Pimp C, Found Dead At 33 In California

Behind his macho rapper persona, Chad "Pimp C" Butler was really just a big teddy bear who loved a good joke, his family and friends said.
But on stage, the serious young man from Port Arthur was one of the most formidable forces in Southern rap music, according to music critics.

Butler, 33, was found dead Tuesday morning in a Hollywood hotel room, according to Associated Press reports.

Cause of death had yet to be determined, Butler's mother, Weslyn "Mama Wes" Monroe said.

The Houston Chronicle reported that Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department homicide detectives were investigating.

The body likely would be examined today at the county coroner's office, but a ruling was not expected, the paper reported.

In a statement released by Butler's publicist, manager Rick Martin asked "that everyone please respect his family and those close to him at this time and refrain from rumors and innuendo."

As part of the duo the Underground Kingz, Butler and fellow Port Arthur resident Bernard "Bun B" Freeman brought a Southern drawl and a molasses-slow sensibility to rap music, previously dominated by fast-talking urban artists.

"Pimp C's voice liberated the whole South because he sounded like the South," music journalist Matt Sonzala said by phone from Houston. "He sounded like a country dude ... Pimp C is the basis for all Southern rap."

Sonzala said in his travels from the East to West coasts and everywhere in between, Pimp C and UGK were overwhelmingly cited as an influence.

"They were the freakin' cornerstone of the whole thing."

However, Butler's career took a detour in 2002 when he did a three-year stint in prison on weapons charges.

In a 2005 interview shortly before his release, Butler told The Enterprise that fame and money swept him into a spiral of booze and drugs.

"I don't blame anyone for me being here," he said in 2005. "I created an atmosphere where either I was going to hurt somebody or somebody was going to hurt me."

But in prison, Butler learned the importance of thinking things through before acting.

He earned a GED, worked in the prison library and focused "on being a better man today than I was yesterday."

Monroe said her son had emerged more focused, disciplined and responsible.

But maturity didn't dull his creative edge.

"He was the man," Sonzala said. "His actions spoke more than his crazy words. He put it out there; he worked; he made the most of his music career."

And prison didn't put a damper on that career.

If anything, incarceration made Butler a cause célèbre, rallying his fans.

"'Free Pimp C' was the catch phrase of the new millennium," Sonzala said.

Perhaps comparisons to Janis Joplin are inevitable.

Like Joplin, Butler grew up in the gritty refinery town of Port Arthur.

Like Joplin, his talent and drive lifted him to glittering heights that weren't always what they seemed. And like Joplin, Butler died alone in a hotel room far from home.

"They lost somebody," Sonzala said of the rap community. "They lost one of their main mentors. This dude would rap with everybody from the East Coast to the West Coast. From Jay-Z down to dudes from PA and all through the Triangle."

His rap persona, Pimp C, was flamboyant, outspoken and edgy.

But back in Port Arthur, Butler was more commonly known as a friend, a neighbor, a son and a daddy.

At the church he attended when he was at home, he was the guy who went around hugging everyone.

Butler's roots went deep into the Southeast Texas soil.

"He loved Port Arthur intensely," his mother said.

The two spoke by phone last week.

Monroe said Butler was in high spirits, excited about his latest project, collaboration with Three 6 Mafia.

"He was in L.A., doing what he loved most," she said.

Monroe said another part of Butler people didn't always pick up on was his intellect.

When he was in kindergarten, he was already working several grades above his age group. Advertisement

But he wasn't interested in academics. From his earliest childhood, music was his passion.

"He used to sing himself to sleep before he could even speak," Monroe said.

Butler's father, Joe Butler, was a professional trumpet player, and his son grew musically on a diet of blues, R&B, jazz and soul.

The Rev. John Morgan, pastor of United Christian Fellowship, said another side of Butler most people probably didn't see behind the rapper persona was his faith.

"He was a real guy - a loving father and he loved the Lord," Morgan said. "Behind the scenes he was just an everyday, down-to-earth nice guy and it was a pleasure knowing him. I'm really going to miss him."

Arrangements had not yet been made for Butler's funeral, his mother said.
South Eastt Exaslive - Pimp C Death

Snoop Dogg Sensual Seduction

Snoop Dogg Sensual Seduction Music Video

LiL Wayne Engaged To Lauren London?

Friday, 30 November 2007
Rumors have been circulating around the internet today about Lil Wayne allegedly proposing to actress Lauren London (ATL, Entourage). Just days after photos of the two at a basketball game popped up , Bossip.com has reportedly confirmed that the two are now engaged. The gossip site had this to say:“A highly placed source close to actress Lauren London exclusively tells Bossip Lil Wayne recently slapped a ‘huge rock’ on her finger and the two are engaged. The source tells Bossip ‘they have been on and off for years and have had an open relationship. Lauren is very hood and likes thugs.’”
Written by Jason
Rap Basement - Lil Wayne

Lil Wayne

Lil Wayne
Tha Carter
Tha Carter 2
Like Father Like Son

Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. (born September 27, 1982 in New Orleans, Louisiana), better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper.

Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. was born to Jacida "Cita" Carter who at the time of his birth was 19, graduating from high school and involved in an abusive relationship with his biological father Dwayne Michael Turner who soon after abandoned the family. Jacida later became involved with Reginald "Rabbit" McDonald who moved the family from Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans' 17th Ward to East New Orleans. It was around the time of the move that Carter began to get deeper involved in rap music, signing with Cash Money at the age of 11. A year after his move to East New Orleans, Carter accidentally shot himself in the chest with McDonald's .44 Taurus Magnum, he would subsequently be on life support for two weeks. A year later Jacinda would demand Carter stay away from Brian "Baby" Williams, having gone to school with his older brother Ronald "Slim" Williams, both founders of Cash Money Records. The separation would only last a year, as Carter returned to Cash Money after the death of Reginald McDonald on March 7, 1997. [1]

At the age of 16 Wayne had a daughter with Antonia "Toya", his high school sweet heart, Reginae Carter.[1]

Lil Wayne later enrolled and is currently attending the University of Houston in Houston, Texas since early 2005, where he is majoring in political science. [2] According to the Cash Money Records website, Wayne later switched his major to psychology. [3][1]

Rap foundation
Wayne's first contact with hip-hop was listening to local Cash Money Records artists like Pimp Daddy and U.N.L.V., whom he would later credit as his earliest influences. Wayne began rapping at block parties as a child. His performance at one of the parties caught the ear of Lil Slim, a Cash Money rapper from the neighborhood, who gave Lil Wayne his phone number. He went on an autograph-signing session with Lil Slim, and there met Cash Money Records owners, "Baby" and "Slim". His free styling abilities impressed the Williams brothers, but they were reluctant to sign him. Eleven-year-old Wayne started to record freestyles on Baby's answering machine and would frequently visit Cash Money offices. When Baby saw so much engagement in the young rapper, he signed him. Wayne later was hooked up with another newcomer, Lil' Doogie (who would later become as famous as B.G.), to form The B.G.'z. The group released their first and only album, True Story, in 1995.

In 1997, Wayne formed the Hot Boys along with Juvenile, Turk, and B.G., and they released their seminal debut CD Get It How You Live. The record's success earned fans throughout the South and Midwest. He further distinguished himself on the Hot Boys' multi platinum-selling Universal debut, Guerrilla Warfare, which was released in 1998 and was followed by their 2003 release, Let Em Burn.

Other Groups
Recently Wayne was recruited by the Boyz N Da Hood as their fourth member after Young Jeezy left the group to pursue his solo career. He would never be formally named an active member of Boyz N Da Hood due to scheduling conflicts involving the promotion of Tha Carter II.

Solo career
Wayne launched his solo career in 1999, with Tha Block Is Hot. Wayne later followed up his successful debut with the Gold selling albums Lights Out in 2000 and 500 Degreez in 2002, a reference to Juvenile's 400 Degreez. In the summer of 2004 Wayne released Tha Carter. Often cited as a highlight of his career, Tha Carter gained Wayne significant recognition, selling 878,000 copies in the United States.[citation needed] On December 6, 2005, Wayne released Tha Carter II. The album was notably lacking the prominent beats of Mannie Fresh. Tha Carter II sold more than 238,000 copies in its first week of release, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart. The lead single, "Fireman", became a hit in the US, peaking at 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The second single, "Grown Man", failed to receive any attention. The third single "Hustler Musik" received a video and gained moderate airplay.

Rumors
Lil Wayne has been linked to female rapper Trina. They recorded a single, Don't Trip, which appeared on her album Glamorest Life, and appeared on the remix for Remy Ma's "Conceited" with Papoose and Jae Millz.

Feuds

B.G.
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In 2001, B.G. left Cash Money Records because the label did not give him royalties over his deal.

B.G.'s beef was primarily with Baby, and his second Chopper City Records album Life After Cash Money is full of subliminal disses towards Baby. However, he was still on good terms with Lil' Wayne, until Wayne (over disgust from his Hot Boys tribute "I Miss My Dawgs" from Tha Carter being dismissed as a publicity stunt by Juvenile) made his controversial comment "Fuck everybody who left Cash Money...I ain't got no respect for none of 'em." In response, B.G. recorded the diss track "Triggaman" (set to the beat of Wayne's Fireman) where he makes several disparaging comments about Wayne including "First you were Rabbit's son, now you Birdman's J-R/How you gonna tell your daughter she got three grandfathers?" and "First it was Nivea, now you and Trina engaged/I got three homies that seen me nut it in her face" (Wayne was linked with Trina at the time). That track would lead the beef to be extended, as Trina released the mixtape track "What's Beef?" where along with dissing her own rival Khia, she dissed B.G. and Gillie Da Kid. In that track, she dissed him with the line "You's a Cash Money Reject, a 9th Ward Soldier/Keep fuckin with that boy, you gon' end up in a coma." B.G. responded (along with Chopper City Boy VL Mike) on the mixtape track "Cannon Bust Back" where VL Mike dissed Trina saying:

Keep Geezy's name out your mouth, we don't want beef with no bitch
If that nigga ain't satisfyin' you can suck my dick
You crossed that line hoe, you got problems with me
And if that nigga say my name he ain't allowed to speak

However, B.G. reserved his disses for Wayne, merely saying "Got a big ol' dick peekin' at your bitch..." Wayne would break up with Trina soon after B.G.'s diss was recorded.

