Originally from the Marcy Projects in Brooklyn, New York, Carter's father abandoned
the family when he was a young child and he was consequently raised by his mother
Gloria. As a young man, he claims to have been caught up in selling crack cocaine
on the streets of New York. He was known as "Jazzy" in his neighborhood, a nickname
he soon shortened to "Jay-Z" while in pursuit of a career in music. The name Jay-Z
is also a homage to his musical partner Jaz-O (AKA The Jaz) as well as to the J-Z
subway lines that go from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Jay-Z can be heard on several of
The Jaz's early recordings including The Originators and Hawaiian Sophie.
He briefly attended high school in Trenton, New Jersey. He dropped out, but is still
remembered there for his rhyming. It was said that his involvement in dealing drugs
ended after he was shot at six times (he was not hit) in a dispute with another dealer,
after which he became more serious about music as a profession. After several unsuccessful
attempts to launch a career--first with Jaz-O, and then as part of a group called
Original Flavor--Jay-Z co-founded Roc-a-Fella Records with partners Damon Dash and
Kareem “Biggs” Burke. His debut album Reasonable Doubt was released in 1996 to considerable
acclaim within the hip hop community, and included four charting singles: "Ain't
No Nigga" (with Foxy Brown), "Can't Knock the Hustle" (with Mary J. Blige), "Dead
Presidents" and "Feelin' It."
AT millennium's end, the hottest rapper in pop music is Jay-Z. Since the release
of his quadruple-platinum Vol. II … Hard Knock Life, Jay-Z has had an incredible
string of urban radio hits: "Can I Get a …," "Hard Knock Life," "Jigga What, Jigga
Who," "Money, Cash" … the list goes on and on. And unlike many of today's most popular
rap artists, he built an extensive catalog of hits before making his mark on the
charts and enjoys underground respectability as well as mainstream acceptance.
Longtime rap fans may remember Jay-Z as an associate of the Jaz, who had a minor
hit in 1988 with "Hawaiian Sophie." Before that, he was Shawn Carter, a young man
from Brooklyn's Marcy Projects. Though Carter was a promising student, his wild behavior
led him to a vocational high school in Brooklyn, where he met future stars Christopher
Wallace (the Notorious B.I.G.) and Trevor Smith (Busta Rhymes).
As a young MC, Jay-Z appeared on several underground mix tapes, and his work with
the Jaz appeared promising. But with bills to pay, Jay-Z increasingly found himself
mired in the criminal underworld, a life he had known since the age of 16. It wasn't
until 1992 that he found the courage to leave the life of a drug dealer behind him.
After his retirement from crime, Jay-Z began to look for a record deal as a solo
artist, but only had a guest appearance on long-forgotten rap group Original Flavor's
1993 single "Can I Get Open" to show for his efforts. It wasn't until a friend, Roc-A-Fella
CEO Damon Dash, convinced him to form a record company with him that Jay-Z's career
finally got off the ground. Jay-Z released his first single through Roc-A-Fella in
1995, "In My Lifetime." It proved to be a hit in New York's fickle hip-hop scene,
and helped Dash and Jay-Z secure a distribution deal for Jay-Z's debut, Reasonable
Doubt.
