Shawn Carter

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Shawn Carter emerged from the Marcy Houses, a public housing project in Brooklyn's Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood, where his father abandoned the family when Jay-Z was 11. He attended Eli Whitney High School and George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School in Brooklyn, then Trenton Central High School in Trenton, New Jersey, but dropped out during his sophomore year. According to his interviews and lyrics, he sold crack cocaine and was shot at three times during this period. His debut album, *Reasonable Doubt* (1996), reached number 23 on the Billboard 200 and went gold. Over decades, he evolved from hustler to CEO, co-founding Roc-A-Fella Records in 1994 to release his first two studio albums. His 11 subsequent albums, including *The Blueprint* (2001), *The Black Album* (2003), *American Gangster* (2007), and *4:44* (2017), have each debuted atop the Billboard 200. He has a total of 14 number-one albums on the chart, the third-most in history.

In Their Own Story

The dim glow of a studio console casts long shadows across a room thick with smoke and ambition. Shawn Carter leans back in a leather chair, a notepad balanced on his knee, scribbling lines that map the corners of his memory—the crack vials, the subway tokens, the first time he saw a check with six zeros. Outside, the city hums, but here, he's building a world from words, each verse a brick in a monument to survival. He claims in his lyrics to 'You Must Love Me' that in 1982, at age 12, he shot his older brother Eric in the shoulder for stealing his jewelry. Known as 'Jazzy' around the neighborhood, he later adopted the stage name 'Jay-Z' in homage to his mentor Jaz-O. He first became known to a wide audience on the posse cut 'Show and Prove' on the 1994 Big Daddy Kane album *Daddy's Home*. With no major label to give him a record deal, he sold burned CDs out of his car, and with Damon 'Dame' Dash and Kareem 'Biggs' Burke, created Roc-A-Fella Records as an independent label in 1995.

Reader's Guide

Shawn Carter is the nucleus of this universe, but his journey is defined by key collaborators. Producer DJ Premier crafted beats on *Reasonable Doubt* (1996). The Notorious B.I.G. appeared on 'Brooklyn's Finest' from that same album. Kanye West, a protégé turned peer, produced four tracks on *The Blueprint* (2001) and later produced for other albums. Beyoncé, his wife, collaborated on the 2003 single 'Crazy in Love,' which topped the Billboard Hot 100. Producer No I.D. helmed *4:44* (2017), a mature, soul-sampled album. Other key collaborators include Jaz-O (his mentor), Mariah Carey ('Heartbreaker,' 1999), Rihanna ('Umbrella,' 2007), Alicia Keys ('Empire State of Mind,' 2009), and producers Swizz Beatz, Timbaland, DJ Premier, Erick Sermon, The 45 King, Kid Capri, The Neptunes, Just Blaze, and Bink. Each collaborator pushed Jay-Z to new heights, from the raw edges of his early work to the polished introspection of his later years.

Did You Know?

• Jay-Z topped the Billboard Hot 100 on four occasions: once as a lead artist with 'Empire State of Mind' (2009) and three times as a guest on 'Heartbreaker' (1999) by Mariah Carey, 'Crazy in Love' (2003) by Beyoncé, and 'Umbrella' (2007) by Rihanna.
• He served as president and chief executive officer of Def Jam Recordings from 2004 to 2007, helping launch the careers of Kanye West, Rihanna, and Ne-Yo.
• Jay-Z became the first hip-hop billionaire in 2019 through his business ventures, including Rocawear, the 40/40 Club, Roc Nation, and Tidal.
• He has won 25 Grammy Awards, the eighth-most of all time and the second-most of any hip-hop artist.
• Jay-Z was the first rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the eighth hip-hop act inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.