Bio: Jay-Z

Shawn Corey Carter (born on December 4th, 1969) is an American rapper from Marcy Projects, Brooklyn, New York. Shawn also is a partner in a string of clubs, called 40/40, as well as owning a stake in the New Jersey Jets.

Jay-Z came to light in 1996 with his debut album, Reasonable Doubt, which spawned the creation of Roc-A-Fella Records. A joint venture between him, Dame Dash and Kareem Biggs. Reasonable Doubt peaked at No.23 in the Billboard chart.

After Reasonable Doubt Jay went on to release an album each year, every year, all of which were bigger, better and more commercially accepted than the last. In 1998 Hard Knock Life then shot him into the forefront of the music industry. He was Grammy Nominated as a result and it went gold in 1999.

The Blueprint

It was Shawn Carters sixth album though that was going to get him worldwide stardom. The Blueprint was released September 11th 2001, the same day the twin towers were attacked and the world would change forever. The album debuted at No.1, selling over 450,000 records in its first week. A first for rap and hip hop.

The Blueprint II, Gift and the Curse

Jay-Z’s next big album was then going to be his last. After releasing Blueprint 2, The Gift and the Curse, Jay now felt it was time to bow down gracefully and become CEO of Def Jam and hang up the mic. So in 2003 at the end of his US tour he announced that he was going to release The Black Album, his last.

The Black Album

The Black album featured production from Eminem, DJ Quik, Timbaland, Kaye West and The Neptunes all of which were also undoubtedly at the peak of the careers.

As predicted the album was a complete success gaining great reviews by critics. In its first week it sold 463,000 and entered in the chart at No.1. The album also brought two top ten singles for Jay, Dirt of Your Shoulder (produced by Timbaland) and Change Clothes (produced by The Neptunes).

The album was then released as an accappella bringing on even more success and making even more money for Jay. The album was famously remixed by Danger Mouse (one half of Gnarls Barkley) who placed the rappers vocals on The Beatles instrumentals. The album was labeled as The Grey Album.

His accappella version of The Black Album also resulted with artists including Cassidy, T.I, Joe Budden and The Clipse all releasing singles featuring samples from the Brooklyn rapper Jay-Z.

On November 25th 2003 Jay-Z hosted a ‘retirement party’/concert at Madison Square Gardens, this was the basis for his DVD Fade to Black, which was a documentary based on his Black Album.

The Brooklyn rapper then went on to become president and CEO of Def Jam whilst selling his share/the record label Roc-A-Fella Records, in which he was also president of.

Kingdom Come

2006 saw the return of Jay-Z with Kingdom Come. His return from retirement. The album dropped in November, one month after the lead single Show Me What You Got had leaked. This resulted in an FBI investigation into music piracy.

The album wasn’t successful for Shawn Carter though, shifting only 2 million in the US. Success however came in the form of Rihanna, with whom he had the hit Umbrella. Umbrella, originally wrote with Britney Spears in mind, went on to be the highest selling single of 2007.

In 2007 American Gangster was released, Jay’s tenth studio album. The album was created on the story behind the US Blockbuster American Gangster, featuring Denzel Washington.

2008 brought Jay-Z much success, after spending most of the summer touring Europe and the US he went in to recording The Blueprint III, set for release later this year. He also headlined Glastonbury Festival which went down a storm, even after Noel from Oasis claiming he’d be “bollocks”. Jay responded with the track Jockin Jay-Z.