His aliases are Jay-Z, Jazzy, Jigga, Jiggaman, and Jay-Hovah. Born December 4th, 1969 in the Bronx, he lived in the famous Marcy Projects. Nine albums and 33 years later Jay-Z stands at the top of the rap industry not only as an emcee, but as a writer, producer, and business man.
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His life seemed to start off really bad. At the age of 9, Shawn shot his brother in the shoulder for stealing a ring of his. Then at the age of 12, his parents divorced. After his tough childhood, he got into hustling, which provided money for his early rap career. By the late 80's, he had come out with his first underground CD. In 1990, Jay appeared in collaborations with Jaz and Original Flavor. Jaz helped Jay get started early because his dealings helped Jay-Z to create Roc-A-Fella Records in 1996, also with the help of entrepreneur Damon Dash and Kareem Burke. The creation of his own record label only helped the success of his debut album "Reasonable Doubt," which made it as high as #23 in the US. Notorious B.I.G. appeared on the song "Brooklyn's Finest" with Jay-z which summed up the overall feel of the CD with street rhymes and hot beats. His next CD would be released after the tragic death of his close friend Christopher Wallace, Notorious B.I.G. This album, "Vol. 1: In My Lifetime," debuted at #3 in the US. There were appearances by many famous artists including: Puff Daddy, Lil" Kim, Too $hort, Blackstreet, and DJ Premier, who is the only DJ to produce songs on everyone of his albums. By now many people noticed that he had a different style of rap. Getting away from the coined "gangster" rap, Jay-Z is known for his flawless lyrical content, street and club beats, and has often been known to clown on, or joke about, other rappers lyrics and personal background.
Until the release of his next album, "Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life," in 1998, Jay-z was still not really mainstream until singles "Can I get a- & the title track "Hard Knock Life" were released and he was finally well-known throughout the United States.
Born Earl Simmons on December 18, 1970 in Mount Vernon, New York, the son of Arnett Simmons and Joe Barker, was raised in Yonkers, New York. Simmons went through a very abusive childhood that included multiple stays at group homes and frequent arrests dating back to as early as seven years old which...
Three. . . two. . . one. . . and its good! Number twenty-three, Kevin makes the game winning shot from behind the arch!...then I woke up. I couldn't wait for this game to get here. This game to me is a famous person's trip to the Grammy Awards. Memories of past sports experiences went through ...
