JAY‐Z (US rapper)

Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. Known for his involvement in the success of other artists, he was named the greatest rapper of all time by Billboard and Vibe in 2023. He served as the president and chief executive officer of Def Jam Recordings from 2004 to 2007 before founding the entertainment company, Roc Nation the following year.

Born and raised in New York City, Jay-Z began his musical career in the late 1980s; he co-founded the record label Roc-A-Fella Records in 1994 to release his first two albums, Reasonable Doubt (1996) and In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1997), both of which were met with critical acclaim. His following albums, including The Blueprint (2001), The Black Album (2003), American Gangster (2007), and 4:44 (2017) were each met with continued praise while debuting atop the Billboard 200; Jay-Z holds the record for the most number-one albums (14) of any solo artist on the chart. He has also released the collaborative albums The Best of Both Worlds (2002) and Unfinished Business (2004) with singer R. Kelly, Collision Course (2004) with Linkin Park, Watch the Throne (2011) with Kanye West, and Everything Is Love (2018) with his wife Beyoncé. He peaked the Billboard Hot 100 on four occasions with his guest performances on the singles "Heartbreaker" by Mariah Carey, "Crazy in Love" by Beyoncé, "Umbrella" by Rihanna, and his first to do so as a lead artist, "Empire State of Mind" (with Alicia Keys).

Through his business ventures, Jay-Z became the first hip-hop billionaire in 2019. In 1999, he co-founded the clothing retailer Rocawear and later founded the 40/40 Club, a luxury bar chain, in 2003. As both grew into multi-million-dollar businesses, he launched Roc Nation, a multi-disciplinary entertainment agency in 2008. In 2015, he acquired the technology company Aspiro and led the expansion of Tidal, the company's media streaming service. As of 2024, he is the wealthiest musical artist in the world with a net worth of US$2.5 billion.

One of the world's best-selling music artists with 140 million records sold, Jay-Z has won 24 Grammy Awards, the tenth-most of all time and most awarded for any hip hop artist jointly with Kanye West. He has been awarded the NAACP's President's Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Sports Emmy Award, and been nominated for a Tony Award. Ranked by Billboard and Rolling Stone as one of the 100 greatest artists of all time, Jay-Z was the first rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the first solo living rapper inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2013.