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JAY Z is celebrating his birthday today.
On December 4, 1969. Shawn "JAY-Z" Carter was born in Brooklyn, New York City and raised in the Marcy Projects. He began rapping in the late 1980s when he appeared on songs with Jaz-O and got into numerous rap battles with LL COOL J. He started taking his career in Hip-Hop seriously in 1994 after he appeared on Big Daddy Kane's Daddy's Home album. From there, Hov went on to launch his own record label Roc-a-Fella Records and in 1995 released his debut album Reasonable Doubt a year later via Priority Records.
Hov went on to release 13 studio albums including In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1997), Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life (1998), Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter (1999), The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2000), The Blueprint (2001), The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse (2002), The Black Album (2003), Kingdom Come (2006), American Gangster (2007), The Blueprint 3 (2009) Magna Carta Holy Grail (2013) and 4:44 (2017). He also joint albums like Watch The Throne with Kanye West and EVERYTHING IS LOVE with his wife Beyoncé.
JAY-Z is not just a businessman, he's a business, man! In addition to his award-winning discography, Hov has also established himself as a billionaire entrepreneur with his hands in management, sports, liquor and spirits plus so much more. His various accolades in music, business and more were highlighted in his first-ever exhibit "The Book of HOV" at the Brooklyn Public Library in NYC. The exhibit just wrapped up after attracting hundreds of thousands of people since it opened in July.
Happy birthday JAY-Z!