Soon after that, Birdman's sister Tamara Williams was killed in a car accident.[citation needed] B.G. called in at a radio station to send his condolences, as Tamara had history with B.G. Birdman would respond by saying he accepted, and was willing to set aside all the beef, to which B.G. responded that although he's no longer on Cash Money, he can still sympathize with Birdman's problems, thus ending the long beef between B.G. and Cash Money Records.

However, he still has problems with Lil' Wayne, as he described on BET's Rap City, where he says "Who? Oh oh Jim Jones, Jr.? Ha ha nah, I know who you're talkin about. Now as a rapper, shawty holdin it down. I can't take nothin from shawty. He's one of the hottest lyricist out here. But as a man - nah he isn' a man - Wayne can't speak for himself."

Recently, Lil Wayne and B.G. have appeared in a photo together. Their beef is believed to be over. They both have said there former group will be reunited and album will be released in 2008.

Gillie Da kid
A degree of controversy has arisen surrounding Lil Wayne's lyrics, mostly due to another rapper, Gillie Da Kid, claiming that he has written some of Lil Wayne's material.[citation needed] This has neither been confirmed nor disproved, although both Wayne and Gillie remain firm in their views. Members of the Hot Boys & Squad Up (Lil Wayne's old "crew") have previously stated that Lil Wayne has never needed a ghost writer. Lil Wayne can be seen wearing a diamond-studded pendant belonging to Gillie in one of his music videos [citation needed], although this does not necessarily have any correlation with the ghostwriting issue. Wayne also addresses his situation with Gillie on multiple tracks throughout Da Drought 3. During their dispute, Gillie also alleged that Lil Wayne may have been molested at a young age by his mentor Baby[4][not in citation given]. This was in reference to the photo released in November of 2006, which showed the two rappers exchanging a kiss.

Constantly being accused of having a ghostwriter for his most critically acclaimed albums, Tha Carter, and Tha Carter II, Wayne attempts to dispel the rumors in this quote directed at Gillie:[citation needed]

I don’t get it. How you could write for me and I don’t write? I’m rich as a motherfucker, and you wrote for me? Then why aren’t you rich? If I wrote for a nigga and this nigga’s on top of the world right now, I’d be like, “Where’s my fuckin’ money? Where’s my benefits?” I heard this nigga do an interview and say he got like $30 thousand a song. Show me one of them $30 thousand checks you got from writing for me. Show me, ’cause I don’t know what you wrote for me. I don’t write nothing, dawg. The only time I touch the pad is for someone else.

Gillie responded by saying:

Not for Carter 2," Gillie laughed. "I wasn't around for Tha Carter 2. Give all the credit to Lil Wayne for that. But it was a whole lot of things going down for Carter 1. Holla at your boy, Wayne.

Young Buck
Young Buck left Cash Money Records the same time Juvenile did and joined UTP Records. Young Buck was unable to record with Cash Money and Juvenile persuaded Buck to join him. Young Buck became involved with the beef between Juvenile/BG & Lil Wayne. Recently in a song called "Off Parole" featuring Tony Yayo, Young Buck talked about the infamous kiss between Lil Wayne & Baby. Lil Wayne refused to say anything back. Young Buck would seemingly expand the feud by making threats of exposing Lil Wayne during a G-Unit appearance on Rap City.

President Bush
Wayne addresses President George W. Bush because of his delayed reaction on the Hurricane Katrina tragedy. He has a song entitled "Georgia Bush" and in "I Can't Feel My Face (Hard Body)" Wayne says, "Fuck you and fuck Georgia Bush, not Macon."
Wikipedia- Lil Wayne

Young Jeezy

Young Jeezy
Jay Jenkins (born September 28, 1977) better known by his stage name Young Jeezy, is an American rapper. He was formerly known as "Lil' J" in his early rap career.

Biography

Early life
Jay Jenkins was born in Columbia, South Carolina. As an infant Jenkins and his family relocated to Duncan Block, a neighborhood in Macon, Georgia (75 miles south of Atlanta). He eventually moved to West Atlanta's 4th Ward between late 1999 and early 2000.

Jeezy has described his childhood as "empty"[1]. He has made innumerable references in his music to his previous occupation as a cocaine dealer, although he rarely provides details of his childhood in interviews. Also, according to his lyrics, which may or may not be factual, he has or had an uncle named Grady. This portion of his life, as is often the case with rappers, remains highly veiled and subject to much exaggeration in order to increase his street reputation. However, there is no doubt that Young Jeezy was involved at least to some degree in the illegal cocaine trade, and he is affiliated somehow with the slightly defunct Black Mafia Family.

Personal life
Young Jeezy has a 10 year old son who is often mentioned in his lyrics, along with his son's mother, who is not on good terms with Jeezy. He was arrested after an alleged shootout involving some of his friends in Miami Beach, Florida on Sunday, March 12, 2006. He was charged with two counts of carrying a concealed firearm without a permit, however, he was acquitted over lack of evidence.[2] Though many people believed he is related to fellow rapper Yung Joc, he cleared the rumor up by telling the media that he is not related to the fellow Atlanta rapper, though they are friends. Both rappers are known for their slow, southern flow.[3] After Hurricane Katrina, Young Jeezy opened his house to the victims in an effort to help them have a place to stay.[4]

In the early hours of the morning on September 29th, 2007, Young Jeezy totaled his Lamborghini when it was hit by a taxi crossing Peachtree Street, outside of Justin's, Sean Comb's restaurant in Atlanta. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported his claim that this gave him "a new appreciation for life."[5]

Music
Young Jeezy released his first independent album, Thuggin' Under the Influence (T.U.I.), in 2001 under the name Lil J.[6] It featured artists such as Kinky B, Fidank, and Lil Jon, who also produced some of the tracks. In 2003, Jeezy released (also independently) Come Shop Wit' Me, a two CD set featuring completely new tracks along with some songs from T.U.I. Come Shop Wit' Me sold 50000 copies world wide.[7] In 2004, he signed with Bad Boy Records and joined the Boyz n da Hood group. Boyz n da Hood's self-titled album was released on June 21, 2005 and peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Young Jeezy also released a solo album around this time, which was his major label debut, with Def Jam Records. Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 was released on July 26, 2005 and debuted at #2, selling 172,000 copies in its first week. Guest appearances include Young Buck, T.I., Trick Daddy, Akon, Mannie Fresh, Lil Scrappy, Bun B, Lloyd, Slick Pulla, & Lil Will.[8] In interviews and on several records, Young Jeezy has affirmed his resistance to commercialism in his music.[9] Maintaining his street credibility, according to Jeezy, is of the utmost concern to him as an artist.[10] In 2005, Young Jeezy was featured in several popular hip-hop songs including Gucci Mane's "Icy"[11] and Boyz n da Hood's "Dem Niggaz". In 2006, he was featured in Christina Milian's single "Say I". Jeezy's second major label album is The Inspiration, which features Project Pat, T.I., Keyshia Cole, Three 6 Mafia, R. Kelly, Bloodraw and Slick Pulla (the latter two of which are members of Jeezy's rap group USDA). The album's first single "I Luv It" has peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Jeezy's second highest single to date. The second single is "Bury Me a G". The 3rd single is the club banger "Go Getta" which features R. Kelly. Young Jeezy's "I am the Street Dream" tour started in March of 2007. He also appeared as himself in the hip-hop fighting themed game Def Jam: Icon that can be added to the player's record label. Young Jeezy appeared on BET's Access Granted for his song "Dreamin" with Keyshia Cole on May 2, 2007 at 7:30PM

In 2007, Young Jeezy released Cold Summer: The Authorized Mixtape, an album under rap group USDA which consists of Young Jeezy, Slick Pulla, and Blood Raw.

Controversy
Young Jeezy partially wrote and performed on Gucci Mane's hit single, "Icy". Supposedly, Jeezy was never paid properly for his services. Those in Gucci Mane's camp have suggested that gang members from the Mechanisville area attacked Gucci Mane to defend Young Jeezy's honor.[12] Young Jeezy put out a track called "Stay Strapped" dissing Gucci Mane to the beat of T.I.'s song "A.S.A.P." Young Jeezy took a shot at Mane on the track, rapping "even his own momma know, Radric Davis a bitch". In a recent Cutmaster C mixtape, The Hood News Page 3: Jay-Z Boycotts Cristal, Mane disses Jeezy along with Jay Z in his track, "745". Jeezy also addresses Mane in the same mixtape, in the track "Break It Down", featuring Cmillz. Recently, Jeezy has become involved in a beef with his former BMF affiliate Bleu Da Vinci after Bleu dissed him on the song, 'Star in The Hood'.
Wikipedia - Young Jeezy

T.I

Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. (born September 25, 1980), better known by his stage name T.I., and also by his alter ego T.I.P., is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, record,philanthropist and executive producer as well as the Co-CEO of Grand Hustle Records.

