Jay-Z Biliography

The life and times of Shawn Carter.

The story of Shawn Carter is one of rags to riches, tragedy to triumph and one of the epic stories in rap history. Riddled with determination, struggle and controversy the story of Shawn carter is one that is unmatched. S. Carter, more well known as Jay-Z created most of his status which he has today by himself. His story begins from the projects of Brooklyn where he grew up, to his hustling times as a teenager. He loved Michael Jackson as a kid and he grew to express his feeling trough music. Shawn went trough many tragedies and he turned to music as his outlet of emotion. His lyrical expression is one that can be unmatched and what is led him to the top of the rap game. Jay-Z is known for his vocabulary and he says that is one of the key elements to his success.

Over the years Jay-Z has compiled a very large empire. From his 17millon albums sold world wide, to owning one of the premier record labels in the industry, having his own clothing line, his own club to party at and his own type of vodka known as Armadale (Premium two grain, triple distilled Scottish vodka ). The life of Shawn Carter has defiantly changed since his days living in the projects hustling for a living.

Shawn Carter was born on December 4th, 1969 at 10 pounds and 8 ounces, and he was the youngest of four children. Shawn was a very shy child growing up. When Shawn reached the age of five his family moved to the new Marcy Houses of Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Though the projects were a tough neighborhood, his parents kept a close eye on him. Shaw always loved the spot light as a kid, he would put on Michael Jackson records and would dance and sing while his siblings and parents laughed until the early hours of the morning. Shawn's life took a tragic turn at the age of eleven, when his father left him. Jay-Z states to this very day that of all the events that have occurred in his life, dealing with the leaving of his father was the hardest. Because of this Shawn turned to music during this tragic time in his life which he would continue to do throughout his life. His mom Gloria Carter saw that he was into music so much that she bough him his first boom box. "This was a way to keep Shawn close to me and out of trouble during these trying times. Although this used to drive his siblings nuts I knew it was a good decision" (Gloria Carter). With the passion of raping and singing in Shawn and the raw emotion felt by his father leaving him and his family, he began to write lyrics to express his emotions at the time. Soon Shawn was known as the best rapper in the projects of Brooklyn. He was soon after given the nick name "jazzy" which he then shortened to Jay-Z.

As Jay-Z's local hype grew, his childhood friend and fellow rapper Jaz was signed to a major label deal, and put Jay on his first single "Hawaiian Sophie," in 1989. But when the album didn't do so well in sales, and Jaz was dropped from the label, Jay vowed never to be taken advantage of again, and turned his attention a more profitable profession. Jay proceeded to return to the streets and became a hustler. Although he made money hustling and was quickly climbing the ranks in the hustling business he still has an over whelming passion to rap. He was given a second chance when his childhood idol, Big Daddy Kane, invited Jay to go out on tour with him. Jay was sure this was his moment to get a big record deal and had very high hopes for this venture, but he couldn't attract any interest from major labels. Paned over by the music industry once again, Jay returned to hustling. Even though the music industry dismissed Jay's lyrics and style of rap twice his family and friends refused to give up on him. They encouraged Jay to start recording with DJ Clark Kent, Clark introduced Jay to a young music manager and entrepreneur from Harlem named Damon Dash. They hit it off right away and began to plot their future, determined to make it big on their own terms. Under Damon's management, Jay performed all over New York and built a loyal local following throughout the projects and in the underground hip-hop scene. He performed Original Flavor's single "Can I Get Open" and released his own singles "I Can't Get Wit Dat" and "In My Lifetime." Yet still not record labels would sign Jay-Z. Jay and Damon realized that if they were going to make it anywhere in the rap game they would have to do everything themselves. So they got together with Damon's childhood friends Kareem "Biggs" Burke and started their own label, Roc-A-Fella Records. Jay finally made it on the radio with his single "Dead Presidents." But it was the b-side - "Ain't No" with Foxy Brown - that exploded nationally. To capitalize on his growing success, Jay released his first album Reasonable Doubt. The album, which included a guest appearance from Jay's childhood friend and rapper Biggie Smalls, became a local and critical success. Jay-Z and Roc-A-Fella Records were finally on the map and getting the credit they deserved. Roc-A-Fella signed a partnership deal with Def Jam, and they knew this time they had finally made it. After the success of the 1st album released by Jay-Z he came out with his second called, In My Lifetime. This album received mixed reviews and some of Jay true followers wondered of he was selling out and changing his style. But Jay-Z and Roc-A-Fella Records would not let this thought of selling out occur. They responded to the criticism by putting out Streets is Watching - a series of gritty videos that dramatized Jay-Z's more hardcore songs. The movie was an underground success. This was the 1st movie that Jay was featured in and was a stepping stone for future movie works.

Then came the next big success for Jay and Roc-A-Fella Records. It came with Jay's 3rd album "Hard Knock Life." The promotion for this album was one which is not a common one, Jay and Roc-A-Fella Records released