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Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper and current president and CEO of Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella Records. He has been one of the most prolific and successful American rappers of the past decade, with an estimated worth of $350 million.

Known for his use of freestyling abilities, flow, and blending of street and popular hip hop, Jay-Z became one of the most respected rappers in the music industry before his "retirement" in 2004. He is admired for his ability to craft lyrics from memory, without the use of pen and paper; he claims his critically acclaimed album The Blueprint was written in only two days.

Along with Damon "Dame" Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke, he is one of the founders of Roc-A-Fella Records, a hip-hop record label which also launched the careers of artists such as Beanie Sigel, Kanye West, Memphis Bleek, Young Gunz, Freeway, and Teairra Marí.

Hip-Hop entrepreneur

Apart from being President and CEO of Def Jam Recordings, Jay-Z is also one of the owners and founders of the Roc-A-Fella empire, which includes Roc-A-Fella Records, Roc-La-Familia, Roc-A-Fella Films and Rocawear.

At heart, Jay-Z is an entrepreneur like his fellow hip-hop-moguls-turned-friends Russell Simmons, Dr. Dre and Sean "Diddy" Combs, who also have business holdings such as record companies and clothing lines. He redirected the hip hop culture from hooded sweatshirts and baggy jeans to button-ups and crisp jeans, and received GQ's International Man of the Year award.

Roc-A-Fella Records

Jay-Z co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records with partners Damon Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke. Def Jam purchased a 50% stake in the company in 1997 for a reported $1.5 million.

In late 2004, Jay-Z, Dash and Biggs sold their remaining interests in Roc-A-Fella Records and the label was retained as an Island Def Jam imprint. Soon thereafter Jay-Z was appointed the new President and CEO of Def Jam Recordings by Island Def Jam chairman L.A. Reid. Reportedly this major industry move was prompted by disagreement between Jay-Z and Dash as to what new ventures Roc-A-Fella could undertake.

The publicized split between Jay, Dash and Biggs led to the former partners sending jabs at each other in interviews. Dame Dash has made comment that after the break up he was portrayed as "Osama Bin Laden" to ensure that rappers would stay with Jay and not sign with him. Dash currently operates the recently-founded Dame Dash Music Group as a joint venture with Island Def Jam producing former Roc-A-Fella artists such as Beanie Sigel.

Rocawear and fashion

Co-founded in 1999 by Jay-Z, Damon Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke, Rocawear designed for and sought out a share of the lucrative urban fashion market already being capitalized on by labels like Phat Farm.

In 2005, Jay-Z bought out Rocawear co-founder Dash for an estimated $30 million and has sought to expand the company's reach by developing the S. Carter high-end clothing line. Jay also has a line of Reebok sneakers aptly named The S. Carter Collection, which holds the record for fastest-selling Reebok shoe in history and made him the first non-athlete to have a signature line of sneakers. In the spring of 2006, he is in collaboration with Swiss luxury-watch maker Audemars Piguet.

Entertainment and lifestyle

Jay-Z co-owns The 40/40 Club, an upscale sports bar which started in New York City and has since expanded to Atlantic City, NJ. Future plans will see 40/40 Clubs in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Singapore. Roc-A-Fella also distributes Armadale, a Scottish vodka, in the U.S.

Jay-Z is a part owner of the New Jersey Nets NBA team, and is one of the franchise owners interested in relocating the team to Brooklyn. In October 2005, he was reported in English media as considering a takeover of Arsenal F.C., an English football team.

Personal life

Criminal charges

Jay-Z was accused of stabbing record executive Lance "Un" Riviera for what he perceived was Riviera's bootlegging of Vol 3...Life and Times of S. Carter. The stabbing allegedly occurred at the record release party for Q-Tip's debut solo album Amplified at the Kit Kat Klub, a now defunct night club in Times Square, New York City, on December 9 1999. Jay-Z's associates at the party were accused of causing a commotion within the club, which Jay-Z allegedly used as cover when he supposedly stabbed Riviera in the stomach with a five-inch blade.

Jay-Z initially denied the incident and pleaded not guilty when a grand jury returned the indictment. Jay-Z and his lawyers contended he was nowhere around Riviera during the incident and they had witnesses and videotape evidence from the club that showed Jay-Z's whereabouts during the disturbance. Nevertheless, he later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge which resulted in a sentence of three years probation. The New York Post reported that Jay-Z had bought out Riviera for $600,000 to cease his cooperation with prosecutors, and without the cooperation of the victim, prosecutors had to cut a plea deal that would not interfere with Jay-Z's touring plans. Riviera also dropped a civil suit, where he asked for $40 million.

Jay-Z makes reference to the trial and incident on his songs "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)", off The Blueprint, "Threat," off The Black Album and "Dear Summer", which was included in Memphis Bleek's 2005 release 534.

Rival rapper Cam'ron has since claimed on his song "You Gotta Love It" that Jay-Z had actually "stabbed Un over Charli Baltimore".

