Jay Z Biography

Check out the background of one of the greatest hip hop artists of all time; the Jay Z biography is truly a rags to riches story. They say it's lonely at the top; but not for Jay Z, he is married to one of the most desirable women in the music industry and rubs elbows with billionaires. But that wasn't always the case. Here is the baby-faced rapper Jay Z's biography.

Rapper Jay Z's beginnings weren't much different from most children who live in poor neighborhoods. Shawn Corey Carter, aka Jay Z, was born on December 4, 1969 in Brooklyn, NY. The young Jay Z stomped around the drug/crime infested streets of the Marcy Housing Projects, and when he was eleven, tension between his parents prompted his father's departure.

The turbulent teen years of Bklyn. rapper Jay Z. Jay Z pulls no punches in his lyrics and is open about his drug slingin', gun toting days on the streets of Bed-Stuy. Brooklyn is just like a lot of America's poor neighborhoods, where one of the toughest things to get and maintain is respect and the teenage Jay Z was gonna have his. 

Rapping eventually became a means of escape for Jay Z. Jay Z got good grades at Eli Whitney High School, but back in the 'hood he had to find something to block out the hopelessness, urban decay and violence that surrounded him. In 1989 he partnered up with older rapper Jaz-O; who became his mentor. Their collaboration "The Originators" won the two an appearance on "Yo! MTV Raps". Jazzy then became Jay Z and a star was in the making.

Jay Z releases his debut album. Jay Z and his friends Damon Dash and Kareem Burke started their own record lable, Roc-A-Fella Records in 1996. A short time later Jay Z's "Reasonable Doubt" dropped, only to reach #23 on the billboard charts. Jay Z's debut album is now a hip-hop classic.

Jay Z, the rapper/businessman. Jay Z has had much success as a rapper and after owning the game for years he took a break. Jay Z focused on the business side of the industry while away from the microphone, taking over the helm as president of Def Jam Records. He resigned after four years, but not before signing two of the hottest acts going; Rihanna and Ne-Yo. Jay Z has his own line of gear, Rockawear and his own film production company, Roc-A-Fella Films. He also owns New York and Atlantic City's 40/40 Clubs as well as a owning part of the New Jersey Nets. Jay Z make a successful comeback in 2006, got married in 2008 and in 2010, the cover story of Rolling Stone Magazine proclaimed him "The King of America." Jay Z has won ten Grammy Awards and released eleven #1 albums, more than any other solo artist in history.