In the past, he has been known as Hov, Jigga, Jiggaman and Jay Hova. Today, Shawn ‘Jay-Z’ Carter is known as a Hip Hop entrepreneur and mogul that seized his opportunities to become one of the most respected and arguably smartest to ever do it. Jay-Z celebrates his 50th birthday today, Dec. 4, and he has a legendary past to reflect on.
Jay-Z jumpstarted his Hip Hop career at the age of 27 starting Roca-A-Fella Records with business-minded Dame Dash and financier Kareem ‘Biggs’ Burke.
The 90s was marked by Jay-Z’s rise. He would drop classic albums Reasonable Doubt (1996), In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1997), Vol. 2…Hard Knock Life (1998), and Vol. 3…Life And Times Of S. Carter (1999), solidifying himself as a top 10 rapper. Since his beginnings, he’s released 14 No. 1 albums.
The Brooklyn native would make a lot of transitions in the 2000s, ending his business relationship with Dame Dash, igniting a business and personal relationship with Beyonce, and trying his hand at corporate America.
Jay-Z went from the man wearing jerseys and medallion chains to dawning business suits and meeting with the likes of Warren Buffett. His business portfolio continued to grow as he built his own brands, including Rocawear, D’Ussé cognac, and eventually, his music streaming service Tidal.
He made wise investments in Uber, sports teams, real estate and art. Then, he went on to form entertainment agency Roc Nation, a partnership with Live Nation. But, one of the smartest moves Jay-Z made was obtaining the publishing rights from EMI and ownership of his master recordings.
Hov’s business moves has landed him at billionaire status, becoming the first Hip Hip entrepreneur to do so. Just to think that all of this genius resided in a young man who grew up in Marcy Projects.
Besides his astonishing career, he’s led a bonafide, but very human, marriage with superstar Beyonce, spurning three beautiful kids, Blue Ivy, and twins Sir and Rumi.
In celebration of his birthday, Jay-Z released his entire discography on music streaming competitor Spotify after two years of not being available on the service.
Jay-Z continues to defy gravity, making chess moves, teaching these young rappers how to do it. As he once said, “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business…man.”
Below, The MouthSoap recognizes some of the incredible milestones of the life and times of Jay-Z.
“Can’t Knock The Hustle” featuring Mary J. Blige was the third single off of Jay-Z’s debut album Reasonable Doubt, reaching #73 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
In 1998, Jay-Z released his game-changing commercial hit “Hard Knock Life” off of his album Vol. 2…Hard Knock Life. The single went platinum in the U.S., gold in the U.K., and peaked at No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot Rap chart.
Jay-Z been dabbling in the movie industry since the early stages of his career. Him and his Roca-A-Fella partners came out with hood classic State Property in 2002, featuring Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek and Damon Dash.
Who can forget when the two music titans Beyonce and Jay-Z came together for their 2003 hit “Crazy In Love”, nearly breaking the music industry matrix. The song was No. 1 on nine different music charts, including Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs, Mainstream Top 40, US Rhythmic, Dance Club Songs, UK Singles, and the official charts for Ireland and Scotland.
In the early 2000s, Jay-Z announced that he was part owner of the Brooklyn Nets. Another business move that made shockwaves in the Hip Hop world.
Jay-Z didn’t stop there. With many successes in between, Carter had a moment to drop his 2004 documentary Fade To Black.
Then, he decided to start doing music soundtracks. One of the most prolific was the 2007 soundtrack for American Gangster, the true to life story about Harlem drug dealer Frank Lucas. He would later executive produce the soundtrack for The Great Gatsby.
Then, there was that time that Jay-Z sat down with Warren Buffett to do a Forbes interview in 2010. If anyone doubted Jay-Z’s intention in the business world, this move solidified his ambition.
As the years passed, Jay-Z collaborated with the likes of R. Kelly, Kanye West, and Beyonce. One of the most epic moments of his career is when his wife, Beyonce, released Lemonade, revealing infidelities in her marriage. The man known as Carter followed the album with 4:44, essentially apologizing to his wife. While fans never truly found out what the details of the situation was, the unveiling of the perfect couple made them more human and also did well for their album sales. In this clip, he went on CNN to talk about cheating on Beyonce.
Off of his 2017 album 4:44, he released the provocative single “The Story of OJ”, sparking conversation about the state of Black America.
In the midst of the ups and downs (mostly ups) of his career, Carter has managed to produce and hold down a beautiful family.
