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3 Life and Times of S Carter, he was braced to enter the new millennium with a roster of artists, a steady base of notable producers (including a pre-diva Kanye West) and enormous clout earned from surviving rap battles with Nas, a court case for stabbing a record producer, and a consistent presence at the top of the US charts. Following on from the minor success of his 1996 debut, by the time he'd delivered the follow-ups In My Lifetime Vol 1, Vol 2.
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With his business partners Damon Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke, he founded Roc-A-Fella Records, an early indication that he wasn't just into music, but also the business surrounding it. He grew up around the sounds of Donny Hathaway and Marvin Gaye but says his decision to become a rapper was "a natural transition" as rap was the music that everyone was into during that time. He dropped out of school and turned to drug-dealing, shooting his brother in the shoulder when he was only 12 years old for stealing his bling. He represents to that kid in the Marcy projects, that we really are here."īorn Shawn Corey Carter in 1969, Jay-Z was raised by a single mother with three older siblings. Because our voice didn't count, and trickle-down politics – we were the last on the totem pole to receive any attention because we couldn't put a candidate in office. "I am that kid that grew up in Marcy projects and thought that no matter who was in office, we weren't part of the political project. "For America it means so much," he told Rolling Stone last year. His endorsement of Barack Obama has helped suggest he has some political sense too. His charity work in Africa, his brief liaison with the corporate world via Def Jam and the powerhouse marriage to Ms Knowles have also helped to redefine his brand, which has thus far reflected a multi-millionaire's empire built up around clothing lines, restaurants, films, sports, and more recently Roc Nation, a music publishing and touring venture. It's that lack of growth that will keep us in a certain place." The sad part of it is that all these rappers saying it are 30 years old, at least.
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Everyone is speaking to the kids, thinking that's the key to success. Of course, now there are other things making their way into my CD changer or iPod, because of the lack of material. I would love to listen to hip-hop all day. Jay-Z recently spoke of his keenness to branch out of hip-hop, telling a US magazine: "We have to expand the genre. Then, in 2006, he struck up a friendship with Coldplay's Chris Martin, who appeared on the rapper's album Kingdom Come in the same year. A year later, he presented Collision Course, an experimental album with Linkin Park that might have left fans on both sides a bit miffed, but proved to be a brilliant marketing strategy in collaboration with MTV. On 2003's The Black Album, his supposed final encore with a title that took a cheeky wink at the Beatles, he presented the Billy Squier-sampled "99 Problems", helmed by rock/rap producer Rick Rubin. Jay-Z's transformation has been in the making for years. He has transcended the urban scene to be recognised as an accessible artist who wants to connect with as many people as possible. Add to that a last-minute show he has booked at the Roundhouse in London, which sold out in two minutes, a support slot at Coldplay's Wembley gig and a clever promo opportunity in Jo Whiley's living room soon, and it's obvious that the UK finally gets Jay-Z. Next week, the 39-year-old will release his 11th album The Blueprint 3, a musically diverse ensemble which has spawned his first ever No 1 single in the UK, "Run This Town", and boasts an album cover which even Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz described as "gnarly. Add to the fact that hip-hop is still a sub-culture that struggles to be embraced as musical form by many, and the idea of a rapper from Brooklyn who doesn't sing, dance or play any instruments becoming the king of music could prove a very uncomfortable reality for some. To some, this ambition might imply disregard for the late Michael Jackson, or any musical luminary crowned in countless Halls of Fame around the globe who've taken their sweet time to rise beyond celebrity and who still sell out shows without the cool of the streets and a superstar wife named Beyoncé. Jay-Z, the man once noted for his drug-slinging testimonies and establishing a new hip-hop pedigree, has now set himself the project of evolving into one of our greatest musical icons.