"I'm representin' for the seat where Rosa Parks sat, where Malcolm X was shot, where Martin Luther was popped"
Jay-Z arose from the ashes left by Biggie Smalls' death and the subsequent battle between him and Nas. Though he isn't a Gangsta Rapper, Jay-Z has perfected the Boastful Rap, even calling himself JayHova. And he gets away with it. His rhymes are sharp, his beats are were jazz-like, and his ego is towering.Shawn Corey Carter was born on December 4, 1969. Originally from Marcy Houses housing project in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, he was abandoned by his father and at 12 years old, he shot his brother in the shoulder for stealing his jewelry. Jay-Z attended Eli Whitney High School in Brooklyn, along with rapper AZ, until it was closed down. After that he attended George Westinghouse Information Technology High School in Downtown Brooklyn, which fellow rappers The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes also attended, and Trenton Central High School in Trenton, New Jersey, but did not graduate. In his music he refers to having been involved in selling crack cocaine.According to his mother, Gloria Carter, a young Jay-Z used to wake his siblings up at night banging out drum patterns on the kitchen table. Eventually, she bought him a boom box for his birthday, sparking his interest in music. He began freestyling, writing lyrics, and followed the music of many artists popular at the time. In his neighborhood, Carter was known as "Jazzy", a nickname that eventually developed into his stage name, "Jay-Z". The moniker is also an homage to his musical mentor, Jaz-O, as well as to the J/Z subway lines that have a stop at Marcy Avenue in Brooklyn.Jay-Z can briefly be heard on several of Jaz-O's early recordings in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including "The Originators" and "Hawaiian Sophie". Jay-Z was also involved in and won several battles with rapper LL Cool J in the early 90's as part of a plan to get a sought-after record deal. He first became known to a wide audience by being featured on the posse cut "Show and Prove" on the 1994 Big Daddy Kane album Daddy's Home. Jay-Z has been referred to as Big Daddy Kane's hype man during this period, though Kane explains that he didn't fill the traditional hype man role, instead Jay-Z "basically made cameo appearances on stage. When I would leave the stage to go change outfits, I would bring out Jay-Z and Positive K and let them freestyle until I came back to the stage". He made an appearance on a popular song by Big L, "Da Graveyard", and on Mic Geronimo's "Time to Build", which also featured early appearances by DMX, and Ja Rule in 1995. His first official rap single was called "I Can't Get With That", for which he released a music video. From the beginning of his professional recording career, when no major label gave him a record deal, Jay-Z, Damon Dash, and Kareem Biggs created Roc-A-Fella Records as their own independent label. After striking a deal with Priority to distribute his material, Jay-Z released his 1996 debut album Reasonable Doubt with beats from acclaimed producers such as DJ Premier and Super DJ Clark Kent and a notable appearance by The Notorious B.I.G. The album went on to become a hip-hop classic and helped put both Jay-Z and Roc-A-Fella Records on the proverbial map. Discography
"Ignorant Shit" was his views on both the Don Imus situation and people preferring his more superficial music over his rather large body of lyrically deft work.
Book Ends: The song "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" begins and ends with the line "Now tuned into the motherfucking greatest"
Completely Missing the Point: The title of "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" is a reference to a line in the 2Pac song that it (heavily) samples, "Me & My Girlfriend". The difference? Jay's talking about his actual girlfriend. Pac's talking about his gun.
In the song "All I Need" he recites the hook, but plays it straight.
A more subtle reference is made to the title of the Eminem song "'97 Bonnie & Clyde"... which is about him disposing of his wife's corpse with his daughter.
Crapsack World: The main idea of "Where I'm From" is to highlight how dangerous it is in the Marcy projects in Brooklyn, New York, which was where he grew up.
Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangster: A good portion of the "American Gangster" album. This trope is invoked by name during the Album's introduction. Jay-Z tends to invoke this with his style of rap. It's not quite gangsta rap to the point where it has to get dirty. He is rarely anything but Type 4. He does have tendencies towards boastful money ballads but he tends to be the best at them.
Distinct Double Album: The Blueprint 2: The Gift And The Curse was spread across two discs, one labeled "The Gift" and the other labeled "The Curse" (hence the title). The Gift (blue label) is a lighter, more radio-friendly disc with quite a few guest stars, while the material on The Curse (black label) is a bit darker and has less guests. Interestingly, the album's reception was mixed because many felt that it had too much filler (a common criticism of double albums, including Life After Death and All Eyez On Me), so Jay-Z took the best bits from both the Gift and the Curse, put them on one disc, and released it as The Blueprint 2.1.
Downer Ending: "Success" and "Fallin" on the "American Gangster" album. "Meet The Parents" off of the "The Blueprint 2"
"D'Evils" from 'Reasonable Doubt' has a "downer" feel to it. Could be a downer ending considering it's a violent fallout between two friends.