Background
T.I. was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He grew up in the Bankhead neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Violetta Morgan and Clifford Harris Sr. His original stage name, T.I.P., stems from his childhood nickname "Tip", which he got from his grandfather. T.I. was first exposed to hip-hop at the age of seven, and by the time he was 11 he had decided to pursue a career in rap seriously; he signed his first record deal at age 19.

Due to his Southern drawl, many fans mistook his name for "Chip", so he began spelling it out "T.I.P". Upon signing with Arista Records subsidiary LaFace Records in 2001, he shortened his name to T.I. out of respect for label mate Q-Tip.

He is also known to go by "Rubberband Man" and the self-proclaimed "King of the South" (which has created several cases of controversy between other southern rappers, such as Lil' Flip and Ludacris). T.I. wrote about 30% percent of his third album Unleashed as well the 3rd verse and chorus to his single "Let's Get Down".[1] He has written lyrics for other artists such as Diddy and Trina.

T.I. is known for his rapid-fire delivery of lyrics. There has been some noticeable change in the way he delivers his lyrics throughout his career. Earlier on, he flowed in a slow-like, southern fashion which can be heard in songs like "I'm Serious", "24's" and "Never Scared". In the second era of his career, he sounded more relaxed and laid back (ex. "Bring Em Out", "Soldier", "What You Know", "U Don't Know Me" & "ASAP"). Later on in his career, his flow went from a slow and drowsy effect (ex. "Top Back" and "Drive Slow") to a faster flow which can be heard in "We Takin Over", Touch, "My Love", "Make It Rain Remix" and "I'm a Flirt remix". It would be better stated that his "flow" has not changed over time, but rather that he continues to change for every song he records, illustrating his control and expertise at being able to adapt to any beat that is presented to him.

Music career

I'm Serious
His debut album I'm Serious was released on October 9, 2001 through Arista Records, which spawned the single of the same title which featured reggae vocalist Beenie Man. His debut album included Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes (who named him the Jay-Z of the south), Jazze Pha, and Youngbloodz. Production was by The Neptunes, DJ Toomp, and The Grand Hustle Team. However, the album did not sell very well, and he was dropped from the label. The album sold 268,000 copies.

T.I. released the first single "I'm Serious" with Beenie Man. The single had little airplay and failed to meet the charts. The label would not release another single or video for the album, so T.I. created a video for "Dope Boyz", which had not a video nor single released, but can be seen on YouTube.

He released several mixtapes with the assistance of DJ Drama, which created an underground buzz. He resurfaced in the summer of 2003 on Bonecrusher's song "Neva Scared". He parlayed this attention towards the release of his second album, Trap Muzik.

Trap Muzik
T.I. released Trap Muzik in the summer 2003 and it debuted at #4 and sold 193,000 copies in its first week.[2] It was more of a success than his debut album because of the singles "24's", "Be Easy", "Rubberband Man", and "Let's Get Away". The album featured guest appearances by Eightball & MJG, Jazze Pha, Bun B, & Macboney and producers include Jazze Pha, Kanye West, David Banner, & DJ Toomp. The success of the album was followed by some controversy; while on tour, T.I. was charged with violating his probation over a 2003 drug charge, and turned himself in. He was sentenced to three years in prison. While there, he was granted rights to film the music video for "Let's Get Away". Trap Muzik was released through Grand Hustle Records and sold over 1 million copies in the U.S. and was certified Platinum.

T.I. released 24's as the first single. It reached #78 in the U.S., #27 on the U.S. R&B chart, and #15 on the Rap charts. 24's can be heard in many movies and on television.

"Be Easy" was chosen as the second single; the single wasn't as successful as the first single, but it reached #55 on the U.S. R&B charts.

Rubberband Man was chosen as Trap Muzik's third single. The single was his second successful single from the album. It reached #30 in the U.S., #15 on the U.S. R&B chart, and #11 on the Rap Charts.

T.I. released his last single from Trap Muzik, "Lets Get Away" with Jazze Pha. It reached #35 in the U.S., #17 on U.S. R&B chart, and #10 in Rap. T.I. won the Best Street Anthem for "Rubberband Man" at the 2004 Vibe Awards.

Urban Legend
T.I. released his third album Urban Legend in late 2004. Urban Legend instantly generated crossover success with the hit single "Bring 'Em Out". He used a sample from Jay-Z's "What More Can I Say" from The Black Album to create the hook. "Bring 'Em Out" is used to introduce the starting lineup for the Miami Heat. The album featured production from Ruff Ryders's producer Swizz Beatz. The album featured Trick Daddy, Nelly, Lil' Jon, B.G., Mannie Fresh of the Big Tymers, Daz Dillinger, Lil' Wayne, Pharrell of The Neptunes, P$C and Lil' Kim. The album was certified platinum by selling 1.3 million copies. A chopped and screwed version of this album was also produced.

At the beginning of 2005, T.I. enjoyed success alongside Lil' Wayne on the Destiny's Child song "Soldier", which became a big hit.

T.I. released his second single "U Don't Know Me". The single appeared on U.S. charts, Rap charts, U.S. R&B charts, and Pop 100 charts. It was rumored that the song was directed to former rival Ludacris due to the fact that he had a song called "Get Back" where he says: "Get Back..Get Back..you don't know me like that". which was released around the same time.[attribution needed] He won Best Street Anthem for "U Don't Know Me" at the 2005 Vibe Awards.

His 3rd single "A.S.A.P" reached #75 on the U.S. charts, #18 on the U.S. R&B charts, #14 on the Rap charts, and #35 on the U.K. singles chart. T.I. created a video for "ASAP"/"Motivation". However, "Motivation" appeared on the U.S. R&B singles chart, but not on the other charts like "A.S.A.P".

He also released "Get Loose" feat. Nelly and produced by Jazze Pha. A video was planned but did not materialize. It reached #70 on Billboard's R&B charts.

In 2006, T.I. received two Grammy Award nominations: Best Song Collaboration ("Soldier" w/ Destiny's Child & Lil Wayne) and Best Rap Solo Performance for "U Don't Know Me" at The 48th Annual Grammy Awards.

King
His fourth album, King debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart in the first half of 2006, selling 522,000 copies in its first week. It became Atlantic Records' best-selling album in 15 years.[3] T.I. released his promo-singles "Front Back" and "Ride With Me" before the album's release date. The singles had small attention, but it helped promote the album and his debut movie ATL. The album also included other singles, "What You Know", "Why You Wanna", "Live In The Sky", and "Top Back". KING has earned numerous awards and nominations including a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album. Even though Jay-Z surpassed him in his first week album sales, KING is still considered to be the best-selling hip-hop/rap album of 2006. He guest appeared on albums for UGK, Young Jeezy, BG, Young Buck, P$C, Pharrell, Common, Jamie Foxx, and his recently signed artists Young Dro & Governor.

In Spring 2006, T.I. released "What You Know". The song has also been used in promotion of the film ATL, in which T.I. stars. It has garnered a 5-star rating from Pitchfork Media. The song peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, and it also topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart and Rap Charts. It utilizes a sample of Roberta Flack's version of The Impressions's "Gone Away" and Hey Joe. It was rumored that T.I. was taking shots at Lil Flip on the song.

What You Know won for "Best Rap Solo Performance" and was nominated for Best Rap Song at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards.

Pitchfork Media also ranked "What You Know" as the 3rd best song of 2006 and his collaboration with Justin Timberlake in the song "My Love" was also ranked number one on the same list. VIBE recently named T.I.'s "What You Know" as the Top Song of 2006. Rolling Stone ranked the single as number four.

"Why You Wanna" was released as the next single. The chorus samples Q-Tip's vocals from Got 'Til It's Gone with Janet Jackson and also contained samples a slowed-down keyboard chord from Crystal Waters' "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)". The song reached #29 in the U.S., #43 on the SWI charts, #49 on the AUS charts, #17 on the Ireland charts, #22 on the U.K. singles charts, and #30 on Tokio's Hot 100, making the single successful worldwide. The video paid a tribute to T.I.'s deceased friend Phil, who was killed in Cincinnati. He appeared in the video as well.

T.I. collaborated with Justin Timberlake for My Love which proved to be a worldwide hit. It earned him a Grammy Award for Best Collaboration with Justin Timberlake at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards.

T.I. released his last single off King, Top Back. T.I. decided to add Young Dro, Young Jeezy, B.G., and Big Kuntry to create a remix. This version was released from Grand Hustle Presents: In Da Streetz Volume 4. Billboard doesn't have Top Back Remix listed, but Top Back instead. The remixed version and the portion of the video can be also heard and seen on Chevrolet's Impala commercial. He appeared in a Chevrolet commercial, where he and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. traded cars (T.I. was driving the #8 race car on the track very slowly, while Earnhardt was driving the black Chevy on the highway very fast).

T.I. vs. T.I.P.
T.I. is done working on his fifth album T.I. vs. T.I.P.. The album was released on July 2007 and it was released a day earlier in United Kingdom. T.I. explained the album’s title, saying, "It's basically a battle within myself. There’s not nobody out there doing what I do as well as I do it, so I see myself as worthy competition for myself."

The first (street) single off the album was "Big Things Poppin' (Do It)" which was produced by Mannie Fresh. The single was released to radio stations on April 17. The song debuted at #39 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs on April 26 and it peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100.

T.I. will appear on the Screamfest '07 tour with singer Ciara, Lloyd,T-Pain and Yung Joc. The tour begins August 3.

T.I. released his second single "You Know What It Is" featuring Wyclef Jean on June 12th. The video is available for purchase on iTunes. The video was debuted on MTV on June 14 and it premiered on MTV.com and on TRL on Thursday, June 14.

