Jay-Z Biography

Jay-Z is one of the great rap performers and moguls of the 21st century, known for his many hits, his street-hustler background, his self-created label Roc-A-Fella Records, and for his high-profile marriage to superstar Beyoncé.

Jay-Z released his debut album Reasonable Doubt in 1996. His breakthrough 1998 album Vol. 2 Hard Knock Life included the huge hits “Can I Get A…” and “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem),” the latter featuring a chorus sampled from the Broadway show Annie. The album won a Grammy for best rap album, and Jay-Z’s Hard Knock Life Tour cemented his stardom.

Jay-Z launched his own record label, Roc-A-Fella, in 1996 for his debut album; after various ups and downs, it ceased business in 2013. He collaborated with DMX, Foxy Brown, Memphis Bleek and others; his follow-up albums included Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter (1999) and The Blueprint (2001, with producer Kanye West).

In 2004, Jay-Z announced his retirement from recording, and in 2005 he was made the chief executive officer of Def Jam Records, but in 2009 he left the position to get back to recording music. In the meantime he had joined superstar singer and performer Beyoncé in a marriage of musical royalty on April 4, 2008.

Now a billionaire rapper, Jay-Z has had more than a dozen number one albums and won nearly two dozen Grammy awards. His wealth-building branding has even included turning marital troubles into success for him (albums 4:44 and Everything is Love) and her (Lemonade and Everything is Love).

Jay-Z’s other records as a performer include “Numb/Encore,” a 2006 Grammy winner with the rock band Linkin Park, the full-length 2006 “comeback” album Kingdom Come, 2007’s American Gangster, Magna Carta… Holy Grail (2013), and 4:44 (2017). His ode to New York, “Empire State of Mind” (sung with Alicia Keys), was one of the biggest hits of 2009.