Jay-Z | Artist

Shawn Corey Carter aka Jay-Z is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive and media proprietor, born 1969 in Brooklyn, New York. Coming from an impoverished and crime afflicted background, he has risen to become one of the most influential and commercially successful hip-hop artists in history. Jay-Z was raised in Marcy Houses, a housing project in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. After their father, Adnis Reeves, abandoned the family, Jay-Z and his three siblings were raised by their mother, Gloria Carter. When he started out recording with no major label willing to give him a record deal, Jay-Z sold CDs out of his car and with friends Damon Dash and Kareem Burke created Roc-A-Fella Records as an independent label in 1995. He was also, for a period, the President of Rick Rubin's Def Jam Recordings. As a recording artist, Jay-Z released his 1996 critically acclaimed debut album Reasonable Doubt on Roc-A-Fella and it eventually went on to reach platinum status. He released a further twelve albums, including the acclaimed The Blueprint (2001), The Black Album (2003), American Gangster (2007), and 4:44 (2017). He also released the excellent live album Unplugged (2001), plus the collaborations Watch the Throne (2011) with Kanye West and Everything is Love (2018) with his wife Beyoncé. Jay-Z worked extensively alongside Kanye West who, before becoming a solo star, produced work for Jay-Z and other Roc-A-Fella artists. His style was influenced by his early exposure to soul artists such as Marvin Gaye and Donny Hathaway. Through his entrepreneurial talent Jay-Z has become hughly successful in business as has his wife and fellow artist Beyoncé. He is one of the world's best selling music artists, with over 50 million albums and 75 million singles sold worldwide. He has also won a total of 23 Grammy Awards, the most by any rapper, and holds the record for the most number-one albums by a solo artist on the Billboard 200, with 14. In August 2020, it was announced that Jay-Z's Roc Nation would partner with Brooklyn's Long Island University to establish the Roc Nation School of Music, Sports & Entertainment. During the 2016 US Presidential Election rallies Hillary Clinton praised Jay-Z for addressing racism, oppression, and the criminal justice system.

Artist Website: lifeandtimes.com

Featured Albums: Jay-Z

Related Artists: Kanye West, Beyoncé

Video Clips: 99 Problems, Anything, Show Me What You Got