Jay-z wife

Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, ), known professionally as Jay-Z (stylized as JAY-Z),^[a] is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, actor, and entrepreneur. He is the former CEO of Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records.

Jay-Z co-owns The 40/40 Club and the Brooklyn NetsNBA team. He is one of the most financially successful hip-hop artists and businessmen in America.^[8] Jay-Z has several nicknames, "Jigga", "Hova" and "El Presidente".

In June , it was reported that Jay-Z had become the first billionaire rapper.^[9]

Early life

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Jay-Z was born as Shawn Corey Carter in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.

He was raised in Marcy Houses, a housing project in Brooklyn's Bedford–Stuyvesant. After their father Adnis Reeves abandoned the family, Jay-Z and his three siblings were raised by their mother, Gloria Carter. Reeves would later meet and reconcile with Jay-Z shortly before dying in Jay-Z claims in his lyrics that in , at age 12, he shot his older brother in the shoulder for stealing his jewelry.

Along with rapper AZ he attended Eli Whitney High School in Brooklyn until it was closed. He then attended nearby George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School with rappers The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes, followed by a stint at Trenton Central High School in Trenton, New Jersey, though he did not graduate. According to his interviews and lyrics, he sold crack cocaine and was shot at three times during this period.

IV Play Every emotion is connected, and it comes from somewhere. July 27, The Players Club soundtrack. Archived from the original on September 29,

Musical career

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According to his mother, Jay-Z used to wake up his siblings at night banging out drum patterns on the kitchen table. She bought him a boombox for his birthday, sparking his interest in music, and he began freestyling and writing lyrics. Known as "Jazzy" around the neighborhood, he later adopted the stage name "Jay-Z" in homage to his mentor Jaz-O.

Jay-Z can be briefly heard on several of Jaz-O's early recordings in the late s and early s, including "H. P. Gets Busy", "The Originators" and "Hawaiian Sophie".

Lenny Kravitz: Archived from the original on October 10, Retrieved September 1, Canada's Music Authority". Jay-Z became interested in the project after New York Governor David Paterson who awarded the contract said there had to be an affirmative action component to the ownership.

Jay-Z became embroiled in several battles with rapper LL Cool J in the early s. He first became known to a wide audience on the posse cut "Show and Prove" on the Big Daddy Kane album Daddy's Home. Jay-Z has been referred to as Big Daddy Kane's hype man during this period, although Kane explains that he did not fill the traditional hype man role, and was instead basically making cameo appearances on stage.

"When I would leave the stage to go change outfits, I would bring out Jay-Z and Positive K and let them freestyle until I came back to the stage." The young Jay-Z appeared on a popular song by Big L, "Da Graveyard", and on Mic Geronimo's "Time to Build", which also featured early appearances by DMX and Ja Rule in His first official rap single was called "In My Lifetime", for which he released a music video in An unreleased music video was also produced for the B-side "I Can't Get with That."

The extension of the Empire

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In , Jay-Z stopped rapping, because he found that there were not enough good rappers to compete with him.

He said that the game was too easy for him. He decided to concentrate more on his producer career than his rap career.

Lenny Kravitz

Black and White America

See full list on en.wikipedia.org

He became the president of Def Jam Recordings. He signed a lot of great artists such as Rihanna, Ne-Yo and Kanye West. He also became a businessman by creating his own clothing company, Rocawear, and owning a part of the Brooklyn Nets, an NBAbasketball team.

Present

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After a step back in his career, he made a decision in to come back into the game.

He created the albums "Kingdom Came" and the year after "American Gangster". In , he released Blue print 3, but in he teamed up with Kanye West to do an LP called Watch the Throne. This album went triple hit, made the top rap charts for August and also nominated for the Grammy for the best rap Album. Now, he is known to be one of the best rappers of all time.

In April Jay-Z started a website called Life+ Times. He also took part in Barack Obama’s last elections.^[10] Jay-Z's twelfth album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, was released in July The album topped the chart to number one. It was nominated for Album of the Year at the BET Hip Hop Awards.

The first single on the album, "Holy Grail", features Justin Timberlake singing in it. It reached number four on the US Billboard ^[11] In South Korea it reached number one. Jay-Z's wife Beyoncé sings on "Part II (On the Run)". In December Jay-Z was nominated for nine Grammy Awards. This was more than anyone else that year.^[12] He rapped on his wife Beyoncé Knowles' fifth album Beyoncé.

Together with Beyoncé, Jay-Z has three children: daughter Blue Ivy (born January 7th, )^[13] and twins Rumi and Sir Carter.^[14]

Albums

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JAY-Z has released the following albums during his career:

• Reasonable Doubt
• The Life & Times of S.

  Carter, Vol. 1

• The Life & Times of S. Carter, Vol. 2
• The Life & Times of S. Carter, Vol. 3
• The Dynasty: Roc La Familia
• The Blueprint
• MTV Unplugged
• The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse
• The Blueprint
• The Black Album
• Kingdom Come
• American Gangster
• The Blueprint 3
• Magna Carta Holy Grail
• Everything Is Love (as The Carters, with Beyoncé)

Notes

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1. ↑Pronounced ("jay zee"); alternately stylized as Jaÿ-Z, Jay Z, and Jay:Z throughout his career.^[6][7]

References

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