T.I. vs. T.I.P. shifted 468,000 units in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and debuts at number one on the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The Grand Hustle/Atlantic set is T.I.'s second chart-topper in the past year-and-a-half; King opened at number one on the Billboard 200 with 522,000 copies in late March 2006. [4] The album included guests by Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, Wyclef Jean, Alfamega, Nelly, and Eminem with productions by Eminem, Jeff Bass, Mannie Fresh, Grand Hustle, The Runners, Just Blaze, Wyclef Jean and Danja. This is his first album without production by long time producer DJ Toomp.

On October 3, 2007, T.I. released his third single, "Hurt", featuring Alfamega & Busta Rhymes. This song is produced by Danja.

Paper Trail
T.I. has confirmed through one of his representatives that he is working on a new studio album while being under house arrest pending his gun charges. He has completed 6 tracks for the album already. The album will be titled Paper Trail[5], which comes from lyrics he has written down on paper. Like many other rappers, such as Lil' Wayne (Jay-Z still compose lyrics without pen and paper), T.I. abandoned this style of rapping after his debut album I'm Serious by just memorizing lyrics. "He wanted to take more time to really put something down (this time)," explains his rep.[1] The album is expected in 2008 around September.

Other music projects

P$C
Main article: P$C
T.I. is also the leader of the southern rap group P$C. P$C are a group of artists who started in the music industry performing back-up functions for successful southern rapper T.I. The letters "P$C" are an acronym for "Pimp Squad Click," the name given to them and referenced by T.I. in many of his songs, to which the P$C often contribute.

On September 20, 2005, the Pimp Squad Click broke out of its secondary role and stole a portion of the southern rap limelight by releasing its own full-length album entitled "25 to Life." It was released on Atlantic Records, a part of the Warner Music Group. It had sold 177,597 copies.

Currently the group is inactive. T.I. stated that he wanted all his artists to have their albums released before he can focus on P$C.

T.I. & DJ Toomp Untitled Project
DJ Toomp called in at the Wendy Williams show right after T.I. left revealing that him and T.I. are working on an album together.

DJ Toomp told hip-hop website allhiphop that he is planning on producing 80% of T.I.'s next album.[6]

It Has Been Confirmed by HipHopDX.com that DJ Toomp and T.I. are working together again on T.I.'s next album, as confirmed by Grand Hustle CEO Jason Geter to Billboard.[7]

Other Ventures

Grand Hustle Records
Further information: Grand Hustle Records
T.I. formed Grand Hustle Records (distributed by Atlantic Records) in 2003 with his manager Jason Geter. T.I. and Jeter decided to create the label shortly after being dropped by Arista Records. He expanded his label to form "Grand Hustle Films" and 2 films are currently developing.

Acting career
In Spring 2006, T.I. starred in his first film, ATL. The other cast members included Lauren London, Andre Patton, Evan Ross, Mykelti Williamson, Jason Weaver, and Keith David. The movie was written by Tina Gordon Chism and Antwone Fisher, produced by Timothy M. Bourne, Tionne Watkins, and Will Smith, and directed by Christopher Robinson. T.I. played the character Rashad Swann, an orphaned 17-year-old senior in high school. He grew up on the southside of Atlanta. He lives with his uncle and has a younger brother named Ant. In its opening weekend, the film grossed a total of $11.5 million, ranking third in the United States box office, and went on to gross $21.2 million nationwide.[8]

T.I. performed in a Ridley Scott film called American Gangster, a gangster flim with Oscar-winners Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, and fellow rappers Common & RZA about a police detective (Crowe) pursuing a Harlem drug lord (Washington) during the 1970s. The movie is based on the life of Frank Lucas, with T.I. casted as his nephew. T.I. stated working with the Oscar-winners is an honor and he feels like he is going to school and learning the best from them.[9] The film was released to theaters on November 2nd. T.I. was featured on the soundtrack which also features his co-stars Common and RZA which Hank Shocklee produced.[10]

According to HHNLive.com T.I. revealed that he is launching Grand Hustle Films. The first project from the movie division of his Grand Hustle brand is titled "Once Was Lost". T.I. will star in the film alongside veteran Hollywood actor Danny Glover, who will also act as producer. Shooting is expected to begin in October of this year.

Producing
In 2005, he launched his own film production company called Grand Hustle Films, signed a multi-artist joint venture deal for his label with Atlantic Records, and established a music publishing deal for Grand Hustle Music with Warner Chappell.

T.I. has been working on other peoples' records. On the music front, he has been co-executive producing B.G.'s upcoming album. He's been juicing up his producer game, making beats for artists like Mariah Carey, Cassidy, Rick Ross, Yung Joc, Young Dro, and himself.[12] Wyclef Jean asked T.I. to co-executive produce his upcoming album. He also executive produced the soundtrack to the film Hustle & Flow and released the collection through his record label. [13] He also did the same for the debut album of his group P$C, T.I. Presents The P$C: 25 To Life, the Grand Hustle compilation Grand Hustle Presents: In Da Streetz Volume 4, and his own albums.

Clothing
According to the Grand Hustle website, T.I. has a clothing line, AKOO (A King of Oneself), launching later in 2008.

Street Cred
On 106 & Park, T.I. mentioned a new venture, StreetCred.com and also mentioned that Yung Joc has a "block" and Diddy has a "block". The website is in BETA version so in order to sign up, you need an invite sent to your email. Once you sign up, you will see T.I. giving a shout out to his new website.[14]

Disputes
In 2004, T.I. received an early release from incarceration, and returned to music with some disparaging words for rival rappers Lil' Flip and Ludacris.

Ludacris
T.I. called out Ludacris over an old disagreement their crews had with one another. Ludacris made a music video in which a person in a shirt that resembled a Trap Muzik shirt was seen being beaten, and, although Ludacris stated in an interview on MTV.com that the person in the video was wearing a Trap Records shirt, a label owned by DTP member Titti Boi, the feud progressed. T.I. later recorded a song, 'Stomp', with G-Unit rapper Young Buck originally featuring Lil Jon. T.I.'s verse seemed like an insult to Ludacris and Young Buck did not want to be a part of it. Young Buck told Ludacris about this and Ludacris decided to get on the same song and insult T.I.

T.I.'s verse was omitted from the original track listing and replaced with The Game, though the version of the song with T.I.'s verse is still available on many file-sharing networks.

T.I. referenced this in his song "I'm Talkin' to You" on King:

"Had it out with 'Cris but he still my nigga / Sat down, civilized, talked about it like niggas."

This served to eliminate Ludacris as a target of the song, which many believe to be directed toward Rick Ross. T.I. revealed that he wasn't talking about anyone, he just made the record to see whoever has a problem with him so they can speak out. Ludacris and T.I. squashed their beef. They have been seen greeting each other on "MTV My Block: Atlanta".

New information has derived of this so called beef. T.I. approached Ludacris on stage at a concert. This occurred only 2 days before his arrest on weapon charges. Recently on Grand Hustle's latest mixtape, Respect This Hustle, T.I. responded to Ludacris' "I Get Money (Remix)" verse on the 2nd track. It is titled Do U Potna and features Young Jeezy and Young Dro.[15] T.I. states that the apology he made at the award ceremony was for "BET not DTP".

Lil Flip
He was also engaged in a high-profile battle with Houston rapper Lil Flip, who he heard insulted him on stage at a concert in Atlanta while he was incarcerated. T.I. believed that Flip mocked his claim as the "King of the South". Apparently, T.I. only learned of the alleged insult through a friend of T.I.'s girlfriend. T.I. says he heard from several sources, and even has a tape, of Flip insulting him at a few Atlanta concerts. Flip's alleged treason supposedly happened when T.I. was locked away in jail in spring. Lil Flip is said to have asked different audiences who the king of the South was before telling the crowd to inform hometown hero T.I. that "the game was over." T.I. says he heard this was followed by the Houston rapper performing "Game Over."

The members of his clique were holding up old publicity shots of Lil' Flip dressed in a leprechaun outfit. One picture has Flip holding a bowl of Lucky Charms cereal, the other one has Flipper in a fighting stance. Both flicks have been blown up to poster-size and copied several times.

The two released numerous insults on mixtapes and on the radio. UGK's own Pimp C mentioned in his song "Knocking Doors Down" that Lil Flip and T.I. are acting like "little boys" and they needed to squash their beef.

According to website,[16] T.I. and Lil Flip had an altercation in Lil Flip's neighborhood, the Cloverland section of Houston, Texas. It has been said that T.I. went there to create a DVD exposing Lil Flip to be a fraud. The same day T.I. went on a Houston radio station talking about the altercation. He revealed that he had the tape and he was going to release it with an upcoming mixtape, but that didn't happened due to the fact that J. Prince stopped him from distributing the tape. It is unknown whether T.I. still has the tape or not. The feud was squashed by Rap-A-Lot's J. Prince after having them sit down and squash their beef behind closed doors. The feud was documented by the Houston Press.[17]

T.I. released a mixtape titled "Down With the King" featuring several tracks insulting Flip directly. Including a track titled 99 Problems Freestyle. The entire song is devoted to making fun of Flip and dissing him. The chorus of the track is even "I got 99 problems, Lil' Flip ain't one." There was a phone-call skit with legendary Houston rapper Scarface claiming he doesn't know Lil Flip and hasn't seen him around in Cloverland, he revealed that he didn't want to be "The King of the South" and T.I. can have the title.

On T.I.'s album King, there are several tracks which have been disputed by the hip hop community to be shots at Lil Flip ("What You Know", "You Know Who" and "I'm Talkin to You"). In an interview with a popular online hip hop website on March 24, 2006, T.I. was quoted as saying he and Lil Flip have no beef. This is somewhat contradictory to the events that occurred during Young Dro's video "Shoulder Lean". As Young Dro delivers the line "Lucky Charm Diamonds, but nah, I ain't Flip". T.I. is seen making a laughing gesture towards the video camera. The beef seems to be squashed making T.I. the victor according to the hip hop community and as Flip said in a freestyle: "I ain't got beef with Tip no mo".

