Jay Z biography

Shawn Carter was born and raised in Marcy, Brooklyn, the youngest of four kids. Their father walked out on the family when Carter was just 12, leaving mother Gloria to raise them, but the artist refuses to let this be the reason that he ended up in the crime game. Instead, he maintained in a later interview that because he was bored at school, and being streets ahead of his class mates in terms of reading ability, he began to look elsewhere for excitement. 'We had reading tests and I was always four years ahead of the standard. I was always good with language. So when I didn't have anything to aim for my head turned - I started dealing partly because I didn't want to see my mother work so hard.'

Now calling himself Jay Z (a reworking of another childhood nickname, 'Jazzy'), he was canny enough at the very start to use his ill-gotten gains with some degree of wisdom. His talents for language and rhymes lent themselves perfectly to a rap career, and sensing the need to be in complete control of his own music, he set up the Roc-A-Fella label with friends Damon Dash and Kareem 'Biggs' Burke, and they sold their records from the boot of a car in Brooklyn, then progressed to driving them to record stores in New York, and eventually shops in Maryland and Philadelphia.

Jay Z's debut album 'Reasonable Doubt' came out in 1996 (released on Roc-A-Fella, of course), and went gold, containing some top collaborations with Foxy Brown and Mary J Blige, as well as featuring a noteworthy appearance by the Notorious B.I.G. It was a hell of a marker for a debut album, setting the template for East Coast Gangsta/Mafioso rap for the coming years, and drawing hugely on autobiographical tales of hustling, street life and materialistic gain (Jay Z would later say to the Rolling Stone that studio sessions for the album had felt like being on the psychiatrist's chair). Above all, Jay Z showcased his lyrical dexterity, brash and cocky and yet somehow witty and thoughtful in equal measure.

As well as being a success with the critics, the album gained Jay Z sufficient exposure to garner a distribution deal with Def Jam the following year, and under the guidance of ol' Puffy himself, Sean Combs, follow-up album 'In My Lifetime, Vol. I' did even better. As perhaps was expected, the album contained, amongst other pieces of lyrical autobiography, a tribute to his fallen friend B.I.G., on the spooky 'The City Is Mine'. Still, the glossy, poppy production on the album had many fans suspecting Jay Z was becoming too mainstream and - whisper it - had 'sold out'.

The stand out single from his third album, 1998's, 'Vol. II...Hard Knock Life' would have done little to quell these doubters. Although the album carried harder hitting singles such as 'Jigga What, Jigga Who' and 'Can I Get A...', the biggest success not only of the third album but also of his career to date was to be 'Hard Knock Life (Ghetto anthem)', on which the hard-as-nails hustler-cum-rap star dropped his lyrics over a sample of a song from kids' musical 'Annie'. No, seriously.

Still, as if to prove that the line between genius and folly is a fine one, the success of the single carried the album to the top of the US sales charts, and stayed there for five weeks. The storming of the pop charts continued with his 1999 album 'Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter', but the slickly produced, pop oriented sounds of tracks like 'Things That U Do' (a duet with Mariah Carey) were balanced by Jay's lyrical prowess, as well as the beats provided by the cream of the world's producing talent - Timbaland, for example, produced four of the album's tracks.

Better was to come for Jay Z: despite being released on September 11th, 2001, next album 'The Blueprint' was a huge seller, and has retrospectively come to be viewed as one of hip hop's truly classic albums. As well as featuring a guest spot from Eminem (who produced and rapped on 'Renegade'), The Blueprint was notable for bringing to the fore the young talent Kanye West, who produced four tracks and saw his career take off in earnest after this break.

After collaborating with the Roots ('Unplugged', 2001) and R Kelly ('Best of Both Worlds', 2002), Jay returned with the extensive double disc album 'The Blueprint 2: The Gift and the Curse' (2002), a big effort encompassing a broad range of styles, showing off his versatility. Furthermore, it featured a duet with girlfriend Beyonce on '03 Bonnie and Clyde', which was soon followed with another lovers' collaboration, on her enormous summer smash 'Crazy in Love' (2003).

After the release of 'The Black Album' (2003), Jay Z announced to a disbelieving world that he was planning to retire from rapping and concentrate on business and other interests - despite the success of singles '99 Problems' and 'Dirt Off Your Shoulder', and the subsequent tour for the album, he kept to his word the following year, leaving the on stage stuff behind and turning his attention to his new vocation 0 he was offered, and duly accepted, the position of label boss at Def Jam, a move doubly important to the star- not only was he to become one of the most powerful African-Americans in the recording industry, but parent company Universal bought up Roc-A-Fella, increasing his personal wealth exponentially. Of his signings to the label during his tenure as president, the biggest success story must be Rihanna, whose infectious/deeply irritating 'Umbrella' conquered the world upon its release in 2007.

It came as a surprise to pretty much no-one when the ever-hustling Jay Z decided to come back out of retirement properly in 2006. Having already performed on stage in 2005 for the 'I Declare War' concert in New York, he then released 'Kingdom Come' the following year - however, considered by several critics to be his poorest album effort, it was something of a damp squib (the dampness added to, no doubt, by the presence on one track of collaborating artist Chris Martin. Yes, the one from Coldplay. Honest.)

Still, this has not deterred the ever-confident mega-mogul. He has returned in 2007 with 'American Gangster', inspired in no small part by the Ridley Scot film of the same name, as its storyline (of a real-life 1970s drugs kingpin from Harlem, rising to huge wealth and success, albeit criminal) bears certain similarities to Jay Z's career. Indeed, reports stated that the rapper would actually have the film playing in the studio booth whilst he was recording the album to act as inspiration. Jay Z has further announced that as of January 2008 he will be leaving his CEO position at Def Jam, in order to seek 'new challenges' - and you can rest assured that with his cunning, his resolute attitude and his Midas touch, whatever these challenges turn out to be, he'll more than likely make a decent fist of them.

• Jay Z Discography