rap music was a means to express his feelings about the knocks and blows he had to absorb. The climb out of the tough life was not easy, however, and Jay-Z encountered more hard knocks along the way.

Jay-Z was born Shawn Corey 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. His mother, Gloria Carter, worked as a clerk in an investment company. Jay-Z's father left when he was twelve years old. "To me, that was basically the end of our relationship," Jay-Z told Vibe. "That was when the hurt and then the healing began for me, from that day right there." In his teens, Jay-Z was a cocaine dealer before he joined the world of rap.

When Jay-Z was first starting out in the rap world, he was introduced to Darien Dash, who by the time he was age nineteen had already gotten record deals for two acts. Dash soon became Jay-Z's manager, and Dash's childhood friend Kareem "Biggs" Burke was hired as Jay-Z's road manager. For two years the three worked unsuccessfully to obtain a record deal. Undeterred, the trio decided to form their own record company, Roc-A-Fella Records, in which they would all serve as partners. Jay-Z's role was that of marquee artist, while Dash ran the company's day-to-day operations and Burke served as "a barometer of the streets." After Roc-A-Fella secured a distribution deal with Priority Records, Jay-Z was ready to release his first record, Reasonable Doubt.

Controversial Hit Single

Jay-Z rose to fame with his 1996 gold-certified single "Ain't No N-G-A (Like the One I Got)," a duet with Foxy Brown. The controversy started immediately. The single's title was not the language that even the most daring disc jockeys wanted to play. According to Janine McAdams in 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 diminish its intended impact and appeal.

Despite the hardcore quality of his first album, as Shawnee Smith in Billboard noted in November of 1999, it was Jay-Z who also began to transform the hip-hop scene from its hardcore "gangsta rap" to something more refined—evoking images of "Armani suits, alligator boots, Rolex watches, expensive cars, broads and Cristel." At the end of 1996, Havelock Nelson reflected on the year in rap for Billboard. Jay-Z, Nelson said, "masterfully reinvented himself after receiving battle scars from his previous rhyme life."

In addition to making music, Jay-Z was also interested in the corporate side of the business. Since 1994, Jay-Z had been producing records for other artists as chief of operations for the Roc-A-Fella label. The same head for money that had served him 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." Jay-Z did not, however, retire from rap. Jay-Z told Vibe that he realized his music had a powerful effect on his fans. "There were cats coming up to me like, ‘You must have been looking in my window or following my life.’… It was emotional. Like big, rough hoodlum, hardrock, three-time jail bidders with scars and gold teeth just breaking down. It was something to look at, like, I must be going somewhere people been wanting someone to go for a while." So he returned to rap in 1997, with the album, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1. In 1998 his best-selling Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life won him a Grammy Award for best rap album.

Hard Knocks Tour

In 1999 Jay-Z headlined the Hard Knock Life Tour, which also featured DMX, Beanie Sigel, and others. Jay-Z used his stature as a hit-producing rap star to ensure that the rappers he wanted would be included on the tour. At the outset, there were fears that violence would break out on the tour. The tour concluded without incident, however, and was a resounding success.

At a Glance …

Born Shawn Corey Carter on December 4, 1970, in Brooklyn, NY; son of Gloria Carter and Adnis Reeves; married Beyoncé Knowles (a singer), 2008.

Career: Rap singer, performing pop-rap, crossover rap, hardcore rap, East Coast rap, urban, and hip-hop for Def Jam, Priority, Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam, and BMG International labels and for Live Nation concert promoters; recorded debut single, 1995; recorded debut album, 1996; cofounder and chief of operations for Roc-A-Fella record label, beginning early 1990s; opened the 40/40 club in New York City, 2003; executive produced and appeared in feature film Fade to Black, 2004; president of Universal Music Group's Def Jam Recordings label, 2004-07; signed deal with Live Nation, 2008.

Awards: Grammy Award, best rap album, 1998, for Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life; MTV Video Music Award, best rap video, 1999, for "Can I Get A …"; Soul Train Music Award's Sammy Davis Jr. Award for Entertainer of the Year, 2001; BET Award, 2001, for best male hip-hop artist; Source Award, 2001, for best hip-hop artist, solo; Soul Train Award, album of the year, 2002, for The Blueprint; Grammy Awards, best R&B song and best rap/sung collaboration (both with Beyoncé Knowles), both 2003, for "Crazy in Love"; ASCAP Golden Note Award, 2004; American Music Award, 2004, for favorite male rap/hip-hop artist; Grammy Award, best rap solo performance, 2005, for "99 Problems"; GQ man of the year, 2005; Grammy Award, best rap/sung collaboration (with Linkin Park), 2006, for "Numb/Encore,"; Grammy Award, best rap/sung collaboration (with Rihanna), 2008, for "Umbrella."

