Born Shawn Corey Carter on April 12, 1969, Jay-Z was raised by a single mother, Gloria Carter. He had experienced the tough life on the streets of New York where he grew up. Fortunately, the streets life was not the only thing on his mind as he briefly attended high school in where he also explored his rap skill. Alongside partners from his early group “Original Flavor”, Jay Z, Damon Dash and Kareem “Biggs” Burke co-founded an independent label called Roc-a-Fella Records.
Jay-Z may be considered as a person who could do almost everything. He began his career as a rapper and as a businessman, and then in the future held an important president and CEO position of Def Jam.
As an artist, Jay Z has sold more than 18 million albums worldwide. Starting with his debut album, Reasonable Doubt (1997), up to Watch the Throne (2011), Jay Z has collected many awards, including the 2004 BET Award for Best Male Hip Hop Artist.
Aware of the hard days and the success that he had been through, which surely would be an interesting diary to be read by his fans, Jay-Z published his autobiography entitled “The Black Book” along with the release of “The Black Album” (2003).
Despite his victorious career in music and business, Jay-Z is romantically linked to former Destiny’s Child singer Beyonce Knowles. The couple, who once were invited by Prince Charles to dine at Buckingham Palace, worked together on Beyonce's album “Crazy in Love”. Above all, Jay-Z deserves two thumbs up as he has put his name as the first person in many occasions, naming some was as the first hip-hop artist to have his own Showtime TV concert special aired live and the first one to be featured on TV program "60 Minutes II." Furthermore, he is also the first non-athlete to have his own signature sneaker, “the S. Carter” by