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Jay-Z

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File:Jayz foto.jpg
Jay-Z
== JAY Z DOESN'T WRITE HIS OWN SONGS ==

JAY Z IS NOT A WRITER.

http://media.putfile.com/Camron-Exposed-Jay-Zs-Lyrical-Plagiarism

Shawn Corey Carter, also known as Jay-Z, Jigga, and Jay-Hova (a play on Jehovah later shortened to Hova, or Young Hov) (born December 4, 1969, Brooklyn, New York) is a rap/hip hop performer and record label executive. He was one of the most popular and successful rappers of the late 1990s and early 2000s and one of the founders of Roc-a-Fella Records, a successful hip-hop label which also launched the careers of Beanie Sigel, Kanye West, Memphis Bleek, Young Gunz, Freeway, and others. Known for his metaphoric lines, freestyling abilities, crafty word play, and blending of street and popular hip hop, Jay-Z became one of the most respected rappers in the music industry before announcing his retirement from recording in 2004. Jay-Z was later appointed the president and CEO of Def Jam Recordings, after Roc-a-Fella was sold to the company. As of 2005, he is estimated to be worth around $320 million [1].

Early career

Originally from the Brooklyn in the Bed-Stuy section of Brooklyn, Carter was abandoned by his father Adnis Reeves when he was twelve years old and he was consequently raised by his mother Gloria. As a young man, he claims to have been caught up in selling drugs on the streets of New York in the Marcy Projects. He was known as "Jazzy" in his neighborhood, a nickname which eventually became his stage name, "Jay-Z." The name Jay-Z is also a homage to his musical partner Jaz-O (a.k.a., the Jaz) as well as to the J-Z subway lines that go from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Jay-Z can be heard on several of The Jaz's early recordings including The Originators and Hawaiian Sophie. His career had a jump start when he battled a rapper by the name of Zai. The battle caught the eye of many record labels, as Jay-Z was able to hold his own against Zai.

He briefly attended high school in Trenton, New Jersey. He dropped out, but is still remembered there for his rhyming. It was said that his involvement in dealing drugs ended after he was shot at three times (he was not hit) in a dispute with another dealer, after which he became more serious about music as a profession. After several unsuccessful attempts to launch a career--first with Jaz-O, and then as part of a group called Original Flavor--Jay-Z co-founded Roc-a-Fella Records with partners Damon Dash and Kareem “Biggs” Burke. His debut album Reasonable Doubt was released in 1996 to considerable acclaim within the hip hop community, and included four charting singles: "Ain't No Nigga" (with Foxy Brown), "Can't Knock the Hustle" (with Mary J. Blige), "Dead Presidents" and "Feelin' It."

Commercial success

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. In spite of the success, Jay-Z's image was tarnished by what his core audience perceived as pandering to mainstream audiences with a more pop-friendly sound. So Jay-Z released The Streets Is Watching, a straight-to-video movie, that showed that Jay was still as hard as ever. The next year, Jay-Z released Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life, continuing this evolution towards a pop-oriented market. Hard Knock Life debuted at #1 on the Billboard Charts and stayed there for five weeks on its way to selling over 5 million records. It included several huge singles, including "Can I Get A..." (featuring Ja Rule and Roc-a-Fella artist Amil), "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)," "Nigga What, Nigga Who (Originators '99)" (featuring Jaz-O and Amil), "It's Alright", Produced by Mahogany (Dr. Dre, Mariah Carey and Jadakiss) and "Money Ain't a Thang" (with Jermaine Dupri). Vol. 2 was what established Jay-Z as one of the best rappers to emerge from the post Biggie-Tupac era along with Nas, who would later have a very important part in Jay-Z's career.

In 1999, Jay-Z released Vol. 3: Life and Times of S. Carter (debuted #1), which was another big hit in spite of continued criticism for his pop-oriented sound, and a large roster of collaborators that many felt crowded out Jay-Z himself. His next album, The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (debuted #1), was originally intended as a collaboration album with many guests from Roc-a-Fella's roster, including Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek and Amil, as well as Scarface, Just Blaze, R. Kelly, Kanye West, The Neptunes and Snoop Dogg.

