Whereas the first volume had been personal, considered, and focused, the second instead offered an unapologetically sprawling double-disc extravaganza showcasing remarkable scope. It was then that Jay-Z announced his imminent retirement after the release of one more album. The subsequent year was a whirlwind for the retiring Jay-Z. He embarked on a farewell tour that was topped off by an extravagant Madison Square Garden performance documented on the Fade to Black DVD, and he also embarked on an arena tour with the embattled R.
With his reputation bigger than ever, Jay-Z accepted an offer to assume the role of president at Def Jam. The seminal rap label was struggling and needed someone to guide it through a rocky transitional phase. Jay-Z accepted the challenge and took over the company begun by Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin roughly 20 years earlier. Considerable fanfare met the presidential inauguration, as Jay-Z became one of the few African-American major-label executives in the business.
Numerous rappers owned or operated their own boutique labels, but none had ever risen to such major-label heights. The rapper-turned-president didn't take his job lightly, either, at least judging by his initial year at the helm. Within months of assuming his position, he fostered a string of newfound talents, including Young Jeezy and Rihanna.
The ambitious show featured a parade of high-profile guest stars, including Diddy and Kanye West , and in a peacemaking move, Nas. With this longstanding beef squashed, Jay-Z announced he was coming out of retirement for good. He made it official when Kingdom Come hit shelves. Jay-Z kept firing with American Gangster , inspired by the concurrent film of the same name. After he left Def Jam and established Roc Nation -- a label, music publisher, and talent agency through Live Nation -- he released a third installment in the Blueprint series, The Blueprint 3 Announced with the single "D.
More recently, Jay-Z proved that he had both commercial and critical staying power. He teamed up with another famous member of rap royalty, Kanye West , for 's Watch the Throne.
Two years after the release of a collaboration album with West, both rappers dropped solo albums within weeks of the other's release date. West's album, Yeezus , was critically lauded for its innovation, while his mentor Jay-Z's album gained less than stellar reviews. The rappers 12th studio album, Magna Carta Holy Grail , was seen as decent but failed to live up to the hip-hop stars larger-than-life reputation and his unhumbly titled album.
The couple even managed to keep the press away from their small wedding, which was held on April 4, , in New York City. They welcomed their first child, a daughter named Blue Ivy Carter, on January 7, Shortly after the birth of his daughter, Jay-Z released a song in her honor on his website.
In early June , posters were displayed in New York City and Los Angeles, as well as banner ads on the Internet promoting a Tidal-related project titled On June 18, the project was confirmed to be a new Jay-Z album, and a clip featuring a song titled "Adnis" was posted on Sprint's YouTube page. The album is the first in a planned series of music exclusives from the Sprint—Tidal partnership.
For a short time, on July 2, the album was made available for free digital download in Tidal's site. A physical edition was released on July 7, including three additional tracks. The album received widespread acclaim from critics, who praised its emotional and personal content. It debuted at number one on the U. Billboard , making it Jay-Z's 13th consecutive studio album to top the chart. The album spawned two singles, the title track "" and "Bam", as well as several music videos, directed by a variety of high-profile collaborators.
Ten days later, at their final London performance, the pair unveiled Everything Is Love, their much-awaited joint studio album, credited under the name The Carters. He also appeared on the song "Jail" on Kanye West 's album, Donda. See More of the 90's Artists Collection. He talked about how his life had changed in the few short years of his success. Street people start thinking that maybe you've gone soft. But I'm the same dude. That's why I did the song, 'Come and Get Me. In , Jay-Z and Dash established Rocawear clothing company.
In early December of , Jay-Z was charged with first-degree assault and second-degree assault after Untertainment Records executive Lance "Un" Rivera was stabbed once in the stomach and once in the shoulder.
According to Newsweek , Jay-Z suspected that Rivera had released bootleg copies of his fourth album, an act that would lead to the loss of millions of dollars in rightful profits. When the two came face to face at a record-release party for rapper Q-Tip held in a New York nightclub, eyewitnesses reported that there was an altercation between the two.
In the commotion that followed, Rivera was stabbed. At his arraignment in early , Jay-Z pleaded not guilty. In the weeks between the stabbing incident in New York, and the release of his new album, Jon Caramanica talked about Jay-Z's difficult week in early December of In hiphop, where crime is often flipped as a marketing tool, having your artist splashed across the cover of the Daily News may well work financial wonders, but that option seems absurd for a man in Jay's position.