Chaka Zulu
On Sunday afternoon (June 24) at the Sunset Tower Hotel in West Hollywood, California, T.I. was involved in a brawl. During a luncheon held by Kevin Liles of Warner Music Group (parent company of T.I.'s label, Atlantic Records), the MC got into a fight with Ludacris' manager Chaka Zulu. According to witnesses, T.I. punched Zulu in the face and choked him and a small, brief melee ensued.[18]

T.I. brought home the award for Best Hip-Hop Artist at the BET Awards, and took the opportunity to apologize for his scuffle with Disturbing Tha Peace executive Chaka Zulu earlier in the week. While accepting his award, he expressed regret over the situation. “They say it’s a fine line between brilliance and insanity,” he said, in an apparent reference to his troublesome alter ego, T.I.P. During the broadcast, cameras showed his onetime rival Ludacris smiling in the audience. The audience stood up and clapped for T.I.[19]

Community work
T.I. has stepped up his community involvement as well, taking the lead on several initiatives to help the victims devastated by Hurricane Katrina, including personally donating $50,000 to the relief effort while leading an on-air Labor Day pledge drive on Atlanta's V-103 FM that raised over $263,000 for Mississippi rapper David Banner's "Heal the Hood" Foundation. He also partnered with David Banner and Atlanta newcomer Young Jeezy for a two-day food and clothing drive at Atlanta's Club Vision and co-headlined a massive benefit concert on September 17, sharing the bill with heavyweights such as Nelly, OutKast's Big Boi, and David Banner - with 100 percent of the proceeds going to "Heal the Hood".

In addition to his Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, T.I. worked with troubled youths at Paulding Detention Center in Atlanta, provided scholarships for single parent families at Boys and Girls Clubs, and headlined Boost Mobile's RockCorps concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall, which featured such performers as Fat Joe, Slim Thug, and Kanye West, and was held exclusively for community service volunteers. In June 2005, The Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes Foundation, named for the deceased member of multi-platinum female group TLC, and Atlanta's V-103 honored T.I. with the 2005 Lisa Lopes Award for groundbreaking achievements in music and community service which was court ordered. With this steady list of growing accomplishments T.I. is being recognized as the "Jay-Z of the South." according to Pharrell Williams of multi-platinum production team The Neptunes.[20]

T.I. has joined forces again with the Make-A-Wish foundation to grant an Orlando teen's wish. He joined labelmate/protege Young Dro on stage for a taping at The Showtime At The Apollo to meet 15 year old Sara Labare on October 15 at the Apollo Theatre. Labare, who suffers from an autoimmune disorder, received a digital camera,an autographed poster, CDs, and sat in the front row during T.I.'s performance. T.I. has granted a total of 3 wishes.

T.I. kept a fan smiling when he showed up at 11-year-old Ajmal Acklin's, who suffers from acute lymblastic leukemia with Christmas gifts. Hot-107.9 announcer Griff asked the 11 year old does he like T.I. and Acklin responded "Yes" and his favorite song was "What You Know". Griff told him that T.I. was here and the 11-year-old's eyes lit up. T.I. walked in and said: "How you doing, I just wanted to come see how you're doing ... I heard the church bought you a PlayStation 3, so I got you some games". One by one, each visitor offered their prayers and well wishes, ending with A-Team intern Ree Williams doing a stirring a capella version of the gospel tune "Even Me". Before she hit the last note Ajmal's mom ducked into the kitchen, tears in her eyes.

T.I.'s King Foundation is also scheduled to donate 10,000 bikes to the Boys & Girls Club in New Orleans.

T.I.'s night club, Club Crucial, where he and V-103 announcer Greg Street will give away 200 bicycles to neighborhood children in the Boys & Girls Club.[21]

Personal life

Family
T.I. has been dating Tameka "Tiny" Cottle from the '90s group Xscape on-and-off for the past 6 years. They have a son together named Clifford, a.k.a. 'King'. They were expecting a daughter (Llayah Amour) to be born in June 2007, but she was stillborn late night on March 21, 2007. Tiny also has another daughter, Zonnique, that T.I. has custody of. He has 3 other children: Messiah Harris (son), Domani Harris (son), and Deyjah Harris (daughter). T.I. and Tiny ended their longterm relationship on March 18, 2007,[22] however, it appears the couple has reconciled yet again. T.I. was sitting next to Tiny at the 2007 BET Awards, and then leaned over to kiss her just before he accepted his award for Best Hip-Hop artist.

Criminal
In early 2004, T.I. was behind bars in Cobb County, Georgia, for violating probation. The probation stems from a November 1997 arrest and subsequent conviction for distribution of cocaine, manufacturing and distributing a controlled substance, and giving authorities a false name, according to a sheriff's department spokesperson.

He served a sentence of unknown length and was released early on probation. It is not clear what he did to violate the terms of his release, but it is the second time he's been accused of doing so. A county judge could revoke the terms of his probation and reinstate his original sentence.

More trouble awaits T.I. in neighboring Fulton County. Two arrest warrants were issued there in March — one for possession of a firearm and one for possession of ecstasy. Now that he's in custody, T.I. will likely be extradited to face those charges after his case is handled in Cobb County, according to a Fulton County sheriff's department spokesperson.[23]

T.I. was sentenced to three years in prison for violating the terms of his probation. After serving a minimum of one year, T.I. can apply for a work-release program, according to the county clerk's office in Cobb County, Georgia. An arrest warrant for T.I. was issued on December 29, ordering a revocation of his probation. He turned himself in to county officials on March 30 and had been in custody ever since. His lawyers appeared in Cobb County Superior Court Wednesday and signed a consent order with prosecutors that essentially stipulated T.I. should be sentenced immediately, thus avoiding the need for a formal hearing.

T.I. was on probation stemming from a 1998 conviction for violating a state controlled substances act and for giving false information. After being released on probation, he earned a litany of probation violations in several counties around Georgia for offenses ranging from possession of a firearm to possession of marijuana.[24]

In 2006, after appearing in an Atlanta court on (May 10) and having charges that he threatened a man outside a strip club last year dropped for lack of evidence, T.I. was arrested on an outstanding probation violation warrant from Florida. The warrant claims that T.I. did not complete the required number of community service hours he was sentenced for a 2003 assault of a female sheriff deputy at University Mall in Tampa. T.I. was detained by several mall Security Guards at the time of the incident, among them, Jason Phillips(founder of Certified Protective Services), Larry Warner (founder of Tactical Response Services), and Arturo Ortiz, now a security manager in Florida. According to WBS-TV Atlanta, the rapper’s attorney has said that the problem was nothing more than a “technical matter” between Georgia and Florida. The confusion arose because T.I. was also sentenced to community service in Georgia for driving with a suspended license, for which he did complete 75 hours of community service in his home state. The rapper was released on bail shortly after being arrested, and was expected to surrender to Florida state authorities next week to resolve the matter.[25]

On October 13, 2007, Federal authorities arrested T.I. His arrest came at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, four hours before the BET Hip-Hop Awards show got under way downtown. He was charged with two felonies — possession of three unregistered machine guns and two silencers, and possession of firearms by a convicted felon. The arrest was made in the parking lot of a downtown shopping center, which a witness identified as the Walgreens drug store at the corner of North and Piedmont avenues. Harris was arrested after allegedly trying to purchase the guns from a "cooperating witness" with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. According to federal officials, the witness had been cooperating with authorities since Wednesday, when he was arrested on charges of trying to purchase guns from a federal agent. The witness has been working as Harris' bodyguard since July, authorities said.[26] [27]

T.I. walked out the courthouse in downtown Atlanta on October 26 after posting a $3 million bond, $2 million in cash and $1 million in equity on property he owns. The rapper must remain at home except for medical appointments and court appearances. The only people allowed to live with him are his girlfriend and children. Visitors must be approved by the court. More than sixty supporters, family members, friends and fans stood outside the federal courtroom during the hearing.[28]

Death of T.I.'s friend and assistant
In the early hours of May 4, 2006, T.I. and his entourage were involved in a gunfight after leaving a concert after-party at the Club Ritz, a nightclub in Cincinnati, Ohio[29] that has a history of problems with the law. Four members of T.I.'s entourage were shot in the altercation. T.I.'s personal assistant Philant Johnson was killed and Janice Gillespie was seriously wounded by the gunfire.[30] It is believed that the altercation began at the Ritz when members of T.I.'s entourage threw money into the crowd, angering male audience members.

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, the feud began at the city's Club Ritz during an after-party for the Atlanta rapper and Yung Joc -- who performed earlier that evening at the club Bogart's -- and moved outside, where shots were fired into two vans transporting T.I.'s crew just after three o'clock.

"[The money] was supposed to be for the ladies", one witness said. "But it was hitting guys in the face, and they were like, 'We had money before, so why are you throwing money at us?'"

When the situation grew tense, T.I. reportedly told his group to head out. A witness outside told the Enquirer that one shot -- believed to be unrelated to the ensuing gun battle -- was fired in the parking lot and at least four people followed the vans in a large vehicle.
Wikipedia- T.I

Nas

Nasir Jones (born September 14, 1973), known simply as Nas, formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper.

Son of jazz musician Olu Dara, Nas is well known for his 1994 debut album Illmatic, which many consider to be one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time.[1] This album established Nas as one of hip-hop's most profound lyricists, introducing his signature poetic style. Raised in the notorious Queensbridge housing projects in New York City, he represents a continuation of a hip-hop tradition in Queensbridge that has spanned through early hip-hop, including the Juice Crew, Marley Marl, and MC Shan.