2001's The Blueprint (debuted #1) is considered by many to be one of hip hop's classic albums. Released on September 11 2001, the album managed to debut at #1, selling more than 450,000 albums in its first week despite being overshadowed by the September 11 attacks. Although it never surpassed Reasonable Doubt's status in the hip hop community, The Blueprint contained a balanced blend of soulful samples that had both street credibility and mainstream appeal, receiving recognition from both audiences. Eminem was the only guest artist on the album, producing and rapping on the track "Renegade." The Blueprint also includes "Izzo (HOVA)," a top ten hit, and "Takeover," a song which puts on blast rivals Prodigy of Mobb Deep and Nas. The latter responded to Jay-Z with both an underground single entitled "Stillmatic" and a track, "Ether," on his 2001 LP "Stillmatic". Stillmatic was seen as another classic album, recieving the coveted 5 mic rating from The Source, and the pair's resulting rivalry became one of the most talked-about subjects in the hip hop community. The feud between Jay-Z and Nas escalated, with Jay-Z even challenging Nas to a one-time $1,000,000 MC battle that never took place, but the two MCs ended their rivalry peacefully in 2005 in Jay-Z's "I Declare War" concert, in which they both performed hit songs from their respective careers.

Two side projects followed The Blueprint: a late 2001 MTV Unplugged album called Jay-Z: Unplugged (debuted #6) (featuring The Roots as Jay-Z's backing band), and a collaborative album with R. Kelly, The Best of Both Worlds (debuted #1), in 2002. Jay-Z's next solo album was 2002's The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse (debuted #1), a sprawling double-album which included the Top 10 single "'03 Bonnie & Clyde," a duet with girlfriend, Beyoncé Knowles of Destiny's Child. The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse was later reissued in a single-disc version, The Blueprint 2.1, which retained half of the tracks from the double-album.

Later years

In 2003, Jay-Z toured with 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes and Sean Paul while finishing work on what was announced as his final album, The Black Album (debuted #1). The album featured the Top 10 singles "Change Clothes" and "Dirt Off Your Shoulder," one of a number of Jay-Z singles produced by Timbaland. The Black Album featured many respected producers including Rick Rubin and Kanye West who has now distinguished himself as a popular (although sometimes criticized) rapper in his own right. The Black Album was an autobiographic album which took Jay-Z "from Marcy to Madison Square."

In 2004, an a capella special edition of The Black Album (which sported a red CD cover) was released with the intention of allowing others to create remixes. The most controversial of the ensuing remixes was by DJ Danger Mouse, entitled "The Grey Album." It combined the a capella version with instrumental samples of The Beatles' White Album. DJ Danger Mouse was sent a cease and desist order from EMI, The Beatles' record company, due to illegal sampling. As a result, many copies were destroyed and an original is now a rare find. And for those still displeased with the gimmickry, there were plenty of fabulous all-new creations on remix albums like 9th Wonder’s The Black Remixes, Kevin Brown’s The Brown Album and Kardinal Offishall and Hugh "MC Son" Ryan’s The Black Jays Album.


On November 25 2003, Jay-Z held a legendary concert at Madison Square Garden, which would later be the focus of his film Fade to Black. This concert was his "retirement party." All proceeds went to charity. Other performers included The Roots, Missy Elliott, Memphis Bleek, Beanie Siegel, Freeway, Mary J. Blige, Beyonce, Twista, Ghostface Killah, Foxy Brown, Pharrell and R. Kelly with special appearances by Voletta Wallace and Afeni Shakur, the mothers of Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur. The concert was viewed the culmination of one of the greatest rap careers of all time and was the first all rap concert that Madison Square Garden allowed in years.