"Coming of Age [Da Sequel]", for the same reasons as "D'Evils".
Expository Hairstyle Change: How do you know Jay's working on a new album? He stops getting his hair cut. The bigger the fro, the more we have to wait.
Final Battle: After concluding his feud with Nas he hasn't engaged in a beef since.
Actually, he is in a small feud with Joe Budden, a former Def Jam artist. "Reminder" off of The Blueprint 3 includes a line dissing Joe Budden.
Glam Rap: Occasionally dips into this, with his own twist. For instance Niggas In Paris from ''Watch The Throne'', or Takeover from ''The Blueprint''. But it's not a dominant theme.
Music business hate me cause the industry ain't make me Hustlers and boosters embrace me and the music I be makin' I dumbed down for my audience to double my dollars They criticized me for it yet they all yell "HOLLA!" If skills sold, truth be told, I'd probably be lyrically, Talib Kweli Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense But I did five mil, I ain't been rhymin' like Common since When your cents got that much in common And you been hustlin' since, your inception Fuck perception go with what makes sense Since I know what I'm up against We as rappers must decide what's most important And I can't help the poor if I'm one of them So I got rich and gave back, to me that's the win/win So next time you see the homey and his rims spin Just know my mind is workin' just like them... (Rims, that is)
I Call It Vera: His little two-two, he call it Peggy Sue.
I Have Many Names: Jay-Z, Jigga, Jay-Hova, Hove, Young H.O, Young Vito, Jiggaman, S-Dot, President Carter, etc. Par for the course as far as most rappers go. It did really start with the Wu Tang Clan
The Illuminati: Lately uses more and more Masonic references, such as the pyramid and the all-seeing eye, especially on his streetwear merchandise, or during concerts◊.
The hand symbol is actually meant to be a diamond, not a pyramid. Also, the increase in Masonic symbols is to troll his haters.
Karma Houdini: If you believe his former partners at Roc-a-Fella Records, Jay stole the brand and allied himself with Def Jam behind their backs. Despite his shady dealings, Jay-Z's public image never suffered, where Damon Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke have faded into obscurity.
Apparently turned Up to Eleven with the "Triple Entendre" he claims to perform in Drake's "Light Up"; however, this is a subversion because he actually uses three completely different words, so it's not an entendre of any kind.
Rage Against the Mentor: After years of respect and even a few features on songs, Jay-Z and Jaz-O began a beef that has gone on for years with no signs of ever resolving. Almost anytime Jay mentions Jaz is to diss him.
His own former proteges, most notably Beanie Sigel and Peedi Crakk, have also called Jay out for what they feel is snaky behavior. Many of the artists who sided with Jay over Dame in the Roc-A-Fella split feel he didn't do nearly enough to help them out while president at Def Jam; this is usually the only thing they have to talk about during their interviews.
Rap Power Vacuum: Many cynical fans feel this is how Jay-Z rose to prominence.
Shout Out: He has a tendency to quote his peers and rappers that inspired him. Though detractors claim this is simply a lack of creativity.
His album Kingdom Come was named after Mark Waid and Alex Ross's Kingdom Come. Which may lead to some head scratching depending on whether you view the original as a Reconstruction or a Deconstruction of a Reconstruction.
Super Group: He and Kanye announced in 2011 that they were officially going to tour under the name "The Throne" to promote their album, Watch The Throne.
Previously he was a member of "Murder Inc." with DMX and Ja Rule. Earlier than that he and Biggie formed a group called "The Commission" that included themselves, Charli Baltimore, Lil Cease and Puffy.
10-Minute Retirement: After The Black Album, though no one really expected it to last in the first place.
Earlier than that he was supposed to retire after the release of Reasonable Doubt so basically his entire discography has been taking place during his "retirement".
He also briefly talked about Kingdom Come being his last album, and then said he was retiring after Kingdom Come, which came out a year or two later. At this point nobody bats an eye when he says he's "retiring".
Too Soon: "A Dream" (his tribute to The Notorious B.I.G.) includes a sampled verse from Biggie's classic "Juicy," but the line "Blow up like the World Trade" (referencing the 1992 attack) is edited out. However, this doesn't stop people who know and love the original from keeping the line in when singing along.
Other good examples of this are in the first verse of "Off That" and the third verse of "Say Hello"
This is rap. It's all over the place, bitch.
Verbal Tic: Especially when featured as a guest rapper, he'll often prefix his verse with his signature grunt (or by yelling "Young") as a way of saying "brace yourself, Jay-Z is about to go in"
He's been sprinkling the grunt in a lot more lately too; cf. "Made In America" on Watch the Throne.
Visual Pun: In the video for "On To The Next One" at the line "No I'm not a virgin, I use my Cajones" the picture changes to a pair of glass balls.
Why Do You Keep Changing Jobs?: He's a rapper, businessman, and songwriter and gave being a sports owner to become an agent.
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