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Jay Z Biography

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Shawn Carter was born in Brooklyn, New York, where he lived in the housing projects. Shawn was the third and final child of his mother. Shawn attended three different high schools, but did not graduate. During this period, Shawn sold crack cocaine, and is said to have been shot three times. Shawn would rap under the name Jay-Z and sell CDs out of his car after shows. Jay Z says his early musical influences were soulful artist like Marvin Gaye, and Donny Hathaway.

With no record label to give him a deal, Jay Z started his own independent record label with Daman Dash and Kareem Biggs, called Roc-A-Fella Records. After getting a distribution deal with Priority Records, Jay Z released his debut album, Reasonable Doubt, which received critical …show more content…
He founded a clothing brand, Rocawear, which he eventually sold for 209 million dollars. In 2008 Jay Z founded Roc Nation, an entertainment company, housing a record label, a talent agency, a concert production company, film, and television production company. In 2013, Jay Z founded Roc Nation Sports, a sports management company that focuses on helping the careers of athletes both on and off the field. Jay Z also bought out Tidal, a high fidelity music streaming service.

Jay Z is also a successful investor. In September 2013, his stake in Barclays Center was sold for $1.5 million. He has also invested in a real estate venture called J Hotels which recently acquired a mid-block parcel worth 66 million dollars. In July 2015, Carter invested $20 million in JetSmarter, an app that lets you book private executive airplane rides in seconds. Jay Z has been on the front page of Forbes magazine with Warren Buffet.

Jay Z will go down as one of the best selling artists of all time, and a businessman. He will definitely go down as one of the greatest rappers of all time. Jay Z is a big influence in hip hop culture, and he put other huge influences on the map, like Kanye West. His contributions will be remembered for as long as there are people to remember

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