Jay-Z and R. Kelly released a follow up to their Best of Both Worlds album in October 2004 entitled Unfinished Business (debuted #1), which includes 11 previously unreleased tracks by the duo. This release was timed to coincide with the Best of Both Worlds Tour, which played half of its dates before R. Kelly was booted off the tour in November 2004 after his unpredictable and unprofessional behavior. The tour was then changed to "Jay-Z and Friends" and completed its run with artists such as P. Diddy, Mary J. Blige, T.I., Busta Rhymes, and fellow members of the ROC accompanying Jay-Z.

On June 18 2004, Jay-Z appeared live with the legendary rock band Phish as part of their farewell tour at KeySpan Park in Brooklyn, performing two songs with the band while the audience sang along - a defining moment of Jay-Z's popularity.

On November 30, 2004, Jay-Z released Collision Course, a collaboration with Linkin Park. It features remixes of songs from the rock band's two studio albums, Meteora and Hybrid Theory; and also several from the rapper's albums including his latest, The Black Album. It debuted at #1 in the US Billboard Album Charts, #12 in Australia and #38 in the UK. The lead single "Numb/Encore" debuted at #14 in the UK, and remained on the charts for nearly six months.

On January 3, 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; the label will be retained as a Def Jam imprint.

On July 2, 2005, Jay-Z made an appearance at Live 8 with Linkin Park performing songs from Collision Course and the song "Public Service Announcement".

On October 27, 2005, Jay-Z performed at New York's Power 105.1 annual concert, Powerhouse. He had previously announced that he would "declare war" on other rappers taking subliminal shots at him. Surprisingly, he ended his famous beef with Nas, bringing him on stage to do the chorus to Jay-Z's song, "Dead Presidents." Nas also performed songs of his own. Also present on stage was P. Diddy and The Lox, who had a simmering beef relating to The Lox departure from Bad Boy Records. Rappers Freeway and Beanie Sigel jumped on stage as well, along with Kanye West, Sauce Money, Paul Wall, Teairra Mari, Young Jeezy, T.I., Peedi Crack, and Memphis Bleek. The last time Jay-Z declared war, he went at Nas and Prodigy of Mobb Deep on the song "Takeover" at Hot 97's annual concert Summer Jam. Jay-Z also performed for Philadelphia radio station Power 99 on October 28, at the Wachovia Center.

In December 2005, it was reported that wrestler Diamond Dallas Page filed a lawsuit against Jay-Z for illegally adopting the "Diamond Cutter" symbol as his own. Currently Jay-Z is working on his new label Roc-A-Fella West (the west coast branch of Roc-A-Fella records) and his new artist Immense. There is also heavy speculation that he may come out his "retirement" to record & release a new album in 2006, 10 years after his 1st album was released. However, this is only speculation as nothing has been confirmed or denied, though Kanye West 'let it slip' that he is producing for Jay-Z in '06 on MTV's New Years show.

In January 2006, rapper Cam'ron released a song titled "You Got to Love It", attacking Jay-Z. He claims incorrectly that Jay-Z was born in 1968, making him 37 years old as of 2006, and he insulted Jay-Z's attire. Cam'ron also suggests Jay-Z stole Kanye West, Roc-A-Fella and Rocawear from Damon Dash's new entertainment company. The allegations claim that beef arose when Damon Dash wanted to appoint Cam'ron as Roc-A-Fella's vice-president in Jay's absence. Jay-Z declared in USA Today that Cam'ron is using the record as a "ploy" to sell records and that the song is "trash." As of January 25, 2006, Jay-Z stated that he was torn about whether he will officially respond with a track of his own.

