Summary
Born Shawn Carter in New York City in 1970, Jay-Z enjoys the kind of rags-to-riches success that few can only dream of. Driven by raw ambition and tremendous talent, Jay-Z started his own record company, Roc-A-Fella Records, in 1995, when, as a struggling artist, he couldn’t convince any music labels to give him a recording contract. On the strength of seven consecutive best-selling albums, Jay-Z quickly established himself and Roc-A-Fella as powerful forces in the music industry. Today he is a Grammy Award winner, the president and CEO of Def Jam Records, and a multimillionaire with ventures in film, apparel, and even professional sports.
Providing a wealth of features such as full-color photographs, sidebars, a discography, chronology, glossary, and an index, this captivating biography traces the meteoric rise of Jay-Z, exploring in full detail why he remains one of the most popular and successful rappers around.
Specifications
Full-color photographs. Sidebars. Discography. Glossary. Chronology. Bibliography. Further reading. Web sites. Index.
About the Author(s)
Dennis Abrams is the author of several books, including biographies of the Beastie Boys, Eminem, Anthony Horowitz, Hamid Karzai, and Ty Cobb, among others. He attended Antioch College, where he majored in English and communications. He currently lives in Houston, Texas.
Series introduction author Chuck D redefined rap music and hip-hop culture as leader and cofounder of legendary rap group Public Enemy. His music addressed weighty issues about race, rage, and inequality with a jolting combination of intelligence and eloquence. A musician, writer, radio host, television personality, college lecturer, and activist, Chuck D is also the creator of Rapstation.com, a multiformat online resource for the global hip-hop community.