Jay Z

By Mariah and Hannah

Early Life
Born Shawn Corey Carter in New York City on
December 4, 1969
Raised in Brooklyns Marcy Housing Projects
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Father left family when Jay Z was 11

George Westinghouse
Notorious B.I.G.
http://www.biography.com/people/jay-z-507696#rise-to-hop-hop-fame

From Grams to Grammys

Started selling drugs at 12
Sold Crack Cocaine to make a living, to support his family

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Shot brother when he was 12 because brother tried to steal drugs to feed his own
addiction
Shot 3 times close range
There wasnt any place you could go for isolation or a break. You go in the hallway; [there
are] crackheads in the hallway. You look out in the puddles on the curbscrack vials

Nicknames
Shawn Carter
HOV
Jay-Z

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How selling drugs influenced his career

I know about budgets. I was a drug dealer, he said. To be in a drug
deal, you need to know what you can spend, what you need to re-up. Or
if you want to start some sort of barbershop or car washthose were
the businesses back then. Things you can get in easily to get out of
[that] life.

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2016)

Early Career
joined the rapper Jaz-O to record a song called "The Originators
First appearance on YO! MTV Raps due to song in 1989
Childhood nickname Jazzie changed to Jay-Z

Jay Z on Yo! MTV raps

Originators with Jaz-O
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Performing The
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Roc-a-Fella
In 1996, Jay Z and two neighborhood friends, Damon Dash and Kareem Burke, formed RocA-Fella records and issued Jay-Z's debut, Reasonable Doubt.
only reached No. 23 on the Billboard charts, Reasonable Doubt 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.

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In my Lifetime Vol.1
Life in 1997
Released
executive-produced by P-Diddy and featured
a number of producers from Bad Boy
Huge Commercial Record: "I Know What
Girls Like"

Vol. 2...Hard Knock

Released in 1998
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"

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Vol 3Life and Times of S. Carter

Released in 1999
more commercial hits chief among them "Big Pimpin'," a collaboration with the southern
rap duo UGK

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The Blue Print

Declared best album by critics
Commercial song off album : Izzo (H.O.V.A.)," Girls, Girls, Girls (Part 2), Song Cry.
Some songs produced by Kanye West
Album went 2x platinum

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Blue Print 2.1

Jay Z's next solo album was 2002's
The Blueprint2: The Gift & the Curse,
a double-album. The album debuted
on the Billboard 200 at number one,
selling over 3 million units in the U.S.
alone and surpassing The Blueprint.
It was later reissued in a single-disc
version, The Blueprint 2.1, which
retained half of the tracks from the
original. The album spawned two
massive hit singles, "Excuse Me Miss
" and "'03 Bonnie & Clyde", which
featured Jay Z's future wife Beyonc.

The Black Album

Commercial songs: "
What More Can I Say", "
Dirt Off Your Shoulder", "
Change Clothes", and "99 Problems"
The Black Album has sold 3 million
copies in the US
Announced this would be his last album
Retiring
2003

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Kingdom Come
Gangster
Jay-Zs comeback album after
retirement
November 21, 2006
"Show Me What You Got" - Commerical
Song off Album
People said Jay-Z was going soft

American
tenth album released November 6,
2007
Jay Z's American Gangster depicts his
life in correlation to the movie
American Gangster by Ridley Scott

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The Blueprint 3
Throne
eleventh studio album by American
rapper Jay-Z, released September 8,
2009 on Roc Nation, through
distribution from Atlantic Records.
the final installment in The Blueprint
trilogy, preceded by The Blueprint
(2001) and The Blueprint2
: The Gift & The Curse (2002).
Commercial Hits: Run this Town ft
Kanye and Rihanna, Empire State of
Mind ft Alicia Keys

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Watch The
collaborative studio album by American
rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West,
released on August 8, 2011, by
Roc-A-Fella Records, Roc Nation, and
Def Jam Recordings.
Commercial hits: HAM", "Otis", "
Lift Off", "No Church in the Wild",
N__ _ _ s in Paris

Magna Carta Holy Grail

released July 4, 2013
Magna Carta Holy Grail debuted at number one on the Billboard 200
sold 528,000 copies in its first week
Commerical Hits: "Holy Grail", "Tom Ford" and "Part II (On the Run)" featuring Beyonc

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Some of His Music

Song Cry - Jay Z
Lost One ft Chrisette Michelle
Dirt Off Your Shoulder
Empire State of Mind ft. Alicia Keys

Influenced by
Jay Z says his earliest exposure to music was through his parents' record collection, which
was mostly of soul artists such as Marvin Gaye and Donny Hathaway.
"I grew up around music, listening to all types of people... I'm into music that has soul in
it, whether it be rap, R&B, pop music, whatever. As long as I can feel their soul through
the wax, that's what I really listen to."
Influenced by OutKast, The Beatles, Nirvana, and Raekwon

