ICONIC MOMENTS SERIES VOLUME 2: Jay-Z/Shaun Corey Carter

Well let me tell you I am really enjoying writing this series. Writing about who I like, what inspires me how they have influenced me. OK so onto part 2 of this series. Today I am going to talk about Jay-Z.

Jay-Z has been around since 1995. I was 12 years old. Wow that really puts things into perspective. So it is 2011 right now which means that I have been listening to Jay-Z for 16 years. That’s over a decade and a half & that makes me really old. OK I am done with the whole timeline of my life lol. I seem to have an affinity for artists who came from nothing or close to it. First it was Lady Gaga, now Jay-Z. I think that it is so relatable. I’m not saying that I myself came from nothing, but I know what its like to be at the bottom. I have overcome many obstacles, yet I am still here kickin N writing. Perseverance prevails!  

Shawn Carter came from Brooklyn, New York from the Marcy Housing projects. He went to high school with fellow rap icons Biggie Smalls & Busta Rhymes. However he did not graduate (like me). Gloria Carter (his mother) said that Shawn would regularly bang out drumbeats on the kitchen table. This would later lead to his interest in freestyling & writing lyrics. Within his neighborhood he was known as “Jazzy” which lead to his stage name Jay-Z. 

I usually like to give you a little bit of background information on the subject, before I delve into their accomplishments. 

So here we go these are just some of Jay-Z/Shaun Corey Carter’s kudos: 

-one of the most financially successful hip-hop artist & entrepreneurs in America.

-Net worth of over $450 million

-Sold 50 million albums worldwide 

-Received 13 Grammy Awards for his musical work. 

-Consistently ranked as one of the Greatest Rappers of all time.

-His two albums Reasonable Doubt (1996) & The Blueprint (2001) are considered milestones in that genre, both ranked in Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 greatest albums of all time"  

-Co-owns the 40/40 Club

-Part owner of the NBA's New Jersey Nets

-Creator of Rocawear

-Former CEO of Def Jam Records

-One of the founders of Roc-A-Fella Records

-Founder of Roc Nation

-Holds the record for most #1's on the Billboard Hot 100

-Married R&B superstar Beyonce Knowles on April.4.2008

-November.16.2011 Jay-Z published a memoir called Decoded.

As you may know Jay-Z married Beyonce Knowles, lead singer of Destiny’s Child, they set the date for April 2.2008. The actual wedding itself was kept very low key. However Jay-Z designed a ring from jewelry designer Lorraina Schwartz that is worth $5 million dollars. Beyonce did not debut it until the Fashion Rock Concert in New York City on Sept.8.2008. They did a number of collaboration’s together including: 03 Bonnie & Clyde, Crazy in love, That’s how you like it, Dangerously in love, B’Day, Déjà vu & Upgrade you.    

Now onto the subject of Jay-Z’s actual music, he has done a wide range of styles. First off I would like to mention that some people might just listen to the beat by itself or the lyric’s either way I believe you must take 3 factors into consideration when listening to his music or any other artist for that matter 1) Tempo/beat 2) Lyrical content & 3) Flow. I like songs that embody all three of these elements. A number of producers have worked with Jay-Z such as: Timberland (Timothy Zachery Mosley), The Neptune’s (Pharell Williams), Eric Sermon, Swizz Beatz (Kasseem Dean), Scott Storch & Dr.Dre (Andre Romelle Young). When it comes down to the brass tacks Jay-Z has done 11-studio albums & 5 collaboration albums. His studio albums have a certain amount of swagger; they have a rebellious street-smart tone. Whereas his collaboration albums sounds more cathartic, intense, energetic, they are more laid back upbeat and fun. I strongly suggest that you listen to the YouTube videos that I have included within this post. The reason is you get to hear what he sounded like from the beginning all the way up to The Blueprint 3 followed by a couple of his collaborative songs with Linkin Park. I am goin to throw in a sample of his lyrics below.

Jay-Z lyrics from Run This Town, from his album The Blueprint 3 2009

We are,
yeah I said it we are,
this is Roc Nation,
Pledge your allegiance,
get y’all fatigues on,
all black everything,
black cards, blacks cars,
all black everything,
and that girls a blackbirds riding with their Dillinger’s,
I get more in deep
if you boys really real enough
This is la Familia, I’ll explain later,
but for now let me get back to this paper,
 I’m a couple bands down,
and I’m tryin get back,
I gave Doug a grip and lost a flip for five stacks,
me I’m talking 5 comma, 6 zero’s, dot zero’s, jigga
back to running circles round n-ggas
now we squared up, Hold uuuup

My notes for this post both above & below

OK so I am going to finish this post off with one of my own personal experiences. I have grown up listening to him, loving everything about his music; it occurred to me that it would be wicked to see one of his concerts. Unfortunately when I finally decided to go see him he went into retirement in 2003, only to come out of retirement in 2005. A few years would pass before I was finally able to purchase tickets to his Blueprint 3 Tour hitting Vancouver in October.16 of 2009. For me this was a dream come true. At this time in my life I was over 2 years sober and living in Coquitlam (in the most beautiful apartment I have ever lived in, people where envious of my place and told me that regularly) So the concert itself was amazing, really warm in there though, like a giant hot box, literally it was, I got a high from just being in the environment. Well slightly anyways lol, I

only mention this cause after when I was heading home, I went to 711 and munched out, I was all giggly and was wondering what the hell was wrong with my?!? I went out and bought The Blueprint 3 and now every time I listen to it I am reminded of dreams coming true & good times! Well that concludes this post until next time I will be thinking about the next post in this series of which there will be more. Happy Holidays.