Following Illmatic with It Was Written, Nas pursued a more mainstream direction, which resulted in wider success but decreased artistic credibility among critics and hip-hop purists. Nas increased commercial success was accompanied by stylistic changes that fostered accusations of giving in to corporate wishes and compromising the style that had enamored his fans. Nevertheless, the album Stillmatic is often credited for restoring Nas' credibility among fans. Since the success of Stillmatic, Nas has continued to maintain a high profile within the hip-hop community and has pursued a decidedly personal aesthetic.

Biography

1973-1995: Early Life & Illmatic
Nas, whose given name Nasir means "one who creates victories" in Arabic, spent the first years of his life in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn.[2] His father, Olu Dara was a jazz trumpeter and his mother Fannie Ann Jones was a Postal Service worker. He has one sibling, a brother named Jabari who assumes the alias Jungle. While in Brooklyn, Nas would listen to his father's trumpet on his house's stoop at age four.[3] The family soon after moved to the Queensbridge Houses, the largest public housing project in the United States. Olu Dara left the household in 1986, when Nas was 13, and Ann Jones raised her two boys on her own. Nas soon dropped out of school in the ninth grade.[4] He educated himself, reading about African culture and civilization, the Bible and the Qur'an [5]. He also studied the origin of hip hop music, taping records that played on his local radio station. Nas interests moved away from playing the trumpet as a child to being a comic book hero artist.[6]

Nas had settled on pursuing a career as a rapper, and as a teenager enlisted his best friend and upstairs neighbor Willy "Ill Will" Graham as his DJ. Nas first went by the nickname Kid Wave before adopting his more commonly known alias of Nasty Nas[7]. Nas and Graham soon met hip-hop producer and Queens resident Large Professor (William Mitchell), who introduced Nas to his Toronto-based group, Main Source. In 1991, Nas made his on-record debut with a verse on "Live at the BBQ's", from Main Source's LP Breaking Atoms. Despite the substantial buzz for Nas in the underground scene, the rapper was rejected by major labels and was not signed to a recording deal. Nas and Graham continued to work together, but their partnership was cut short when Graham was shot and killed by a gunman in Queensbridge on May 23, 1992.

Illmatic received the first 5 mics rating from The Source.In mid-1992, Nas was approached by MC Serch of 3rd Bass, who became his manager and secured Nas a record deal with Columbia Records the same year. Nas made his solo debut on the single "Halftime" from Serch's soundtrack for the film and became part of the chang gang productions with Freshy C Zebrahead. The single increased the buzz surrounding Nas and when MC Serch’s solo album is released later in the year, Nas’ standout appearance on "Back To The Grill" only intensified interest. Hailed as the second coming of Rakim[8], his rhyming skills attracted a significant amount of attention within the hip-hop community.

In 1994, Nas's debut album, Illmatic was finally released. Critically acclaimed and widely regarded as one of the best hip-hop albums of all time,[9] Illmatic featured lyrics that portrayed stunning visual imagery. It also featured production from Large Professor, Pete Rock (one half of legendary group with C.L. Smooth), Q-Tip (frontman for A Tribe Called Quest), L.E.S. and DJ Premier (one half of Gang Starr) as well as guest appearances from Nas friend AZ and his father Olu Dara. Aside from Halftime, three moderately popular singles were released in order to promote Illmatic. However, due to widespread bootlegging and a lack of corporate appeal, the album did not do well in terms of record sales.

Following Illmatic, Nas appeared on AZ's Doe or Die album, and collaborated with his Queensbridge-associates, Mobb Deep, on their album, The Infamous. One notable achievement during this period was Nas verse on "Verbal Intercourse" on Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. It earned Nas a Source Quotable, and gave him the distinction (at the time) of being the only non-Wu-Tang Clan member to be featured on one of their songs. It also continued his "Nas Escobar" persona, in keeping with the Mafioso-theme of the album (the alias was introduced on Mobb Deep's "Eye for an Eye" from "The Infamous" album.

1996–1998: From It Was Written to The Firm
Columbia began to press Nas to work towards more commercial topics, such as that of the rapper The Notorious B.I.G., who had become successful by releasing street singles that still retained pop-friendly appeal. Nas traded manager MC Serch for Steve Stoute, and began preparation for his second LP, It Was Written, consciously working towards a crossover-oriented sound. It Was Written, chiefly produced by Tone and Poke of Trackmasters, was released during the summer of 1996. Two singles, "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" (featuring Lauryn Hill of The Fugees) and "Street Dreams" using the same sample as Tupac Shakur's All Eyez on Me base track and a remix with R. Kelly were instant hits. These songs were promoted by big-budget music videos directed by Hype Williams, making Nas a common name among mainstream hip-hop. It Was Written featured the debut of The Firm, a super group consisting of Nas, AZ, Foxy Brown, and Cormega. The album also expanded on Nas Escobar persona, who lived more of a Scarface/Casino-esque lifestyle. On the other hand, Illmatic, which, while having numerous references to Tony Montana and the theatrical hit featuring Al Pacino, was more about Nas life as a teenager in the projects.[4]

The Firm signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment label, and began working on their debut album. Halfway through the production of the album, Cormega was fired from the group by Steve Stoute, who had unsuccessfully attempted to force Cormega to sign a deal with his management company. Cormega therefore became one of Nas most vocal opponents, releasing a number of underground hip hop singles "dissing" Nas, Stoute, and Nature, who was Cormega's replacement in The Firm. [10]Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ, and Nature Present The Firm: The Album was finally released in 1997 to mixed reviews and lackluster sales (though still reaching platinum) and the members of the super group went their separate ways.

At about this time, Nas became a spokesperson for the Willie Esco urban clothing line, but had no other connection with the clothing line. He stopped promoting Willie Esco in 2000, dissatisfied with the company's operations. During the same period, Nas co-wrote and starred in Hype Williams' 1998 feature film Belly

1999–2000: I Am… to Nastradamus
In 1998, Nas began work on a double album. It was to be entitled I Am…The Autobiography, which he intended as the middle ground between the extremes of Illmatic and It Was Written. The plans were for it to be a double album autobiography of Nas with each track detailing a part of his life. The album was completed in early 1999, and a music video was shot for its lead single, "Nas Is Like." It was produced by DJ Premier and contained vocal samples from "It Ain't Hard to Tell." Much of the LP was leaked into MP3 format onto the Internet and Nas and Stoute quickly recorded enough substitute material to constitute a single-disc release. Those leaked tracks include "Amongst Kings," "Blaze a 50," "Drunk By Myself," "Hardest Thing to Do Is Stay Alive," "U Gotta Love It," "Find Ya Wealth," "Project Windows," "Fetus," "Wanna Play Rough," "Sometimes I Wonder," and "Daydreamin, Stay Scheming."

The second single for I Am… was "Hate Me Now," featuring Diddy, which was used as an example by Nas critics of him moving towards commercial themes. Hype Williams shot an allegorical video for the single, which featured Nas and Diddy being crucified in a manner similar to Jesus; after the video was completed, Diddy, a Catholic, requested his crucifixion scene be edited out of the video. However, the unedited copy of the "Hate Me Now" video made its way to MTV, and was premiered on April 15, 1999 on TRL. Within minutes of the broadcast, a furious Combs and his bodyguards allegedly made their way into Steve Stoute's office and assaulted him, at one point apparently hitting Stoute over the head with a champagne bottle[11] Stoute pressed charges, but he and Combs settled out-of-court that June.

Columbia had scheduled to release the pirated material from I Am… under the title Nastradamus during the latter half of 1999, but, at the last minute, Nas decided that he should record an entire new album for the 1999 release of Nastradamus. Nastradamus was therefore rushed to meet a November release date. Though critics were not kind to the album, it did result in a minor hit, "You Owe Me." It was produced by Timbaland and featured R&B singer Ginuwine. The only pirated track from I Am… to make it onto Nastradamus was "Project Windows," featuring Ronald Isley. A number of the other bootlegged tracks later made their way onto The Lost Tapes, a collection of underground Nas songs that was released by Columbia in September 2002. The collection saw decent sales and received glowing reviews.

2001: The Nas vs. Jay-Z feud and Stillmatic
For more details on this topic, see Nas vs. Jay-Z feud.
The highly publicized feud between Nas and Jay-Z started when Nas failed to show up to a scheduled recording session to record the hook on Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt track, "Dead Presidents".

Even though it was obvious to most hip hop heads that a rivalry existed between Nas and Jay-Z, the rivalry wasn't made known to the general public until a rivalry between Nas, and Jay-Z's protégé, Memphis Bleek. On his debut album, The Coming of Age, Bleek made a song entitled "Memphis Bleek Is," which was similar in concept to Nas single "Nas Is Like." On the same album, Bleek recorded "What You Think Of That," featuring Jay-Z. This contains the refrain, "I'ma ball 'til I fall/What you think of that?". In retaliation, "Nastradamus," the title track from Nas second 1999 album, featured the quote, "You wanna ball till you fall, I can help you with that/You want beef? I could let a slug melt in your hat." Memphis Bleek perceived the reference on "Nastradamus" as an insult, and retaliated against Nas on the lead single for his next album, The Understanding. That single, "My Mind Right," stated "And only a few fit in, your lifestyle's written/So who you supposed to be, play your position".

In 2000, QB's Finest was released on Nas Ill Will Records. QB's Finest is a compilation album that featured Nas and a number of other rappers from Queensbridge projects, including Mobb Deep, Nature, Capone, the Bravehearts, Tragedy Khadafi, Millennium Thug and Cormega, who had briefly reconciled with Nas. The album also featured guest appearances from Queensbridge hip-hop legends Roxanne Shanté, MC Shan, and Marley Marl. Shan and Marley Marl both appeared on the lead single "Da Bridge 2001," which was based on Shan & Marl's 1986 recording "The Bridge."