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Jay Z the Businessman

In 2005, he was accepted a job as president of the legendary Def Jam label
On May 21, 2009, Jay Z announced he would be parting ways with Def Jam, and had struck a
multimillion-dollar deal to sign with Live Nation, with whom he would start his Roc Nation
imprint which would serve as a record label, talent/management agency, and music
publishing company
Manages Rihanna, Kanye and J.Cole, just to name a few

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Contd...
Jay Z's owns Rocawear and Roc-a-Fella Films (Jay Z sold the rights to the Rocawear brand
to Iconix Brand Group, for $204 million. He retains his stake in the company and
continues to oversee the marketing, licensing and product development.)
He owns the 40/40 Club, an upscale sports bar that opened in New York City and later
added venues in Atlantic City, Las Vegas and Atlanta.
Jay Z became part owner of the Brooklyn Nets basketball franchise, which moved to a new
home, the Barclays Center, in 2012.
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Personal Life
Married to Beyonc Knowles on April 4, 2008, in New York City
Jay Z and Beyonc welcomed their first child, a daughter named Blue Ivy Carter, on
January 7, 2012.

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Philanthropy
In 2003, Jay Z, together with his mother, founded The Shawn Carter Foundation, which has
assisted eligible students facing socio-economic hardships through college.
In 2015, Jay Z held his first annual charity concert called Tidal X: 10/20. The show raised
around $1.5 million, with the funds to be used for social causes determined by the New
World Foundation and Sankofa.org, a nonprofit started by Harry Belafonte.

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Troubles in Paradise
On December 1, 1999, Jay Z, supposedly stabbed Lance Rivera in the stomach with a fiveinch (127 mm) blade at a party for Q-tip.He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and
accepted a three-year probation sentence.
At Hot 97s Summer Jam in 2001, he displayed a childhood picture of Mob Deep's Prodigy
dressed as a ballerina on the jumbotron.
Not only did he attack Mobb Deep but, more famously, he dismantled former friend Nas in
"The Takeover," accusing the rapper of inventing a backstory and claiming he had lost
his touch. This was the beginning of a long feud between Jay and Nas, one that wasn't
resolved until Jay signed Nas to Def Jam in 2007
Parlux fragrances sued Jay Z for $18 million for the failure of Jay Z's cologne, Gold. They

Quote about stabbing from Jay Zs Decoded

One night I went to Q-Tip's solo album release party and at some point in the
night, I ran into the guy everyone's been telling me is behind the bootleg. So I
approached him. When I told him what I suspected, to my surprise, he got real
loud with me right there in the middle of the club. It was strange. We separated
and I went over to the bar. I was sitting there like, "No the fuck this n...a did
not....." I was talking to people, but I was really talking to myself out loud, just in
a state of shock. Before I even realized what I was doing, I headed back over to
him, but this time I was blacking out with anger. The next thing I knew, all hell
had broken loose in the club. That night the guy went straight to the police and I
was indicted...
There was no reason to put my life on the line, and the lives of everyone who

Awards and Nominations

Won 21 grammys
Nominated over 50 times
American Music Awards: Nominated (9), won (3)
link to awards

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Random Facts
His nickname Hova comes from J-Hova (Jehovah).
Forbes lists him at number 17 on their list of the richest black Americans
Favorite color is blue
Jay-Z takes Beyonce on a pizza date every Sunday. They go to an undisclosed BYOB spot in
Brooklyn.
Jay Zs net worth is $552 million.

References
(2016). The Huffington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2016, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/09/jay-z-i-was-addicted-to-t_n_280876.html
(2016). Biography.com. Retrieved 4 April 2016, from
http://www.biography.com/people/jay-z-507696
Jay z. (2016). Retrieved from http://www.biography.com/people/jay-z-507696#comeback
Jay Z. (2016). Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 April 2016, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Z#Awards_and_nominations
Jay Z Opens Up About His Dark Past. (2016). The Huffington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2016,
from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/01/jay-z-drug-dealer_n_4019023.html

References Contd...
Jay-Z - The Blueprint. (2016). Discogs. Retrieved 4 April 2016, from
https://www.discogs.com/Jay-Z-The-Blueprint/master/46989
Jay-Z Biography. (2016). Rolling Stone. Retrieved 4 April 2016, from
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/jay-z/biography
Jay-Z,. (2010). Decoded. New York, NY: Spiegel & Grau.
Jay-Z: I Shot My Brother When I Was 12. (2016). The Huffington Post. Retrieved 4 April
2016, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/22/jayz-i-shot-my-brotherwh_n_786760.html
Red Bull Music Academy. (2016). Daily.redbullmusicacademy.com. Retrieved 4 April
2016, from http://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2013/07/jay-z-influences-andinspirations