“I’m not a businessman. I’m a business, man.” rapped Jay-Z in one of his songs.
True to his word, the hip hop mogul has made his fortune building brands.
He sold his urban fashion company Rocawear for $200m.
The former teenage drug dealer has invested in a music streaming service, a champagne brand, and even a brand of cognac. How did he get here?
Small Beginnings
Jay-Z was born Shawn Corey Carter in 1969 in one of Brooklyn’s crime-infested projects. His childhood was made even more difficult when his father left the family. For 11-year-old Carter, it was a significant event.
In some of his songs, the new billionaire has already immortalized his difficult teenage years during which he experimented with drugs and guns.
How Shawn Carter became Jay-Z
He was only 20 when he realized that music could help him escape a life of crime.
Carter teamed up with an older rapper called Jaz-O to record a song called The Originators.
The two appeared on an MTV show called Yo! MTV Raps. He took up the stage name Jay-Z for three reasons. One, it reminded him of a nickname he had as a child – Jazzy. Two, it reminded him of a subway station near home called J/Z, and three, it sounded a lot like Jay-O whom he looked up to.
At this point he knew he had a future in music, even though he was still unknown.
Roc-a-Fella
One of the most important decisions the young rapper made was to start his own record label. Roc-a-Fella was a partnership between Jay-Z, Damon Dash, and Kareem Burke. Jay-Z was now both an artiste and an entrepreneur.
Jay-Z Makes an Impression
Jay-Z’s first album was Reasonable Doubt, released in 1996. The album did well - it was number 23 on the Billboard 200 list. Even better, Reasonable Doubt has become a hip-hop classic.
Jay-Z Wins his First Grammy
The title track for Jay-Z’s successful album Vol 2… Hard Knock Life won a Grammy award. Hard Knock Life is still popular in 2019 even though it was released in 1998.
Hard Knock Life was the beginning of Jay-Z's time as an undisputed leader in Hip-Hop.
From then on, Jay-Z was on a roll. He released Big Pimpin’, Bonnie & Clyde, and I Just Wanna Love U.
Bonnie & Clyde was a somewhat collaboration between himself and Beyonce Knowles. She would become his future wife.
The Blueprint in 2001 an even bigger success. He seemed to be permanently on an upward trajectory.
Jay-Z Gets Bored
Everyone was shocked when in 2003, Jay-Z released what he said would be his last album before retirement. It was called The Black Album, and he vowed not to do any more solo projects.
Jay-Z had decided to retire because in his own words: ‘The Game Ain’t Hot.’ In other words, there wasn’t enough competition to make things interesting.
Jay-Z Makes a Comeback
Obviously, things must have heated up a little because by 2006 Jay-Z was back in the game.
Between 2006 and 2009, he released three albums: Kingdom Come, American Gangster, and Blueprint 3.
The new music sounded different. Jay Z had grown up.
In 2011, he worked with Kanye West to produce Watch the Throne. This album was a chart-topper in three genres: hip hop, Soul, and R n B.
Jay Z had found a whole new sound and a whole new audience.
His twelfth album would do even better. Released in 2013, the Magna Carter Holy Grail not only topped the billboard charts but also won him a whole 9 Grammy nominations.
He and Justin Timberlake shared the Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung category. The song was Holy Grail.
Business Acumen
Jay-Z has shown himself to be a screwed businessman as well as an artist.
While he was in his three -year ‘retirement,’ Jay Z became president of Def Jam Records. He signed up money makers like Neyo, Rihanna, and Kanye West.
Jay-Z did not last long at Def Jam. In 2006 he quit, complaining that the company was too resistant to change.
He was moving on.
By 2009, he was signing a 150-million contract with Live Nation to manage artistes through a company called Roc Nation.
Roc Nation took on Jay-Z, T.I., Shakira, and even Rihanna.
Jay-Z has invested in other business interests, including his urban fashion brand Rocawear, a chain of Sports Bars, wine, Uber, and a Basketball team.
In 2015, Jay-Z was getting together with is friends to invest in a music streaming service called Tidal. He ended up selling his shares in the business to a telecommunications company called Sprint.
Songwriter
Before he became the first billionaire rapper, Jay-Z had already made history by becoming the first rapper to noin the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
His music career was far from over. In 2013, three years after he temporarily resigned from hip-hop, Jay-Z was releasing 4:44; a thirteenth solo album.
Gamble
In another well-calculated move, Jay-Z chose to release the song only to the subscribers of the streaming service Tidal.
Within a week the new release was already certified platinum.
He included other artistes like his wife Beyonce, Frank Ocean, and Damien Marley in the project.
The songs included responses to issues of infidelity raised in Beyonce’s controversial album Lemonade.
4:44 earned no less than eight Grammy nominations.
Jay-Z has not shied away from politics. He went all out in support of Barrack Obama's presidential campaign in 2008. He even dedicated some of his songs to the campaign and wrote about it. In 2012 Jay-Z was at it again, campaigning for Obama’s reelection. The rapper has also spoken up in support of gay couples right to marry.
Jay and Bey
Jay-Z and Beyonce managed to keep their relationship private for several years. In 2008, he finally married Beyonce Knowles in a small ceremony. There were only 40 guests at the wedding.
That small ceremony was the beginning of one of the most influential power couples in the entertainment industry.
It was an advantageous marriage for both of them. Their daughter Blue Ivy was born in January 2012. Five years later, Beyonce and Jay-Z welcomed twins into their family. This was one of the most anticipated celebrity births in recent times.
By June 2019, Forbes named Jay-Z as the first billionaire rapper. Not bad for a kid from Brooklyn’s Marcy Projects.
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