How a Hustler From Brooklyn Became a Billionaire

 

Jay-Z has long been known as one of the greatest rappers of all time, but now he’s known even more for his business acumen and massive wealth. Forbes recently named him Hip-Hop’s first billionaire, and with his diverse portfolio of investments, business ventures, and personal assets, it’s not hard to believe.

Despite the fact that it may seem like Jay-Z earned all of his wealth overnight, it was actually a long process that was decades in the making. Many people know the man, but few know the story.

How Jay-Z created a hip-hop path to luxury

 

This past Monday, rapper Jay-Z unveiled a deal with LVMH to expand his Armand de Brignac champagne globally. The next day, Oatly, the Swedish vegan-milk group in which he has invested, took its first step towards a $10bn initial public offering.

Jay-Z has further tasks to occupy him, apart from his own music. He still heads Roc Nation, a music and sports talent agency that includes Rihanna among its clients. He is also “chief visionary officer” of a special-purpose company backed by Roc Nation that acquired two Californian cannabis groups in November. And so on.

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This year is the 25th anniversary of Jay-Z’s first album Reasonable Doubt, released on his own Roc-A-Fella Records label. Some have lasted and some not, but Jay-Z was ahead of his time in business in a way that is only now clear. “Put me anywhere on God’s green Earth, I triple my worth,” he once rapped. The deal with LVMH, under which the world’s leading luxury group has taken 50 per cent of Armand de Brignac — the “Ace of Spades” champagne praised in his lyrics — is proof of that.

Jay-Z or 50 Cent?

 

Another round of Celebrity Match Up's is back. This time they hit these scene with New York rappers Jay-Z of Roc Nation and 50 Cent of G-Unit.

Both rappers has made there mark in the industry. 50 Cent recently released his book, Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter, in which the rapper speaks on the alleged rift between JAY-Z and Kanye West and why he believes Hov has become "disappointed" with his friend Ye. 50 Cent says his relationship with Jay-Z is purely ''business'' and insists the pair will never be friends.

50 and Jay-Z were involved in a rap ‘beef’ with each other in early 2009, but while neither has said anything publicly to settle their differences, they met backstage when Jay-Z played a huge concert with 50’s mentor, Eminem, at Detroit’s Comerica Park last year, although 50 refuses to say what happened between them.

Who's Album Was Better? Jay-Z - The Blueprint or Nas - Stillmatic

 

The Jay-Z vs. Nas beef was a gladiatorial battle between two rap titans. For almost a decade, two of rap's most decorated emcees went at each other's throat.

At one point, they even took a poll about the beef, with 58% of listeners saying they preferred “Ether” to “Supa Ugly”. The consensus seemed to point to Nas as the winner. “Ether” has since become an emblematic diss track, with rappers reinterpreting it for their beef purposes.

Jay Z and Nas' feud was sparked over a Memphis Bleek lyric in 2000's 'My Mind Right', causing the rapper to respond to both Bleek and Jay Z on future mixtape tracks. The feud escalated further when Jay Z called Nas "lame" on 2001's 'The Takeover', prompting Nas to take aim at Jay on 'Ether'. The beef continued in this wild manner until they ended it publicly at the 'I Declare War' concert in Philadelphia in 2005.

Jay-Z or Lil Wayne?

 

Two of hip-hop biggest superstars are being compared together. This time Celebrity Match-Ups would like to know who is your favorite rapper out of Jay-Z and Lil Wayne?

Leading the way among all rappers when it comes to top 10s is Drake, who has accrued an incredible 35 smashes throughout his career. Behind the Canadian powerhouse comes Lil Wayne with 24 top 10s, then Eminem and Jay-Z with 21 apiece.

Lil Wayne has always enjoyed a competitive friendship with Jay-Z when it came to rap. Depending on the age or region, the “best rapper alive” title can arguably go to Jay-Z or Lil Wayne.

3 Investing Lessons From Jay-Z

In 2019, Shawn Corey Carter became hip-hop's first billionaire. Better known as Jay-Z, Mr. Carter didn't just make his money by rapping, although he's one of the industry's best-selling artists. Instead, he built a sprawling empire, including a music label, a sports management company, a streaming service, and a high-end sports bar.