Still, the very existence of such a theory hints at an underlying belief that Jay, of all rappers, is too smart to go out like this. Business, never personal. He told Vibe , "Everything happens for a reason. It's another learning experience for me. Despite the mixed reviews of Vol. The album was an instant platinum success, emphasizing that he still had the power to be a number-one seller in the genre he helped to define.
Hetold Vibe , "I could make records as long as I have the desire to really dig deep and challenge myself to do it. I can do it for as long as I want. Already in the public eye in with a chart-topping duet with R. Selling nearly a half million albums in less than a week, The Blueprint was universally praised by critics and loved by fans. The first track on the album, "Takeover, " was a searing attack on New York rapper Nas Nas would reply with his own track, "Ether, " attacking Jay-Z in the following weeks , a five-minute narrative over a blistering, thumping sample of the Doors' "Five to One.
There are 12 other songs on The Blueprint — and they're all stunning, to the point where the album almost seems flawless. In the months that followed, the battle with Nas heated up. Among concerns that the battle could result in tragedy as was the case with the Notorious B. Performing the track "Takeover, " he referred to the act of the battle as "the truest essence of hip-hop, " but one whose place was solely in recorded material.
Jay-Z was the first hip-hop artist to record an MTV Unplugged session, and Jay-Z's material translated to the format surprisingly well. Dre, Lenny Kravitz, and Beyonce Knowles, followed within a year. The release was generally thought to be unfocused and too long; many reviewers agreed that if Jay-Z had edited the album down to a single disc, it would've been another classic.
All Music Guide reviewer John Bush observed: "It's clear Jay-Z's in control even here, and though his raps can't compete with the concentrated burst on The Blueprint , there's at least as many great tracks on tap, if only listeners have enough time to find them. That's not to say he didn't get into trouble. At 12, he shot his older brother Eric in the shoulder for stealing his ring.
Jay-Z has written about the incident in the song You Must Love Me "Saw the devil in your eyes, high off more than weed, confused, I just closed my young eyes and squeezed, what a sound, opened my eyes just in time to see ya stumbling to the ground" but he has never publicly talked about it before. How did he get the gun? Guns were everywhere. You didn't have to go far to get one.
Just everywhere. After the shooting, what did he think would happen to him? I thought I'd go to jail for ever. And what did happen? He has become monosyllabic. His discomfort is obvious. Did Eric simply not press charges? It's an astonishing story, I say. It was terrible. I was a boy, a child. I was terrified. Eric is clean these days, and the brothers get on. Was that the only time he shot someone? But guns were around every day. There were shoot-outs, but I never shot anyone else.
Most people in shoot-outs don't get shot. He knows just how lucky he was when he was hustling. He was shot at three times and each time the bullet missed. Have things changed in Brooklyn since then? I was in Miami the other day and there was this sweep of year-olds. It showed the weaponry they had — AKs, military weapons in the hands of these kids.
He says he'll have a salad, and looks at me. So if you take away guns, then what about knives or rocks? You gotta correct the problem, not the tool. Our salads arrive — olives, chickpeas, crispy greens. As with all things Jay-Z, it's top quality — the crispiest lettuce money can buy. The chair I'm sitting on is the comfiest but not flashest I've ever sat on.
He tells me more than once how important quality is to him. On the table in front of us are a number of elite magazines, all featuring Jay-Z on the front. He's got an unusual face for an idol: big puffy cheeks, pixie ears, fatherly and kind. There are a few stray hairs above his lip.
Somehow, you'd expect him to be a more meticulous shaver. Today, he's dressed in casuals. On the cover of Forbes he is in a sober blue suit, every inch the businessman. He points me to the feature on him and Buffett.
It's obviously tickled him that comparisons are being made. Who's wealthier? He's a multi-billionaire. In his memoir, he paints a vivid picture of life as a hustler.
He makes it sound surprisingly appealing, I say. Then you have the camaraderie and the love. Those guys are with you. You're all in there together, fighting for the same thing.
All the time he was dealing, he dreamed of a career as a rapper. But it was never going to be easy to make a clean break. The problem was, he could never hope to make as much money from rapping.
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