Real name: Shawn Corey Carter

Effective period / Period of releases: 1994 - 2023

Hip-hop entrepreneur, born on December 4, 1969 in the Marcy housing projects of Bedford-Stuyvesant, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, New York.

Worked from the age of thirteen as a drug dealer selling crack cocaine in the back alleys around where he grew up.

JAY-Z is currently the co-owner and chairman of Roc Nation Entertainment, co-owner, creative consultant and co-developer of Tidal (3) and is a certified sports agent through Roc Nation Sports. He previously co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records and Rocawear (along with Damon Dash and Kareem Burke), created the 40/40 Club in 2001 and had prior endorsement deals with Armadale and Reebok (JAY-Z was the first non-athletic hip-hop artist to endorse Reebok footwear before 50 Cent). From 2004 to 2009, he was president and CEO of Def Jam Recordings.

As an artist, JAY-Z has sold over 59 million records worldwide and invested in over $1.9 billion in cash and assets. He has broke out artists such as Kanye West, Ne-Yo, Rihanna, Jeezy, J. Cole and many more. Since 2008, he has been married to singer Beyonce with whom he has three children (including Blue Ivy Carter).