30 Unknown Facts That Every Fan Should Know About Jay Z

Shawn Corey Carter, the world famous American rapper, professionally known as Jay Z, is one of the richest hip hop artists in the world, who is also one of the best-selling musicians of all time with over 100 million records sold. Here are 30 interesting facts about the musician:

1. Jay Z was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised by his mother Gloria Carter along with three siblings, while his father Adness Reeves abandoned the family.
2. His mother claims that he used to wake his siblings banging out drum patterns at night. His interest in music was sparked when his mother bought him a boom box as birthday gift.
3. His debut album “Reasonable Doubt,” reached number 23 on the Billboard 200 and eventually reached the platinum status.
4. He is the second rapper after Master P, to have their own signature sneaker. Master P was affiliated with Converse. His sneaker line S. Carter by Reebok, became on the biggest-selling sneaker line of the year 2003.
5. Jay Z, with 13 number one albums on the Billboard 200, he holds the record for most number one albums by a solo artist, while he also had four number ones on the Billboard Hot 100.
6. The musical film “Streets Is Watching,” in the year 1998, features his first two videos "In My Lifetime" and "I Can't Get Wit That," which were released without a major label contract.
7. His third album “Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life,” with charting hits including "Nigga What, Nigga Who" was certified 5× Platinum in the United States, and is the most commercially successful album in his career. It has sold over five million copies till date.
8. In the year 2006, he was ranked as the “Greatest MC of all time,” by MTV.
9. His sixth studio album “The Blueprint,” was written in just a time span of 2 days, but still debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling over 427,000 copies.
10. The 2002's “The Blueprint2: The Gift & the Curse,” surpassed “The Blueprint” and with more than 3 million copies in the United States alone.
    
11. Three of his albums are ranked among the Rolling Stone’s 500 greatest albums of all time – “Reasonable Doubt,” “The Blueprint,” and “The Black Album.” He was named as the 88th greatest artist of all time.
12. He got inspired by the movie “American Gangster” by Ridley Scott and released his new album of the same name on 6 November 2007. The album depicts his experience as the street hustler.
13. He claims that his 1997 album “In My Lifetime, Vol. 1,” was made during one the worst periods of his life, after the loss of his close friend The Notorious Big. In the album, he reveals about his difficult upbringing.
14. President Barack Obama has more often lavished praise on Jay Z for his positive attitude. They both got acquainted when later performed on the voter drive concerts during the former’s presidential campaign.
15. His interest in music was thanks to his parent’s record collection consisted mainly of soul artists. He got so inspired by these artists that most often his work includes excerpts from their work as samples.
16. He is the founder of the clothing wear “Rocawear” that has accessories for all. It was initially co founded with Damon Dash but due to fallout with the latter, he took over the company in 2006. However he sold it to “Iconix Brand Group” for $204 million.
17. He is married to singer Beyonce. They had maintained a low profile while dating before marrying in April 2008.
18. The couple named their daughter, born on January 7, 2012 as Blue Ivy Carter, after his series of albums “The Blueprint.”
19. Blue Ivy Carter became the youngest ever (at 2 years old) to appear on the billboard chart when “Glory” was released by 2012. She was officially credited on the song since her cries were included at the end of the track.
20. He was openly criticized by many when he endorsed same sex marriage supported by President Obama. Many opined that had not president voiced his support first, Jay Z would not have come out in support of gay marriage.
    
21. He met with Kofi Annan, U.N Secretary General on 9 August 2006 to lend his support in raising awareness on global water shortage through his world tour.
22. In 2009 Jay Z and Beyonce were named as Hollywood’s Top Earning couple with a combined value of $162 million by Forbes. They were also listed as the most powerful people in the TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people list in 2006.
23. He was allegedly involved in stabbing of record executive Lance Rivera on 1 December 1999. However he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor and settled for 3 year probation term.
24. Jay Z and Beyonce first collaborated for a song in 2002 for “03 Bonnie and Clyde”. Later they came together for “Crazy in Love”, “Déjà vu” and “Upgrade U” before becoming life partners.
25. He invested $200 million in Alcoholic product Armand de Brignac in 2014 as a 100% stake holder. He was associated to this brand since 2006 receiving millions per year before buying it out.
26. He was sued by fragrance company Parlux for $18 million dollars for failure of his cologne Gold. He was accused for not properly promoting his cologne, which sold 14 million in the first year and then reduced to 6 million the next.
27. He launched his own sports agency named “Roc Nation Sports” in the view of representing various sports athletes including football, basketball and baseball.
28. He has launched a new venture “Arrive” on 6 March 2017 that helps and supports startups financially. He has already invested in many startups including “Stance” and “Uber”.
29. Shock G from Digital Underground praised Jay Z's rapping technique and style, quoting “he rarely breaks a sweat, and instead uses smoothness and clever wordplay to keep the audience interested and entertained".
30. In 2016’s Presidential election Beyonce and Jay Z supported Hillary Clinton in her rally in Cleveland.