"Da Bridge 2001" also featured a response from Nas to Memphis Bleek, in which Nas retaliated with "Oh you didn't, wanna know whose life was written/The life I'm livin" and "Jaws is broke, your whole crew is coffin bound/Your ho, your man, lieutenant, your boss get found".

Jay-Z responded to Nas songs with an on stage swipe during the 2001 Hot 97 Summer Jam concert in New York City, when he premiered his song "Takeover". Initially, the song was to only be a Mobb Deep diss it only included a single line about Nas near the end. Nevertheless, Nas recorded the "Stillmatic Freestyle", an underground single which sampled Eric B. and Rakim's "Paid in Full" beat, and attacked Jay-Z and his Roc-A-Fella label. On his 2001 album, The Blueprint, Jay-Z added a third verse to "Takeover" dissing Nas, claiming that he had "...one hot album every ten year average" record (referring to Illmatic), that his flow was weak, and that he had fabricated his past as a hustler.

Nas responded with Ether, which begins with gunshots and a repeated, slowed-down sample from "Fuck Friendz" of Tupac Shakur rapping "Fuck Jay-Z." In "Ether," Nas accuses Jay-Z of stealing ("biting") lyrics from The Notorious B.I.G., getting the name "Blueprint" from a previous KRS-One album of the same name, and brown-nosing Nas and other rappers for fame. Nas also claimed that all of Jay-Z's raps on The Blueprint were inferior to the one guest verse on the album (Eminem's on "Renegade"): Eminem murdered you on your own shit. Ether was included on Nas fifth studio album, Stillmatic, released in December 2001. Stillmatic managed to be not only a critically-acclaimed comeback album, but a commercial success as well, albeit not on the level of It Was Written and I Am…, the album debuted at #7 on the Billboard album charts and featured the singles "Got Ur Self A..." and "One Mic."

Jay-Z responded to Ether with a song entitled "Supa Ugly," going into detail about how he had sex with Carmen Bryan, the mother of Nas daughter Destiny. This wasn't the first time Jay-Z alluded to his relationship with Nas daughter's mother in the song "Is That Your Chick" the lost verses addition was said to be all about Jay-Z, Carmen and Nas. Nas dismissed the track by claiming that he was no longer with Bryan during the time the affair took place.[12] In a recent interview, however, New York radio station Hot 97 settled the battle taking votes comparing "Ether"/"Stillmatic" and "Takeover"/"Supa Ugly," and Nas won with 58% while Jay-Z got 42% of the votes.

Jay-Z also responded to Nas on Jay-Z's 2002 album, The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse on the track named "Blueprint 2." On that track, Jay-Z says that no matter what happened in the battle, he's never been phony and that Nas is hypocritical for recording songs like 'Black Girl Lost" and then turning around and taking advantage of those same lost black girls on tracks like 'You Owe Me'. Jay-Z also claims that he single handedly revitalized Nas career by dissing him in the first place.

Nas spoke about the battle once more on the track "Last Real Nigga Alive" from the album God's Son. On this track Nas breaks down how the battle went down. He raps about coming up in the game with fellow artists like the Wu-Tang Clan, Biggie Smalls and others. Nas raps how Jay-Z came in the mix with this line: "Jigga started to flow like us, but hit with 'Ain't No Niggas'", how Jay-Z tried to attack when Nas and his mother went through a difficult time: "I gave it all up so I can chill at home with mama/She was getting old and sick so I stayed beside her/We had the best times, she asked would I make more songs/I told her not till I see her health get more strong/In the middle of that, Jay tried to sneak attack/Assassinate my character, degrade my hood/Cause in order for him to be the Don, Nas had to go". And on the track Nas had claimed victory, "I was Scarface, Jay was Manolo/It hurt me when I had to kill him and his whole squad for dolo".

By October 2005, the two rappers had eventually ended their feud without violence or animosity. During Jay-Z's I Declare War - Power House concert, Jay-Z announced to the crowd, "It's bigger than 'I Declare War'. Let's go, Esco!" Nas then joined Jay-Z onstage, and the two then performed "Dead Presidents" together, which Jay-Z had sampled from Nas song The World Is Yours. The two also collaborated on a song called, "Black Republican" which can be found on Nas most recent CD, "Hip Hop Is Dead."

2002–2005: From God's Son to Street's Disciple
In December 2002, Nas released the God's Son album including its lead single, "Made You Look" which utilized a pitched down sample of the Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache". The album peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts despite widespread internet bootlegging.[16] Time Magazine named his album best hip-hop album of the year. Vibe gave it four stars and The Source gave it four mics. The second single, "I Can", which reworked elements from Beethoven's "Für Elise", became Nas biggest hit to date during the spring and summer of 2003, garnering substantial radio airplay on urban, rhythmic, and top 40 radio stations, as well as on the MTV and VH1 music video networks. God's Son also includes several songs dedicated to memory of Nas mother, who died of cancer in 2002, including "Dance". In 2003, Nas was featured on the Korn song "Play Me", from Korn's Take a Look in the Mirror LP. Also in 2003, a live performance in New York City, featuring Ludacris, Jadakiss, and Darryl McDaniels (of Run-D.M.C. fame), was released on DVD as Made You Look: God's Son Live.

Nas performing in 2004.Nas released his seventh studio album, the critically acclaimed double-disc Street's Disciple, on November 30, 2004. The album's first singles were "Thief's Theme" and "Bridging the Gap", which features his father Olu Dara on vocals. The album also includes "These Are Our Heroes", which accuses prominent sports stars and actors such as Kobe Bryant and O. J. Simpson of not setting good examples for the kids that look up to them and neglecting their heritage and background in favour of white values. The videos for "Bridging the Gap" and "Just A Moment" received moderate airplay on MTV and BET. Although the album went platinum, its commercial profile was relatively low compared to the rapper's previous releases.

Nas was featured on Kanye West's album Late Registration on a song titled "We Major". West said the song was Jay-Z's favorite on the album, but West was unable to get Jay-Z to record a vocal for the final mix of the song. He also appeared on Damian Marley's song "Road to Zion" and several other songs such as "Death Anniversary" and "It Wasn't You" (featuring Lauryn Hill). In addition, Nas married R&B singer Kelis on January 8, 2005 in Atlanta, Georgia, after a two-year engagement.

Nas performing in Ottawa, 2007.At a free concert in Central Park, New York, Nas made a statement regarding the quality of 50 Cent's music; "this is the real shit, not that 50 Cent shit!"[17] 50 Cent responded on his single "Piggy Bank" by speaking negatively about Nas’ wife, Kelis; implying that she was promiscuous and calling Nas a "sucker for love." Nas eventually decided to retaliate, and in July 2005 released "MC Burial (Don't Body Ya Self)", a song which taunts 50 Cent and his G-Unit crew, stating that 50 was "a sucka for death if I'm a sucka for love." and "They say Jada defeated him, Joe too street for him/What's next? I guess it's for Nas to ether him" also, "Niggas don't want beef, they vegetarian/Scared of pussy, you climbed out of cesarean/I'll push your grown ass back in your mother's womb". However, despite all of this, Nas still claims to "have a lot of love towards 50", claiming 50 didn't understand his moves when they both were together at Columbia Records.

After rap duo Mobb Deep signed to G-Unit, they decided to diss Nas since G-Unit had beef with Nas. They released a diss song targeting Nas and the Bravehearts sometime in 2005 titled "It's That..."[18]

2006: Hip Hop Is Dead and controversy
In January 2006, Nas signed a label deal with Def Jam, emphasizing collaboration over competition with former rival Jay-Z.[4] Nas original title for his next album was Hip Hop Is Dead...The N[19] (shortened to Hip Hop Is Dead), though the UK release features a bonus track at the end called "The N." The album featured production from will.i.am, Kanye West, Dr. Dre, Scott Storch, and NBA All Star Chris Webber, as well as longtime Nas collaborators L.E.S. and Salaam Remi. A street single named "Where Y'all At" was released in June of 2006. It was produced by Salaam Remi, and contained a sample from Nas "Made You Look," but it did not make Hip Hop Is Dead's final cut.

The title record and first single was produced by will.i.am, and contains the same melodic sample ("In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida") as Nas 2004 single "Thief's Theme." The album debuted on Def Jam and Nas new imprint at that label, The Jones Experience, at number one on the Billboard 200 charts, selling 355,000 copies--Nas's third number one album, along with 1996's It Was Written and 1999's I Am….[20] A music video for "Can't Forget About You" premiered on February 5, 2007. [21] "Can't Forget About You" featuring Chrisette Michele boasts a sample from Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable." Another video, Hustlers, featuring The Game, would follow. [22] Also, Nas has stated in an interview with MTV that a video for "Black Republican" featuring Jay-Z is also underway and is being directed by an unknown director. A reality series on MTV entitled Me and Mrs. Jones will feature the lives of Nas and Kelis.[23] Vibe magazine has reported that the show will premiere in 2008.

The title of the album generated controversy, as many fans and artists (particularly those of Southern origin) began to debate over the actual state of rap music's vitality. With this album Nas became kind of the leader of the "Hip Hop Is Dead" movement. Ghostface Killah, on his album Fishscale seemed to agree with Nas and cited Southern crunk and snap music as the primary reasons for why hip-hop was "dead". Many Southern acts, such as rappers Lil Wayne, Lil Boosie, Young Jeezy, Dem Franchize Boyz, and D4L took offense to the title, taking it to be directed at their region in particular.[25].