Addresses: Record/Touring company—Live Nation, 9348 Civic Center Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210.

A documentary crew joined the tour, filming the rappers as they performed, hung out backstage, and traveled in tour buses. The resulting film, Backstage, was released in September of 2000. Mick LaSalle in the San Francisco Chronicle said of the film that it "makes no attempt to guide hip-hop novices. It just tosses the viewer into this musical experience, which will seem vital to some and depressing and repetitious to others."

In 1999 Jay-Z was preparing to release his fourth album. Steve Jones wrote in the December 27, 1999, issue of USA Today that he noticed in a session he sat in on with Jay-Z and rapper Beanie Sigel that Jay-Z never writes down a lyric. "I don't write songs," Jay-Z explained. "I just sit there and listen to the track, and I come up with the words. It's a gift. A gift from God." In the article Jay-Z also discussed his upcoming album, Vol. 3: Life and Times of S. Carter. He talked about how his life had changed in the few short years since his industry breakthrough. "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, "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 short of the standard set by his Grammy-winning Vol. 2. It was from a calmer, less-clever Jay-Z, in that reviewer's opinion.

Arrested in Stabbing Incident

In early December of 1999 Jay-Z was charged with first-degree assault and second-degree assault after Untertainment Records executive Lance "Un" Rivera was stabbed once in the stomach and once in the shoulder. According to Newsweek, Jay-Z suspected that Rivera had released bootleg copies of his fourth album, an act that would lead to the loss of millions of dollars in rightful profits. Eyewitnesses reported that there was an altercation when the two came face to face at a record-release party for rapper Q-tip held in a New York nightclub. In the commotion that followed, Rivera was stabbed. At his arraignment in early 2000, Jay-Z pleaded not guilty.

In the weeks between the stabbing incident in New York and the release of the new album, Jon Caramanica talked about Jay-Z's difficult week in early December of 1999. "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." Although his lawyers advised him not to discuss the case until the trial was concluded, Jay-Z did comment in Vibe in December of 2000 on the fact that one year after the stabbing incident, a trial date still had not been set. "I feel that if it was any other person," Jay-Z said, "it wouldn't still be dragging on this long." Yet Jay-Z maintained a positive attitude. He told Vibe, "Everything happens for a reason. It's another learning experience for me."

Despite his legal troubles and the mixed reviews for Vol. 3: Life and Times of S. Carter, Jay-Z's star continued to shine. The album was an instant platinum success, emphasizing his market power in a genre he helped to define. In 2000 Jay-Z released Dynasty: Roc la Familia. He told Vibe, "I could make records as long as I have … desire to really dig deep and challenge myself to do it. I can do it for as long as I want."

Feuded with Fellow Rapper

Already in the public eye in 2001 with a chart-topping duet with R. Kelly, "Fiesta," Jay-Z dropped what would become an instant classic—The Blueprint—on September 18, 2001. Selling nearly a half million albums in less than a week, The Blueprint was universally praised by critics and loved by fans. The first track on the album, "Takeover," was a searing attack on New York rapper Nas (Nas would reply with his own track, "Ether," attacking Jay-Z in the following weeks), a five-minute narrative over a blistering, thumping sample of The Doors' "Five to One." But "Takeover," wrote All Music Guide critic Jason Birchmeier, was "just one song. There are 12 other songs on The Blueprint—and they're all stunning, to the point where the album almost seems flawless." Besides the battle track, the album also showcases Jay-Z's songwriting skills on tracks like "Song Cry" and "Heart of the City." Birchmeier concluded that The Blueprint is "a fully realized masterpiece."

In the months that followed, the battle with Nas heated up. In response to "Ether," Jay-Z delivered an exclusive freestyle to a New York radio station, "Super Ugly," that dug deep at Nas. Among concerns that the battle could result in tragedy (as was the case between Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur in the 1990s), the battle slowly faded away. "Ultimately, Jay-Z and Nas have too much at stake for foolishness," wrote Village Voice contributor Selwyn Hinds, "and together they crafted a piece of hip-hop myth that will live for years to come."

Jay-Z recognized this in an MTV Unplugged session. Performing the track "Takeover," he referred to the act of the battle as "the truest essence of hip-hop," but one whose place was solely in recorded material. The MTV session, featuring the Roots as Jay-Z's backing band, was released in late 2001. Jay-Z was the first hip-hop artist to record an MTV Unplugged session, and Jay-Z's material translated to the format surprisingly well. "Hip-hop with live instrumentation has seldom sounded this good," wrote Hinds in the Village Voice.