Romantic life

Jay-Z was featured on Beyonce's hit single "Crazy In Love." He made yet another appearance on Beyoncé's 2006 hit, "Deja Vu". The couple have never publicly discussed their relationship, but have reportedly been together for almost four years. Beyoncé has stated that she believes that not publicly discussing their relationship has helped them. Jay-Z has said in a People Magazine article that "We don't play with our relationship."

Jay-Z did remark during a goodbye party for departing Def Jam head Lyor Cohen in 2004 that he and Beyoncé will "marry very soon." It is rumored that the couple will marry in November 2006 in Anguilla.

Jay-Z and Beyoncé were listed as a Power Couple on Time Magazine's 100's Most Influential People of 2006

It can be noticed that Jay-Z and Beyonce were fond of each other before they had an "official" relationship. In 1999 Jay-Z directed rapper Amil's "I Got That", a video that Beyonce was featured on. Destiny's Child was also seen in his' "H To The Izzo" video singing some of the rap. There were many apperances like that before 2002.

Other

In 2002, Kashmere High School in Houston, Texas hosted Jay-Z as "principal for a day" .

After his retirement, Jay-Z has also become involved in philanthropic activity. On August 9 2006, he met with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan at the organization's headquarters in New York. The rapper pledged to use his upcoming world tour to raise awareness of – and combat – global water shortage. Already on the look-out for a way to, in his own words, "become helpful", he had been made aware of this issue during a visit to Africa. The effort will take place in partnership with the UN, as well as MTV, which will produce a documentary entitled Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life, scheduled for airing on November 24.

Grammy Award history

• Career Nominations: 18
• Career Wins: 5

Discography

For extended information see Jay-Z discography.

Albums

• 1996: Reasonable Doubt
• 1997: In My Lifetime, Vol. 1
• 1998: Streets Is Watching (Soundtrack)
• 1998: Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life
• 1999: Vol. 3: Life and Times of S. Carter
• 2000: The Dynasty: Roc La Familia
• 2001: The Blueprint
• 2001: Unplugged
• 2002: The Best of Both Worlds (with R. Kelly)
• 2002: The Blueprint 2: The Gift and the Curse
• 2002: The Blueprint 2.1
• 2003: The Black Album
• 2004: Unfinished Business (with R. Kelly)
• 2004: Collision Course (with Linkin Park)
• 2006: Kingdom Come

Top 20 singles

Filmography

• Streets Is Watching (1998)
• Hard Knock Life (2000)
• State Property (2002)
• Paper Soldiers (2002)
• Fade To Black (2004)

See also

• Best selling music artists
• List of number-one hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart

External links

• Rocafella profile
• Def Jam Records
• S. Carter Academy
• The 40/40 Club
• Rocawear
• Roc With Me: V.I.P.
• Jay-Z discography at MusicBrainz
• Jay-Z at IMDb
• Template:Last.fm
• Jay-Z at AllMusic
• Template:MTVartist
• Newsweek Entertainment profile
• Jay-Z at TheRapCella.Com

References

1. Jay-Z is said to never write rhymes down on paper on solisstyle.com, 3 October 2004
2. Recounted by Jay-Z on the documentary Collision Course DVD. Collision Course. Jay-Z and Linkin Park. Roc-A-Fella/Warner Bros./Machine Shop Recordings. 2004.
3. Roc-A-Fella Sold To Island Def Jam, AllHipHop.com, 8 December 2004
4. Damon Dash Speaks About Jay-Z, Vibe.com, 10 April 2006
5. Reebok and Jay-Z Create an Unprecedented Demand with the "S. Carter Collection By RbK", 21 April 2003
6. Jay-Z & Audemars Piguet to announce the creation of the Royal Oak Offshore Jay-Z 10th anniversary limited edition timepiece
7. Beyonce's Rapper Lover Is After A Piece Of Arse: Jay-Z's Footie Bid, The Sunday Mirror, 9 October 2005
8. Handlin, Sam. Jay-Z pleads guilty to stabbing record executive. Courttv.com. October 18 2001. Retrieved June 18 2006.
9. Ryan, Harriet. Rapper gets probation for assault charge. Courttv.com. December 6 2001. Retrieved June 18 2006.
10. SFGate.com Daily Dish. January 30 2004. Retrieved June 18 2006
11. Stuff.co.nz. August 27 2006. Retrieved August 27 2006
12. Jay-Z helps UN focus on world water crisis, Reuters/Yahoo!, August 9 2006. Retrieved August 10 2006

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• Discographies
• 1969 births
• African American musicians
• American music industry executives
• American rappers
• American dance musicians
• Dance musicians
• People from Brooklyn
• Roc-A-Fella Records artists
• Def Jam Recordings artists
• Living people
• Rappers known by pseudonyms
• Record producers
• Rhythmic Top 40 acts
• Grammy Award winners