With the Brooklyn-born rapper continuing to grow his net worth, there are certainly many investing lessons to learn, both from his business ventures as well as from his lyrics. Here are three of them.

Cam’ron Defends Jay-Z's Drug Dealling Days

Cam’ron has come to JAY-Z’s defense after comedian Faizon Love accused Hov of “fake dope-dealing” in a recent episode of the Hip-Hop Uncensored podcast.

JAY-Z’s oeuvre engages heavily with his drug-dealing past and he rose to prominence thanks in part to an unflinching depiction of selling cocaine in his youth. Faizon, however, recently suggested that JAY had embellished his history. “I like Jay-Z. I like him as a guy and the whole thing he created about this fake dope-dealing” he said, “That’s when I stopped liking him. This nigga ain’t sold no cocaine in his life—I don’t think he’s ever won a fight.”

Jay-Z, Yo Gotti, And Team ROC File Lawsuit Over Conditions In Parchman Penitentiary

Jay-Z, Yo Gotti, and Team ROC have helmed legal action on behalf of 227 Mississippi inmates at Parchman Prison, Pitchfork can confirm via legal documents. The class action lawsuit has been brought against the new Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Nathan Burl Cain and prison healthcare provider Centurion. The complaint urges Cain and Centurion to address allegedly subpar living conditions at Parchman.

In addition to the lawsuit, Yo Gotti and Team ROC’s attorneys had several Parchman inmates submit sworn COVID-19 questionnaire forms detailing the lack of COVID-19 testing protocol at the prison. The returned questionnaires describe a lack of social distancing, PPE, and more at the penitentiary.

Who Are The 11 Players Who Joined Roc Nation?

Marcus Rashford, Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne are all on Jay-Z’s Roc Nation team of athletes. Who else besides Rashford, Lukaku and De Bruyne are a part of Jay-Z’s team at Roc Nation?

Headed by world-famous rapper Jay-Z, Roc Nation Sports has been a power player since its founding in 2013. Some of Roc Nation's most valuable clients are NFL running backs Todd Gurley and Saquon Barkley, as well as New York Mets second baseman Robinson Cano and New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia.

Death Of A Dynasty

Death of a Dynasty is an American comedy film first screened in 2003. It is a satire of the hip hop music industry centered on Roc-A-Fella Records, and stars Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Capone and Damon Dash.

Death of a Dynasty is Damon Dash's slapstick parody of the industry that made him rich. Dash is the CEO of Roc-a-Fella records, home to hip-hop's biggest rap stars.

What Would A Battle Between DMX And Jay-Z Be Like?

Before DMX and Jay Z became international rap titans, they competed in a classic hip-hop war. Even with all that feuding in the past, Hov and X have collaborated on a bunch of songs, including "It's Murda" and "Blackout." They even almost formed a group with Ja Rule.

In 1999, Jay Z and DMX embarked (and majorly cashed in) on the Hard Knock Life Tour. Although Jay Z’s album gave the tour its name, the lineup was a joint headliner of the Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder and DMX.

Captured in the documentary film Backstage, Jay Z and DMX had vastly different demeanors on wax, on stage, and as celebrities. While both were pillars of Rap-made-right and suddenly sex symbols, they only overlapped in skill and love of the art.

What Would You Do If You Met Jay-Z?

How do you think it would feel or how would you act if you met one of the biggest and richest hip-hop stars in our generation Jay-Z?

We all know him as Jay-Z or Hova, but his real name is Shawn Corey Carter. Did you know? Jay-Z is the third best-selling rap artist of all time, after Eminem and Tupac with over 28m sales worldwide. Jay Z is one of the most well-known and highly-regarded rappers in the industry.

He’s also an extremely successful investor and businessman who’s a co-owner of the New York 40/40 Club, the clothing line Rocawear and is the former president of Def Jam Recordings, co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records and founder of Roc Nation. On top of all this, he’s also a certified NBA and MLB sports agent.