The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse, a double album with twenty-five tracks and numerous guest stars including Rakim, Dr. Dre, Lenny Kravitz, and Beyoncé Knowles, followed within a year. Some critics found the album to be unfocused and too long, which they believed kept it from becoming another classic. All Music Guide reviewer John Bush observed: "It's clear Jay-Z's in control even here, and though his raps can't compete with the concentrated burst on The Blueprint, there's at least as many great tracks on tap, if only listeners have enough time to find them." A few months later Jay-Z released The Blueprint 2.1, featuring the best tracks from The Blueprint 2 on a single CD.

Threatened to Retire Again

Jay-Z began talking about retiring from the stage even before releasing The Blueprint 2. He told reporters that his next album, the follow-up to The Blueprint 2, would be his final official release. The original concept for the release was to make a prequel to Reasonable Doubt, with no guest stars and a different producer for each track. What resulted was The Black Album. Though somewhat removed from the original concept, Jay-Z often and rightfully referred to the release as his most introspective album. From the track "December 4th" (Jay-Z's birthday), featuring spoken-word interludes from his mother, to the bittersweet closing track, "My First Song," Jay-Z used this turn in the studio to make an album that was at times hilarious and heartbreaking, and above all, honest. As he put it himself, "There's never been a n***a this good for this long, this hood or this pop, this hot for this long." The standout track "99 Problems" won Jay-Z the Grammy Award for best rap solo performance in February of 2005.

The Black Album was accompanied by a line of sneakers for Reebok, the S. Carter Collection, and a sold-out, allegedly final show at New York's Madison Square Garden. Speaking to MTV's Sway, Jay-Z tried to explain why he planned to retire while still enormously popular. "I'm in the comfort zone as far as making music," he said. "I'm a young guy, and I still have to challenge myself in life. I have to step outside my comfort zone. That's just part of being alive."

A feature film, Fade to Black, arrived in theaters in late 2004. The documentary, shot during the recording of The Black Album and at Jay-Z's "farewell" show at Madison Square Garden, received a positive review from the Chicago Tribune: "Whether a legend was born (or retired) that night at the Garden remains to be seen, but even on film, it was one killer show."

His retirement was short-lived; Jay-Z soon collaborated with R. Kelly on a second album and embarked on an ill-fated tour with the controversial R&B star. Kelly was asked to leave the tour soon after it started; Jay-Z continued the tour with guest stars, billing the tour "Jay-Z and Friends". Jay-Z and Kelly traded lawsuits, each contending the other was to blame for sabotaging the tour. In November of 2004 Jay-Z and hard rock band Linkin Park released Collision Course, a CD with mixtures of existing Jay-Z and Linkin Park songs, and a DVD featuring two versions of them performing these tracks for MTV. Jay-Z and Linkin Park shared a Grammy Award in February of 2006 for best rap/sung collaboration, for "Numb/Encore."

Continued to Amass Success

At the end of 2004 Jay-Z accepted the position of president of Universal Music Group's Def Jam Recordings label, a position previously held by Lyor Cohen and Antonio "L.A." Reid. The three-year deal was to bring Jay-Z an estimated $8 to $10 million salary. According to Entertainment Weekly, it marked the first time a still-popular artist controlled a major label. Speaking to the New York Times, record executive Steve Stoute praised the decision to appoint Jay-Z president: "His opinion of music and his point of view on marketing is absolutely spot-on. I don't know who wouldn't want to work for him." In the following two years, Jay-Z signed several prominent artists to Def Jam, including former rival Nas, breakthrough hip-hop star Kanye West, and the British rapper Lady Sovereign.

By late 2006 Jay-Z had an estimated net worth of $320 million; he owned a Manhattan skyscraper and part of the New Jersey Nets basketball team. He was also dating the glamorous singer Beyoncé Knowles and appeared in an MTV documentary about African drought. Yet the life of a wealthy executive was not enough for him. He came out of rap retirement to record a new album, Kingdom Come, released in November of 2006, which featured duets with Kanye West, Dr. Dre, and Chris Martin of Coldplay. "There has to come a day when I stop making records," he told Lorraine Ali in Newsweek, but he sounded unsure when that day would really come. "I think it would have been easier 10 years ago, because even though I had the inclination and talent, I didn't love it passionately. I didn't love it like I do now."

His ongoing love for making music was apparent with the December of 2007 release of a new album, American Gangster. Later that month Jay-Z announced that he was stepping down from his position as president of Def Jam. The move was a precursor to the announcement a few months later of a blockbuster deal with the concert promotion giant Live Nation. The Live Nation package, worth approximately $150 million, marked the creation of an entirely new music business model. It included everything from recording, concert ticket sales, merchandise sales, advertising, and virtually every other element of Jay-Z's musical life.

2008 brought a series of other significant new partnerships in Jay-Z's life as well. In February he earned another Grammy for his collaboration with Rihanna on the smash single "Umbrella." That spring, several media outlets revealed that Jay-Z and Beyoncé had tied the knot, though the couple remained coy about their marriage for some time afterward, avoiding a public announcement of their nuptials. A music industry giant on both the artistic and business sides of the game, Jay-Z remained a major force whose influence extended well beyond rap into every facet of the entertainment universe.

