Jay-Z

Born and raised in the Marcy Houses housing project in Brooklyn, Shawn Carter was drawn to rap as a teenager, sharpening a rapid, intricate flow on the New York battle circuit.

After releasing his independent debut "Reasonable Doubt" in 1996, he co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records and built one of hip-hop's most commercially dominant catalogs across albums like "The Blueprint" and "The Black Album." He later served as president of Def Jam and founded the entertainment company Roc Nation.

He holds the record for the most number-one albums by a solo artist on the Billboard 200 and has won more than twenty Grammy Awards. In 2021 he became the first rapper inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, Jay-Z reshaped the template for the hip-hop mogul, turning artistic success into ownership across music, sports representation, and spirits.