Business interests

Apart from being President and CEO of Def Jam Recordings, Jay-Z is also one of the owners and founders of the Roc-A-Fella empire, which includes Roc-A-Fella Records, Roc-La-Familia, Roc-A-Fella Films and Rocawear, a clothing brand established in 1999. Just recently Jay-Z bought out co-founder Damon Dash for an estimated $25 million in the Rocawear clothing line, in addition to developing his own S. Carter high-end clothing line. Roc-A-Fella also distributes "Armadale," a Scottish vodka, in the U.S. Jay-Z is a part owner of the New Jersey Nets NBA team, and is rumored to be one of the franchise owners interested in relocating the team to Brooklyn. In September 2005, he was reported in English media as considering a takeover of Arsenal F.C., an English football team. He also co-owns The 40/40 Club, an upscale sports bar which started in New York, NY and has since expanded to Atlantic City, NJ, with plans for locations in Miami and Atlanta. Carter also has a line of Reebok sneakers called The S.Carter Collection, which hold the record for fastest selling Reebok shoe in history and made him the first non-athlete to have a signature line of sneakers. In the spring of 2005, he introduced his collaboration with Swiss luxury-watch maker Audemars Piguet.

Jay-Z is at heart a true entrepreneur, like his fellow hip-hop-moguls-turned-friends Russell Simmons and Sean "Diddy" Combs, who also have business holdings such as record companies and clothing lines. He redirected the hip hop culture from hooded sweatshirts and baggy jeans to buttons ups and crisp jeans, and received GQ's International Man of the Year award.

"Biting" Accusations

Jay-Z has been accused of "biting", or stealing, lyrics from other artists.*[[2]] In the song Ether, for instance, Nas accuses Jay-Z of stealing lyrics from the Notorious B.I.G., who he cites as a rap legend and Jay-Z's apparent friend. Jay-Z has also been accused of stealing the idea for the song "99 Problems" from Ice-T, who had a very similar song. Some people, however, see this simply as quotations paying homage to deceased rappers (including The Notorious B.I.G. and Big L among others) and prominent hip hop pioneers (i.e. Slick Rick). Jay-Z vehemently denies these accusations, addressing them in the song What More Can I Say on The Black Album: "I'm not a biter/ I'm a writer/ For myself and others/ I say a B.I.G. verse I'm only biggin up my brother". Though these accusations have increased over the past few years, they do not poise as a major issue in the hip hop community, nor have they damaged Jay-Z’s status as a hip hop icon.

Grammy Award History

Career Stats

  • Career Wins: 4
  • Career Nominations: 18


Jay-Z's Grammy History
Category Genre Song Year Result
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration Rap "Numb/Encore" 2006 Nominated
Best Rap Song Rap "99 Problems" 2005 Nominated
Best Rap Album Rap The Black Album 2005 Nominated
Best Rap Solo Performance Rap "99 Problems" 2005 WON
Record of the Year General "Crazy In Love" 2004 Nominated
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration Rap "Crazy In Love" 2004 WON
Best R&B Song R&B "Crazy In Love" 2004 WON
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration Rap "Frontin" 2004 Nominated
Best Rap Song Rap "Excuse Me Miss" 2004 Nominated
Best Rap Album Rap Blueprint 2: The Gift & Curse 2004 Nominated
Best Rap Male Solo Performance Rap "Song Cry" 2003 Nominated
Best Rap Solo Performance Rap "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" 2002 Nominated
Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group Rap "Change the Game" 2002 Nominated
Best Rap Album Rap Vol. 3...The Life & Times of Sean Carter 2001 Nominated
Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group Rap "Big Pimpin" 2001 Nominated
Best Rap Album Rap Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life 1999 WON
Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group Rap "Money Ain't a Thing" 1999 Nominated
Best Rap Solo Performance Rap "Hard Knock Life" 1999 Nominated

Discography

For a complete list of albums and singles, see: Jay-Z discography

Top Ten US and UK Singles

The following singles reached the Top Ten on either the US or UK pop charts:

Albums

Underground Releases & Remixes

Aliases

  • H.O.V.A.
  • Hov
  • Hovi
  • Hovito
  • Iceberg Slim
  • Jay
  • Jazzy
  • Jigga
  • Jigga Man
  • Jonny Spitfire
  • President Carter
  • S. Carter
  • S Dot
  • Shawn Carter
  • Young Hov'
  • God MC

See also

References

  1. ^ Jay-Z was estimated to be "worth $320 million and counting" by Rolling Stone in the profile article The Book of Jay, Issue 989, 15 December 2005
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