Artist: Jay-Z Genre(s):
Rap: Hip-Hop
Hip-Hop
Drum & Bass
Dance
Discography:
Jay Z Mtv Unplugged Year: 2007
Tracks: 12
Blue Magic Year: 2007
Tracks: 1
American Gangster Year: 2007
Tracks: 15
Kingdom Come Year: 2006
Tracks: 17
The Latin Album Year: 2004
Tracks: 17
Jigga Ma Nigga Pugwash Dnb rem Year: 2004
Tracks: 1
Black Is Back (The Black Album Remixes) Year: 2004
Tracks: 14
Black Is Back Year: 2004
Tracks: 14
99 Problems - My 1st Song Year: 2004
Tracks: 6
99 Problems Year: 2004
Tracks: 1
The Brown Album Year: 2003
Tracks: 9
The Blueprint2: The Gift and the Curse CD 1 Year: 2002
Tracks: 11
The Best Year: 2002
Tracks: 18
Chapter One: Greatest Hits Year: 2002
Tracks: 17
The Blueprint Year: 2001
Tracks: 13
The Dynasty Roc La Familia Year: 2000
Tracks: 16
Vol. 3: Life and Times Of S.Carter Year: 1999
Tracks: 15
Reasonable Doubt Year: 1999
Tracks: 15
Vol. 2, Hard Knock Life Year: 1998
Tracks: 14
Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem) Year: 1998
Tracks: 2
In My Lifetime vol.1 Year: 1997
Tracks: 16
In My Lifetime Vol. 1 Year: 1997
Tracks: 14
Embodying the rags-to-riches rap pipe dream, Jay-Z pulled himself up by his bootstraps as a youth to finally become the regnant rapper of New York City and, in turn, a major-label executive following his ephemeral retirement from music-making. In the rouse of his 1996 debut,
Fair Doubt, Jay-Z's albums sold millions upon millions with each liberation, and his endless parade of hits made him ubiquitous on urban radio and television video. He maintained a powerfully devoted fan cornerstone and challenged whatever rivals attempted to oust him from atop the tap biz, scotch most memorably with Nas. Jay-Z and his Roc-a-Fella associates greatly influenced the industry and conventional many of the trends that pervaded during the tardy '90s and early 2000s. He consistently worked with the hottest producers of the day (Clark Kent, DJ Premier, Teddy Riley, Trackmasters, Erick Sermon, Timbaland, Swizz Beatz), and if they weren't hot at the time, they probable would be subsequently (the Neptunes, Kanye West, Just Blaze, 9th Wonder). He likewise collaborated with the hottest rappers in the industry, everyone from East Coast coevals like the Notorious B.I.G. ("Brooklyn's Finest") and DMX ("Immediate payment, Money, Hoes"), to the topper rappers from the South (Ludacris, Missy Elliott) and the West Coast (Snooper Dogg, Too Short). After his self-declared retirement from rapping in 2003, he fictitious the presidency of the seminal rap label Def Jam and, as an manufacture executive, embarked on another phase in his famous life history.
Born and raised in the bumpy Marcy Projects of Brooklyn, NY, Jay-Z underwent some tough multiplication subsequently his father left his mother earlier the young rapper was even a stripling. Without a gentleman in the house, he became a self-supportive young, turning to the streets, where he before long made a call for himself as a fledging rapper. Known as "Jazzy" in his neighborhood, he presently sawed-off his byname to Jay-Z and did all he could to cave in into the rap game. As he vividly discusses in his lyrics, Jay-Z also became a street hustler about this time, doing what requisite to be through to make money. For a patch, he ran around with Jaz-O, aka Big Jaz, a small-time New York knocker with a record dispense merely few gross revenue. From Jaz he lettered how to sail through the pat industry and what moves to make. He also participated in the group Original Flavor for a short time. Jay-Z afterward distinct to make an nontraditional conclusion and commence his have label rather than sign with an effected tag like Jaz had done. Together with friends Damon Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke, he created Roc-a-Fella Records, a speculative strategy for cut out the wholesaler and fashioning money for himself. Once he establish a reputable distributor, Priority Records (and then by and by Def Jam), Jay-Z last had everything in plaza, including a debut album,
Reasonable Doubt (1996).
Though
Fair Doubt only reached numeral 23 on Billboard's album chart, Jay-Z's debut finally became recognised as an unquestioned classic among fans, many of whom conceive it his crowning achievement. Led by the hit unmarried "Ain't No Nigga," a duette featuring Foxy Brown,
Reasonable Doubt slowly spread through New York; some listeners were drawn in because of magnanimous name calling like DJ Premier and the Notorious B.I.G., others by the gangsta motifs identical much in style at the time, placid others by Jay-Z himself. By the last of its firm run,
Reasonable Doubt generated trinity more charting singles -- "Can't Knock the Hustle," which featured Mary J. Blige on the addict; "Dead Presidents," which featured a big sampling of "The World Is Yours," a 1994 hit by Nas; and "Feelin' It" -- and plant the stage for Jay-Z's follow-up,
In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1997).
Peaking at issue trey on the Billboard album chart,
In My Lifetime sold a lot more strongly than its predecessor. The album boasted pop-crossover producers such as Puff Daddy and Teddy Riley, and singles such as "Temperateness" and "The City Is Mine" indeed showcased a newfound embrace of pop crossover. Yet there were silent plentifulness of hard-hitting songs such as "Streets Is Watching" and "Rap Game/Crack Game" to lace
In My Lifetime with gangsta rap as well as pop crossover. Jay-Z's next album,
Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life (1998), released a twelvemonth after
In My Lifetime, was lade with hit singles: "Can I Get A..." and "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)" bust the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, spell "Cash, Money, Hoes" and "Jigaboo What, Nigga Who" too charted.
Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life all over up fetching a Grammy for Best Rap Album.
Like clockwork, Jay-Z returned a twelvemonth by and by with another album,
Vol. 3: Life and Times of S. Carter (1999), which topped the Billboard 200 and spawned deuce hits: "Magnanimous Pimpin'" and "Do It Again (Put Ya Hands Up)." The album was Jay-Z's near collaborative to date, featuring tenner guest vocalists and a roll call of sought after producers such as Dr. Dre and Timbaland. Jay-Z then scaled indorse a bit for
Dynasty Roc la Familia (2000), his fifth album in as many days. The album showcased Roc-a-Fella's in-house rappers: Beanie Sigel guests on vII of the 16 tracks, Memphis Bleek guests on hexad, and both Amir and Freeway too make guest apperances. On
Dynasty Roc la Familia, Jay-Z too began working with a few new producers: the Neptunes, Kanye West, and Just Blaze. The Neptunes-produced "I Just Wanna Love U (Turn over It 2 Me)" became a peculiarly vast hit single this go-round.
Jay-Z's side by side album,
The Blueprint (2001), coagulated his place atop the New York rap scene upon its discharge in September. Prior to the album's outlet, the knocker had caused a touch in New York following his headlining performance at Hot 97's Summer Jam 2001, where he debuted the call "Takeover." The call features a abrasive verse ridiculing Prodigy of Mobb Deep, and Jay-Z accentuated his verbal violation (including the lines "You's a ballerina/I seen ya") by showcasing gigantic photos of an adolescent Prodigy in a dance outfit. The interlingual rendition of "Takeover" that later appeared on
The Blueprint includes a third verse line, this one dissing Nas, wHO, in response to the Summer Jam performance, had called out Jay-Z, "the postiche king of New York," in a freestyle known as "Stillmatic." As expected, "Takeover" enkindled a sparring match with Nas, wHO responded with "Ethoxyethane." Jay-Z accordingly returned with a comeback, "Super Ugly," where he rapped over the beats to Nas' "Get under one's skin Ur Self a..." on the first verse line and Dr. Dre's "Unsound Intentions" on the minute. The to and fro tear created massive publicity for both Jay-Z and Nas. In addition to "Takeover,"
The Blueprint besides featured "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)," one of the year's biggest shoot songs, and the record album topped many year-end best-of charts.
Jay-Z capitalized on the runaway success of
The Blueprint with a number of followup projects. He collaborated with the Roots for the
Unplugged album (2001) and with R. Kelly for
Best of Both Worlds (2002). He so went on to record, over the course of the year, 40 or so new tracks, 25 of which appeared on his side by side record, the bivalent album
The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse (2002). Though billed as a continuation,
The Blueprint² was well different from its harbinger. Whereas the first volume had been personal, considered, and focussed, the bit instead offered an unapologetically sprawl double-disc extravaganza showcasing remarkable telescope. As usual, it spawned a stream of singles, light-emitting diode by his 2Pac cover "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (featuring his glamorous girlfriend, Beyoncé Knowles from Destiny's Child). Furthermore, Jay-Z guested on a partner off of summer 2003 hits: Beyoncé's chart-topping "Unbalanced in Love" and the Neptunes' Top Five hit "Frontin'."
It was and then that Jay-Z announced his imminent retirement after the freeing of ane more album. That LP,
The Black Album (2003), was rush-released by Def Jam and soared to the top spot in the album charts at the end of the year. As always, it spawned a couple crowing hits -- "Soil Off Your Shoulder" and "99 Problems" -- and divine a popular mash-up bootleg,
The Grey Album, by Danger Mouse. The subsequent year (2004) was a whirlwind for the self-effacing Jay-Z. He embarked on a farewell circuit that was topped off by an prodigal Madison Square Garden performance attested on the Fade to Black DVD, and he as well embarked on an ill-omened arena duty tour with the battlemented R. Kelly that resulted in an exchange of ugly multi-million-dollar lawsuits.
With his final album behind him and his reputation punter than ever, Jay-Z accepted an offer to wear the function of united States President at Def Jam Records. The seminal rap label was struggling and needful somebody to templet it through a jumpy transitional phase. Jay-Z accepted the challenge and took over the company began by Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin rough 20 days in the beginning. (As part of its deal with Jay-Z, Def Jam's parent company, Universal, bought Roc-a-Fella, which resulted in some bitter among certain associates disorder by the buyout.) Considerable fanfare met the presidential inauguration, as Jay-Z became one of the few African-American major-label executives in the stage business, and he likewise became one of the few rappers to transition into that side of the line of work. Numerous rappers owned or operated their have boutique labels, only none had ever risen to such major-label high. And the rapper-turned-president didn't take his job lightly, either, at least judgement by his initial year in office. Within months of assuming his situation, he fostered a string of newfound talents -- Young Jeezy, Teairra MarÃ, Rihanna, and Bobby Valentino, all of whom enjoyed considerable commercial success -- and only had a few setbacks (disappointing returns on albums by Memphis Bleek and Young Gunz).
In 2005 Jay-Z came out of retirement for the I Declare War concert in New York City. The challenging evidence featured a parade of high profile edgar Guest stars, including Diddy, T.I., Kanye West, and in a peacemaking move, Nas. With this longstanding bitch squashed, Jay-Z proclaimed he was approaching out of retirement for good. He made it official when
Kingdom Come hit the shelves in late 2006. Less than a year later, Jay-Z returned with some other post-retirement album,
American Gangster (2007), this one elysian by the cooccurring film of the same identify.
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are planning another child, it has been claimed.
