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(NewsNation) — Shawn Carter, known worldwide by his stage name Jay-Z, may be regarded as the greatest rapper of all time by many, but his impact on music, the business world, and his community extends far beyond his lyrical abilities.
Born Shawn Corey Carter on Dec. 4, 1969, in Brooklyn, the now 54-year-old rapper, record producer and entrepreneur has established himself as a many of many talents. After growing up in a single-family household in Marcy Homes, a public housing project in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, Carter overcame an early life surrounded by drugs and violence to turn to a life in music.
Carter dropped out of Trenton Central High School in New Jersey after his sophomore year. He claims that he sold crack cocaine and was shot three times during his formative years. Carter, who was known as “Jazzy” around his neighborhood, later took on the stage name of Jay-Z as an homage to his mentor, Jaz-O.
In a 2022 interview with NPR, Jay-Z says he lived with his mother at the age of 9 after his father abandoned the family. He said his mother’s efforts to steer him toward music were also designed to keep him off the streets.
“If I was focusing on music, you know, I wouldn’t be, you know, running the streets all wild,” he told NPR. “So she tried to encourage me to pursue my dreams in music early on. And my first rhymes were pretty much, you know, very boastful and, you know, academic, but they were kind of advanced for a young kid.”
Jay-Z released his first solo album in 1996. In 1998, his second album, “Volume 2…Hard Knock Life” produced the biggest hit of his career at the time, “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem). The album was the first of his 24 Grammy Awards, which made him a dominant force in not only the music world but also in popular culture.
He became the president of Def Jam Recordings and was behind the launch of the Made in America Festival. In 2017, Jay-Z became the first hip-hop artist to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2021 in his first year of eligibility and was honored by President Barack Obama and comedian Dave Chappelle.
“Growing up, we didn’t think we could ever be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” he said during his induction speech. “We were told hip-hop was a fad. Much like punk rock, it gave us this anti-culture, this subgenre, and there were heroes in it.”
Even with his success and various accolades, Jay-Z — who was named the greatest rapper of all time in 2023 by Billboard and Vibe — said in an interview he believes his greatest value has been in his ability to give back.
His charitable foundation, The Shawn Carter Foundation, is dedicated to helping those facing socio-economic hardships further their education.
Since the foundation launched in 2002, Shawn Carter Scholars have been studying at more than 100 colleges and universities, according to the Roc Nation website.
“I think what matters most is, today, is, being a beacon and helping out … my culture,” Jay-Z said in the interview with CBS News. “People of color. I think I pull the most satisfaction from that. Like making music earlier was, like — my first love. I could sit there for hours. It consumed me.”
He added: “And I think now, you know, the idea of, of taking that platform and, you know, reproducing it for others or doing something like Reform … I think I derive the most joy from that.”