Selected discography

Singles

"In My Lifetime," Ffrr, 1995.

"Ain't No N-G-A (Like the One I Got)," 1996.

"Dead Presidents," Priority, 1996.

"Can't Knock the Hustle," Priority 1996.

"Feelin', It," Roc-A-Fella/Priority, 1997.

"This City Is Mine," Def Jam, 1998.

"Money Cash Hoes," Def Jam, 1999.

"Can I Get a Rush Hour," BMG International, 1999.

"Hard Knock Life," Def Jam, 1999.

"Do It Again," Def Jam, 1999; released on Polygram International, 2000.

"Things That U Do," Def Jam, 2000.

"Anything," Def Jam, 2000.

"Izzo," Def Jam, 2001.

"03 Bonnie and Clyde," Def Jam, 2002.

"Dirt off Your Shoulder," Def Jam, 2004.

"Show Me What You Got," Def Jam, 2006.

Albums

Reasonable Doubt, 1996.

In My Lifetime, Vol. 1, 1997.

Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life, 1998.

Vol. 3: Life and Times of S. Carter, 1999.

Dynasty: Roc la Familia, 2000.

The Blueprint, Roc-A-Fella, 2001.

Unplugged (live), Roc-A-Fella, 2001.

The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse, Roc-A-Fella, 2002.

(With R. Kelly) The Best of Both Worlds, Universal, 2002.

The Blueprint 2.1, Roc-A-Fella, 2003.

The Black Album, Roc-A-Fella, 2003.

(With Linkin Park) Collision Course, Warner Bros., 2004.

American Gangster, Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam, 2007.

Sources

Periodicals

Billboard, June 29, 1996; November 23, 1996; December 28, 1996; December 2, 2004; September 17, 2005, p. 70.

Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA), September 7, 2000.

Daily News, April 20, 2005.

Entertainment Weekly, October 22, 2004.

Globe & Mail (Toronto), December 4, 2003.

Jet, September 27, 1999.

Los Angeles Times, December 27, 1999; December 31, 1999.

New York Post, April 4, 2008.

New York Times, December 26, 1999; December 30, 1999; January 1, 2000; December 9, 2004; December 25, 2007; April 3, 2008.

Newsweek, December 13, 1999; December 4, 2006.

People, April 5, 1999; October 25, 2004, pp. 75-76; January 17, 2005, p. 47.

Rolling Stone, October 14, 1999; December 5, 2005.

San Francisco Chronicle, September 6, 2000.

Teen People, June 16, 2002.

UPI NewsTrack, May 17, 2005; September 27, 2005.

USA Today, December 27, 1999; January 3, 2000.

Vibe, December 2000.

Village Voice, December 14, 1999; January 22, 2002; January 1, 2003.

Washington Post, December 14, 1999; January 2, 2000.

WWD, September 16, 2005, p. 20.

Online

Birchmeier, Jason; Bush, John: All Music Guide, now allmusic Web site, http://www.allmusic.com (accessed July 15, 2008).

Frere-Jones, Sasha, "From A- to A," Slate, April 4, 2004, http://slate.msn.com/id/2091248 (accessed July 15, 2008).

Garcia, Jennifer and Mike Fleeman, "Source: Beyoncé and Jay-Z Are Married," People, April 4, 2008, http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20188764,00.html (accessed July 15, 2008).

"Grammy Award Winners," Grammy.com, http://www.grammys.com/ (accessed July 15, 2008).

Hall, Sarah, "R. Kelly Raps Jay-Z with Lawsuit," E! Online, November 1, 2004, http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/detail.jsp?contentId=201eb2d2-948a-4c67-8149-c391171fec4a (accessed July 15, 2008).

Harris, Chris, "It's Official! Beyonce and Jay-Z File Signed Marriage License on Friday," MTV, April 22, 2008, http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1586008/20080422/knowles_beyonce.jhtml (accessed July 15, 2008).

Jay-Z Online, http://www.jayzonline.com (accessed July 15, 2008).

Kaufman, Gil, "Jay-Z and Beyonce Are Still Staying Quiet about Their Reported Wedding … But Why?" MTV, April 15, 2008, http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1585461/20080414/jay_z.jhtml# (accessed July 15, 2008).

Reid, Shaheem, "Jay-Z: What More Can I Say?" MTV, April 5, 2004, http://www.mtv.com/bands/j/jay_z/news_feature_112103 (accessed July 15, 2008).

Tyrangiel, Josh, "Jay-Z: Music's $150 Million Man," Time, April 3, 2008, http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1727519,00.html (accessed July 15, 2008).

—Laura Hightower, Jennifer M. York,
and Bob Jacobson