Carter turned to rap at a very young age as an escape from the drugs, violence and poverty that surrounded him in the Marcy Projects. In 1989, he joined the rapper Jaz-O an older performer who served as a kind of mentor to record a song called ‘The Originators,’ which won the pair an appearance on an episode of Yo! MTV Raps. It was at this point that Shawn Carter embraced the nickname Jay-Z, which was simultaneously an homage to Jaz-O, a play on Carter’s childhood nickname of ‘Jazzy,’ and a reference to the J/Z subway station near his Brooklyn home. But even though he now had a stage name, Jay-Z remained relatively anonymous until he and two friends, Damon Dash and Kareem Burke, founded their own record label, Roc-A-Fella Records, in 1996. In June of that year, Jay-Z released his debut album, Reasonable Doubt. Although the record only reached No. 23 on the Billboard charts, it is now considered a classic hip-hop album, featuring songs such as ‘Can’t Knock the Hustle,’ featuring Mary J. Blige, and ‘Brooklyn’s Finest,’ a collaboration with Notorious B.I.G. Reasonable Doubt established Jay-Z as an emerging star in hip-hop.
Two years later, Jay-Z achieved even broader success with the 1998 album Vol. 2 … Hard Knock Life. The title track, which famously sampled its chorus from the Broadway musical Annie, became Jay-Z’s most popular single to date and won him his first Grammy nomination. ‘Hard Knock Life’ marked the beginning of a fruitful period in which Jay-Z would become the biggest name in hip-hop. Over the span of those years, the rapper released a slew of No. 1 albums and hit singles. His most popular songs from this period include ‘Can I Get A …’, ‘Big Pimpin”, ‘I Just Wanna Love U’, ‘Izzo (H.O.V.A.)’ and ’03 Bonnie & Clyde’, a duet with future bride Beyonce Knowles. Jay-Z’s most acclaimed album of this period was The Blueprint (2001), which would later be named on many music critics’ lists of the best albums of the decade.
In 2003, Jay-Z shocked the hip-hop world by releasing The Black Album and announcing that it would be his last solo record before retirement.
During his hiatus from rapping, Jay-Z turned his attention to the business side of music, becoming president of Def Jam Recordings. As president of Def Jam, Jay-Z signed such popular acts as Rihanna, Ne-Yo and Young Jeezy and helped effect Kanye West’s transition from producer to bestselling recording artist,.
Jay-Z’s other, ongoing business ventures include the popular urban clothing line Rocawear and Roc-A-Fella films. He also owns the 40/40 Club, an upscale sports bar with locations in New York and Atlantic City, and is a part owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball franchise. As Jay-Z once rapped about his business empire, ‘I’m not a businessman/ I’m a business, man.’
In 2006, Jay-Z ended his retirement from making music, releasing the new album Kingdom Come. He has since released two more albums: American Gangster and Blueprint 3. This trio of later albums marked a significant departure from Jay-Z’s earlier sound, incorporating stronger rock and soul influences in their production.
Jay-Z married his longtime girlfriend, the popular singer Beyonce Knowles, on April 4, 2008. In a 2010 cover story, Rolling Stone magazine proclaimed Jay-Z ‘The King of America.’ While that may sound like hyperbole, Jay-Z’s ever-growing list of accomplishments places him in largely uncharted territory. Jay-Z has won 10 Grammy Awards and has released 11 No. 1 albums, more than any other solo recording artist, in history.
