Jay-Z

He married singer/actress Beyonce Knowles in April 2008 in a hushed affair. Before he wed her, he collaborated with her on a number of singles and albums including, ‘Crazy in Love’, ’03 Bonnie & Clyde’, ‘Deja vu’ and ‘That’s How You Like It’.

The couple has a daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, who was born in 2012.

He has been engaged in a number of philanthropic activities. He vouchsafed nearly $1 million to the American Red Cross after Hurricane Katrina hit America.

Shawn Corey Carter was born to Gloria Carter and Adnes Reeves, in Brooklyn, New York City. He is the last of the four children born to the couple. When he was only 11-years-old, his father abandoned the family and he was independently raised by his mother.

The family lived in the drug-infested ‘Marcy Projects’, where violence and gun-culture were also prevalent. It was in this sort of a neighborhood that he was also raised.

He soon became crack cocaine dealer and also imbibed the gun-culture that was so popular in his neighborhood at the time; so much so, that he shot his elder brother in the shoulder for pocketing his jewelery.

He studied at George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School, Eli Whitney High School and Trenton Central High School. Here, he was classmates with future performers, Busta Rhymes and The Notorious B.I.G.

His interest in music was sparked from very early on when he received a boom box for his birthday from his mother. He began free styling, scripting lyrics and tailed the music by many popular artists of the time.

Even though he remained unidentified for a small part of his early career, he soon rose to fame with his collaborations with Kareem Burke and Damon Dash. The trio then founded their own autonomous record label, ‘Roc-A-Fella Records’.

He released his debut album, ‘Reasonable Doubt’ in 1996. Although it was not received well by the audience, it is widely considered one of the greatest albums of all time, featuring singles such as ‘Can’t Knock the Hustle’ and ‘Brooklyn’s Finest’.

In 1998, he achieved even bigger success with the album, ‘Vol.2… Hard Knock Life’. The title track of the album ‘Hard Knock Life’ is considered Jay-Z’s most successful commercial single till date. This marked the advent of his fame and longevity in the world of music.

In 1999, he released, ‘Vol.3… Life and Times of S. Carter’, which once again proved to be a successful record. In the new millennium, he released ‘The Dynasty: Roc La Familia’, which was originally supposed to feature a number of artists but ended up featuring only Jay-Z. The same year, he founded the clothing line, ‘Rocawear’.

From 2001 to 2005, he sold millions of copies of his famous records including ‘The Blueprint’, ‘The Blueprint2: The Gift & the Curse’ and ‘The Black Album’.

In 1998, he released ‘Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life’, under Roc-A-Fella Records. This particular album catapulted him to superstardom status and was certified 5X Platinum by the RIAA. The album became so famous that it won a prestigious ‘Grammy Award’ for ‘Best Rap Album’ and also featured on the number one position on the Billboard 200. The singles in the album ‘Can I Get A..’ and ‘Hard Knock Life’ are considered two of his most successfully commercial singles till date. In the first week of its release, the album sold nearly 350,000 copies.

‘The Blueprint’, released in 2001, is one of his most successful albums and features the hit singles, ‘Jigga That Nigga’, ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ and ‘Song Cry’. In spite of coinciding with the September 11 attacks, the album went on to sell over 420,000 copies in the first week and once again, peaked at the number one position on the Billboard 200. The record is ranked at the no. 5 position on the ‘Top 200 Albums of the 2000s’ list by Pitchfork Media.