Jay-Z

Jay-Z
Jay-Z in 2011
Born
Shawn Corey Carter

(1969-12-04) December 4, 1969 (age 54)
Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
Other names
  • The Carter Administration
  • Jigga
  • Hova
  • El Presidente
  • HOV[1]
Occupations
  • Rapper
  • songwriter
  • record producer
  • entrepreneur
  • record executive
  • media proprietor
Years active1986–present[2][3][4]
Works
Spouse
​
(m. 2008)​
Children3, including Blue Ivy
AwardsFull list
Musical career
GenresEast Coast hip hop
Labels
Member ofThe Carters
Formerly of
Websitelifeandtimes.com

Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z,[a] is an American rapper.[8][9][10] Born and raised in New York City, he was named the greatest rapper of all time by Billboard and Vibe in 2023.[11] He served as president and chief executive officer of Def Jam Recordings from 2004 to 2007, and founded the entertainment company Roc Nation the following year.[12]

A protégé of fellow New York City-based rapper Jaz-O, Jay-Z began his musical career in the late 1980s; he co-founded the record label Roc-A-Fella Records in 1994 to release his first two studio albums Reasonable Doubt (1996) and In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1997), both of which were met with critical acclaim. Each of his eleven subsequent albums, including The Blueprint (2001), The Black Album (2003), American Gangster (2007), and 4:44 (2017), debuted atop the Billboard 200; Jay-Z holds the record for the most number-one albums (14) of any solo artist on the chart.[13][14][15] He has also released the collaborative albums The Best of Both Worlds (2002) and Unfinished Business (2004) with singer R. Kelly,[16] Collision Course (2004) with Linkin Park, Watch the Throne (2011) with Kanye West, and Everything Is Love (2018) with his wife Beyoncé.[17] He peaked the Billboard Hot 100 on four occasions: once as a lead artist with his 2009 single "Empire State of Mind" (featuring Alicia Keys), and thrice with his guest performances on the singles "Heartbreaker" by Mariah Carey, "Crazy in Love" by Beyoncé, and "Umbrella" by Rihanna.[18]

Through his business ventures, Jay-Z became the first hip-hop billionaire in 2019.[19][20] In 1999, he co-founded the clothing retailer Rocawear[21] and later founded the 40/40 Club, a luxury bar chain, in 2003. As both grew into multi-million-dollar businesses, he launched Roc Nation, a multi-disciplinary entertainment agency in 2008. In 2015, he acquired the technology company Aspiro and led the expansion of Tidal, the company's media streaming service.[22][23][24] As of 2024, he is the wealthiest musical artist in the world with a net worth of US$2.5 billion.[25]

One of the world's best-selling music artists with 140 million records sold, Jay-Z has won 24 Grammy Awards, the tenth-most of all time and most awarded for any hip hop artist jointly with Kanye West.[26] He has been awarded the NAACP's President's Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Sports Emmy Award, and been nominated for a Tony Award. Ranked by Billboard and Rolling Stone as one of the 100 greatest artists of all time,[27][28] Jay-Z was the first rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame[29] and the first solo living rapper inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2013.[8]

  1. ^ "The Carter Administration | Discography | Discogs". Discogs. Archived from the original on May 26, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  2. ^ "Jay-Z". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
  3. ^ Bandini (June 18, 2015). "Jay Z's First Record Ever Was in 1986…And It Was Not Hawaiian Sophie. Take a Listen (Audio)". Ambrosia For Heads. Archived from the original on November 15, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
  4. ^ Jake Paine (February 8, 2020). "Jaz-O Discusses The Record That He & JAY-Z Released In 1986 (Video)". Ambrosia For Heads. Archived from the original on November 15, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
  5. ^ "Jay-Z, as photographed during a promotional shoot for the London-based Northwestside Records". Instagram. October 10, 2020. Archived from the original on November 28, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
  6. ^ "Jay Z is spelling his name with an umlaut again". April 29, 2015. Archived from the original on June 17, 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  7. ^ Ketchum III, William E. (June 20, 2017). "JAY-Z's Name: A Complete Timeline of Shawn Carter's Rap Alias". Revolt. Archived from the original on July 4, 2017. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  8. ^ a b Bloomberg, Michael (April 18, 2013). "Jay Z: The World's 100 Most Influential People". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Archived from the original on February 27, 2022. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
  9. ^ "The 10 Best Rappers of All Time". Billboard. November 12, 2015. Archived from the original on June 9, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  10. ^ "Jay Z Is The Greatest Rapper of All Time Even If He's Not Your Favorite". Respect My Region. July 28, 2017. Archived from the original on September 4, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  11. ^ Lamarre, Carl; Mitchell, Gail; Murphy, Keith; Saponara, Michael; Thomas, Datwon; Elibert, Mark; Diep, Eric; Ketchum III, William E.; Mamo, Heran (August 2, 2023). "50 Greatest Rappers of All Time". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 31, 2023. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  12. ^ "Jay-Z Named Def Jam President/CEO". Billboard. December 8, 2004. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  13. ^ "A Quick Look at Why Lil Wayne's 'Top 5 Rappers of All Time' List Is Accurate AF". The Source. April 25, 2018. Archived from the original on September 24, 2019. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  14. ^ "250: Jay-Z, Reasonable Doubt". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 2, 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
  15. ^ "252: Jay-Z, The Blueprint". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 4, 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
  16. ^ "R. Kelly: The history of his crimes and allegations against him". July 18, 2017. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  17. ^ "349: Jay-Z, The Black Album". Rolling Stone. May 31, 2009. Archived from the original on August 19, 2013. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  18. ^ "Jay-Z". Billboard. Archived from the original on July 9, 2019. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  19. ^ "Jay-Z is worth $1 billion — see how the rapper-turned-mogul makes and spends his fortune". Business Insider. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  20. ^ O'Malley Greenburg, Zach (June 3, 2019). "Artist, Icon, Billionaire: How Jay-Z Created His $1 Billion Fortune". Forbes. Archived from the original on June 3, 2019. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  21. ^ Chevalier, Michel (2012). Luxury Brand Management. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-17176-9.
  22. ^ Flanagan, Andrew; Hampp, Andrew (March 30, 2015). "It's Official: Jay Z's Historic Tidal Launches with 16 Artist Stakeholders". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2019. Jay-Z's ambitious entrance into the streaming music business, which came as a surprise to industry observers, debuted Monday (March 30) at an event at New York's James A. Farley Post Office in Herald Square.
  23. ^ Sisario, Ben (March 13, 2015). "Jay Z Buys the Music Streaming Firm, Aspiro". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 8, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  24. ^ Holland, Fahiemah Al-Ali, Frank (December 10, 2020). "Billionaire Jay-Z becomes the latest cultural influencer to launch his own cannabis brand". CNBC. Archived from the original on February 17, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  25. ^ "Jay-Z is now worth $2.5 billion—Warren Buffett once said 'he's the guy to learn from'". CNBC. March 27, 2023. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  26. ^ "Jay-Z and Kanye West Conquer Albums Chart with 'Watch the Throne'". Rap-Up.com. August 17, 2011. Archived from the original on January 4, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
  27. ^ "Billboard – Music Charts, Music News, Artist Photo Gallery & Free Video". Billboard. Archived from the original on September 13, 2010. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  28. ^ "100 Greatest Artists: Jay-Z". Rolling Stone. 2011. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  29. ^ Coscarelli, Joe (February 22, 2017). "Jay Z to Be the First Rapper in the Songwriters Hall of Fame". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 20, 2018. Retrieved September 20, 2018.


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