Jay-Z Bio

Jay-Z was born Shawn Corey Carter on December 4, 1969. He grew up in the infamous Marcy projects in Brooklyn with a sister and a brother. You would think that just growing up on the Marcy projects would be hard enough on a kid, but at the age of twelve, Shawn's parents got a divorce. Shawn then attended the Brooklyn High school with two of today's better known rappers, Biggie Smalls and Busta Rhymes.

Shawn Carter was an intelligent and promising student, but he had behavior problems. He was introduced to the life of drugs and crime at the age of 16, where he stayed and didn't look back until, in 1992, he decided to leave the world of drugs and crime.

Soon after doing this he began looking for a record deal as a solo artist. But Shawn just wasn't getting lucky. It wasn't until a friend, Roc-A-Fella CEO Damon Dash, convinced him to form a record company with him that Jay-Z's career finally got off the ground. Jay-Z released his first single through Roc-A-Fella in 1995, "In My Lifetime." It was a hit in New York, and helped Dash secure a distribution deal for Jay-Z's first album, "Reasonable Doubt."

Although "Reasonable Doubt" wasn't a huge success, it showed that the young man from Brooklyn had skills and was not to be taken lightly. More importantly, it earned the admirations from stars as varied from Notorious B.I.G. to Ice Cube. One of his songs even made its way onto the nutty professor soundtrack.

Shawn's career only went up from there. In 1997, Jay-Z's follow-up, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1, peaked at #3 on the Billboard album charts, and helped establish his career and mainstream success. He continued releasing top selling records until 2003, when he announced the release of the Black Album as his last record.

In early 2005, Jay-Z was appointed the new President and CEO of Def Jam Recordings. Damon Dash had left Roc-a-Fella Records in late 2004 to pursue other ventures, and Jay-Z was able to take over Def Jam Recordings.

Shawn Carter's career was long and full of surprising events. And it leads most people to believe that jay-z is the Greatest Rapper Alive.