The Roc-A-Fella Records Full Documentary

Roc-A-Fella Records - home to Jay-Z, Kanye West, Memphis Bleek, Cam'Ron, Beanie Sigel and more - with a dozen of the Roc's pillars: founder and partner Kareem "Biggs" Burke, president Chaka Pilgrim, A&Rs Kyambo "Hip-Hop" Joshua and Lenny S, engineer Young Guru, producer Just Blaze, and artists Freeway, Young Chris, Neef Buck and Jim Jones. 

What's Your Favorite Track By Dipset

The Diplomats also named as Dipset formed in 1997 by childhood friends Cam'ron and Jim Jones in Harlem, New York. The group was previously signed to Roc-A-Fella Records, but now are signed to own label Diplomats Record.

Were you apart of the Dipset era? Were you a Dipset fan? If so, Fans Favorite wants to know whats your favorite song from the rap group?

#MusicVideosWeLove Jay-Z - Hard Knock Life

Need a ghetto anthem to play at that family gathering? Then Jay-Z's 'Hard Knock Life' is the one to play. Hard Knock Life is the third studio album by American rapper Jay-Z. It was released on September 29, 1998, by Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Records.

The song that made Jay-Z a superstar. Famously sampling “It’s a Hard Knock Life” from the Annie movie. Jay-Z raps about his rags-to-riches story. Jay-Z transposes this into a song about how he overcame life in the ghetto to achieve massive success.

#FlashBack Beanie Sigel - Feel It In The Air

The B. Coming is the third studio album by rapper Beanie Sigel, released by Dame Dash Music ... The song "Feel it in the Air" was listed as the 349th best song of the 2000s. Special guests include Freeway, Redman, Snoop Dogg, Bun B, Jay-Z, Cam'ron, and others. The album was completed before Beanie served jail time in 2004.

#Throwback Cam'Ron Ft Juelz Santana - Oh Boy #MusicVideo

Roc-A-Fella records was something to recon with back in early 2000's. "Oh Boy" by Cam'ron feat. Juelz Santana sampled Rose Royce's "I'm Going Down". "Oh Boy" is a Grammy-nominated hip hop single by Cam'ron from his album Come Home with Me, and features Juelz Santana. Watch the video below!

See more stories from Roc-A-Fella Records

Kanye West Buys A Ranch Worth $14 Million Dollars

Kanye West plunked down some serious money for a property called Monster Lake Ranch. The asking price was $14 million for the huge chunk of land outside Cody, Wyoming. Cody is known as the "rodeo capital of the world.

The Ranch itself has 8 lodging units and is known for "monster trout" fishing. It has 2 fresh water lakes, a restaurant, an event center and meeting facilities. And -- it's a ranch, right -- so there are lots of horse barns, corrals and lots of horses.

We're told Kanye West did not pay full price but we don't know exactly how much he plunked down. The property itself is more than 9,000 acres! He now owns 4,500 of those acres, and the rest is leased from the federal government.

More Kanye West Articles:

Kanye West Top 5 Music Videos

Kanye West Sues Roc-A-Fella Records

Kanye West Sues Roc-A-Fella Records

Kanye West is suing both Roc-A-Fella Records and EMI for an undisclosed amount of owed money. TMZ revealed that a lot of information is redacted from the lawsuits, but it shows that he's asking for a declaration of his rights and owed money.

The lawsuit also shows that Kanye West signed a deal with EMI in 2003 before releasing The College Dropout, and by 2011 he had written or collaborated on over 200 songs that he gave EMI the rights to. While specific songs weren't listed in the lawsuit, Kanye wrote some of his most influential and successful songs during this time period.

Kanye West is being represented by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, which is noted as one of the most prestigious and selective law firms in the world.

Roc-A-Fella Records Top 5 Best Artist

Of course everyone knows the name Roc-A-Fella Records and what they represent in the music industry. They have help to launch many artist such as Memphis Bleek, Beanie Sigel, Cam'Ron and many more.

Below you will find the best artist formed by Roc-A-Fella Records throughout the years. The Wrap-Up Magazine would like your feedback on the artist chosen for the lineup as the Top 5 best artist presented by Roc-A-Fella Records.