Nas worked on a song called "Shine On 'Em" for the film Blood Diamond starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou, which opened in US theatres on December 8, 2006. His song "Thief's Theme" was featured in one of the scenes in the Academy Award-winning movie The Departed directed by Martin Scorsese.[26]

2007

Greatest Hits & Upcoming Album
Nas is preparing to release a Greatest Hits album this November through his former label, Columbia Records. This compilation will feature 12 songs from his seven first studio LPs under the label, plus two newly recorded songs. One of the tracks, "Less Than An Hour," debuted on AOL Music on August 10, and features Cee-Lo Green of Goodie Mob and Gnarls Barkley fame. The track is a new take on the theme to the hugely successful Rush Hour film trilogy starring Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, and will appear on the upcoming Rush Hour 3 soundtrack.[27]

Nas recently stirred up controversy when he announced the title of his new album, Nigger . Reverend Jesse Jackson criticized him, saying "The title using the 'N' word is morally offensive and socially distasteful. Nas has the right to degrade and denigrate in the name of free speech, but there is no honor in it. Radio and television stations have no obligation to play it and self-respecting people have no obligation to buy it. I wish he would use his talents to lift up and inspire, not degrade."[28] Nigger is set to be released on December 11, 2007 and will be his second album released under Def Jam.

Virginia Tech & Bill O'Reily
Nas performed at a free concert for the Virginia Tech student body and faculty on September 6, 2007. Nas was joined by John Mayer, Phil Vassar, and Dave Matthews Band.[29]; When announced that Nas was to perform, Bill O'Reilly and Fox News Channel denounced the concert and called for the removal of the rapper citing "violent" lyrics on songs including "Shoot 'Em Up", "Got Urself A Gun", and "Made You Look". During his Talking Points Memo segment for August 15, 2007, an argument erupted in which O'Reilly claimed that it was not only Nas lyrical content that made him inappropriate for the event, but claimed repeatedly that Nas also had a "gun conviction" on his criminal record [30] . In the midst of his debate with author Bakari Kitwana ("The Hip Hop Generation"), who defended Nas claimed that Fox News had "cherry picked" select fragments of the songs to make their case, O'Reilly shouted, "Even in his personal life, man, he's got a conviction for weapons, all right? He's got a weapons conviction, sir! On his sheet! This is a school that had a mass murderer with a pistol gunning down people—this guy has got-a-a-conviction for weapons, and you say he's appropriate? Come on!" O'Reilly repeated the claim another four times before cutting the segment short.[31]

Responding to O'Reilly, Nas in an interview with MTV News said:[32]

He doesn't understand the younger generation. He deals with the past. The people he represents are Republican, older, a generation that has nothing to do with the reality of what's happening now with my generation. ... He's not really on my radar. People like him are supposed to be taught and people like me are supposed to let niggas like him know. I don't take him serious. His shit is all about getting ratings or whatever. I wouldn't honor anything Bill O'Reilly has to say. It just shows you what bloodsuckers do: They abuse something like the Virginia Tech [tragedy] for show ratings. You can't talk to a person like that.

On September 6, 2007, during his set at "A Concert for Virginia Tech," Nas twice referred to Bill O'Reilly as "a chump", prompting some members of the crowd to cheer in agreement, yet many other audience members gave no positive reaction at all. About two weeks later, Nas was interviewed by Shaheem Reid of MTV News, where he criticized O'Reilly, calling him uncivilized and willing to go to extremes for publicity.[33]
Wikipedia - Nas

Jay Z

Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969 in Brooklyn, NYC) better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper and current president and CEO of Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records. In addition, he co-owns The 40/40 Club, and is co-owner of the New Jersey Nets NBA team. He is one of the most financially successful hip-hop artists and entrepreneurs in America.[1] Known for his flow and blending of street and popular style, he can compose lyrics without the use of pen and paper[2]. His critically acclaimed album The Blueprint was allegedly written in only two days.[3] After announcing his retirement from recording music in 2003 he returned in late 2006 with the album Kingdom Come which sold 680,000 copies in its first week, Jay-Z's highest-selling album in a one-week period.[4]

Along with Damon "Dame" Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke, Jay-Z was one of the founders of Roc-A-Fella Records, a hip hop record label. Jay-Z is the richest hip hop Entertainer (followed by Sean "Puffy" Combs, a.k.a. Diddy), having a net-worth estimate of $547 million.[5]

Biography

Early years
Originally from Marcy Houses housing project in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City[6], Jay-Z was abandoned by his father Adnes Reeves when he was twelve years old.[7] 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, with fellow rappers The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes, and Trenton Central High School in Trenton, New Jersey but did not graduate.[8] He claims to have been caught up in selling drugs, which he refers to in his music.[7]

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 and thus sparked his interest in music. He began freestyling, writing rhymes, and followed the music of many artists popular at the time. It is stated that he beat Busta Rhymes in a rap battle, but also has lost to DMX.

In his neighborhood, Carter was known as "Jazzy", a nickname which eventually developed into his stage name, "Jay-Z". The moniker is also a homage to his musical mentor Jaz-O (a.k.a. Jaz, Big Jaz) as well as to the J/Z subway lines that have a stop at Marcy Avenue in Brooklyn.[6]

Jay-Z can be heard on several of Jaz-O's early recordings in the late 80s and early 90s, including "The Originators" and "Hawaiian Sophie". He also collaborated with Inglewood, California producer Three-1-Zero. His career had a jump start when he battled a rapper by the name of Zai. The battle caught the eye of many record labels, as Jay-Z was able to hold his own against Zai. He also 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 and Shazim Hasan in 1995.

Music

Reasonable Doubt (1996)
Main article: Reasonable Doubt
From the beginning of his commercial recording career, Jay-Z chose a route that many would consider untraditional. When no major label gave him a record deal, Jay-Z created Roc-A-Fella Records as his 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 Clark Kent and a notable appearance by The Notorious B.I.G. Despite reaching only #23 on the Billboard 200, the album was a critical success.[6]

In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1997)
Main article: In My Lifetime, Vol. 1
After reaching a new distribution deal with Def Jam in 1997, Jay-Z released his follow-up In My Lifetime, Vol. 1. Executive produced by Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, it sold better than his previous effort. Jay-Z later explained that the album was made during one of the worst periods of his life. He was reeling from the death of his close friend The Notorious B.I.G. The album's glossy production stood as a contrast to his first release, and some dedicated fans felt he had "sold out". However, the album did feature some beats from producers who had worked with him on Reasonable Doubt, namely DJ Premier and Ski. Jay-Z mentioned on the YES Network's "CenterStage with Michael Kay" show that if he could do one thing in his career over, it would be Vol. 1, claiming that "it [the cd] was this close to being a classic, but I put like, a few songs on there that ruined it." Example is that he was referring to "I Know What Girls Like" and "(Always Be My) Sunshine", both of which were produced by Bad Boy beatmakers and criticized as a commercialization of his sound. Like its predecessor, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 also earned Platinum status in the U.S.

Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life (1998)
Main article: Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life
1998's Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life spawned the biggest hit of his career at the time, "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)". He also relied more on flow and brilliant wordplay, and he continued his penchant for mining beats from the popular producers of the day such as Swizz Beatz, an upstart in-house producer for Ruff Ryders, and Timbaland. Other producers tapped for beats include: DJ Premier, Erick Sermon, The 45 King, and Kid Capri. Charting hits from this album included "Can I Get A..." featuring Ja Rule and Amil and "Nigga What, Nigga Who" which featured Amil too. Vol. 2 would eventually become Jay-Z's most commercially successful album, it was certified 5x platinum in the United States and has to date sold over 8 million worldwide. The album went on to win a Grammy Award, although Jay-Z boycotted the ceremony protesting the fact that DMX failed to garner a Grammy nomination.

Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter (1999)
Main article: Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter
In 1999, Jay-Z released Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter. Despite continued criticism for his increasingly pop-oriented sound,[9] the album proved to be successful and went platinum three times and sold over 5.6 million records worldwide. Through his lyricism, he was able to retain respect from some of his die-hard fans. Vol. 3 is remembered for its smash hit, "Big Pimpin'" (feat. UGK). By this time, Jay-Z was seen as a hip-hop figurehead both by hardcore fans and by the hip-hop industry due to his lyrics and his high album sales.

The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2000)
Main article: The Dynasty: Roc La Familia
The subject of much criticism, praise, popularity, condemnation, and discussion, Jay-Z decided to begin developing other artists. Around 2000, he and Damon Dash signed various artists (including "Dynasty" members Amil, Beanie Sigel and Memphis Bleek) and began introducing them to the public. He next appeared on The Dynasty: Roc La Familia, which was intended as a compilation album to introduce these new artists, though the album had Jay-Z's name on it to strengthen market recognition and by extension, sales. This strategy worked to an extent - The Dynasty: Roc La Familia sold over 2 million units in the US alone.

The Blueprint (2001)
Main article: The Blueprint
2001's The Blueprint is considered by many to be one of hip hop's "classic" albums, receiving the coveted "5 mic" review from The Source magazine. Released on September 11, 2001, the album managed to debut at #1, selling more than 450,000 albums in its first week. The success of the album was overshadowed by the terrorist attacks that same day. The Blueprint was applauded for its production and the balance of "mainstream" and "hardcore" rap, receiving recognition from both audiences. Eminem was the only guest artist on the album, producing and rapping on the single "Renegade". Four of the 13 tracks on the album were produced by Kanye West and represents one of West's first major breaks in the industry. The Blueprint also includes the popular "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" and "Takeover", a song that takes on rivals Prodigy of Mobb Deep and Nas. The Blueprint has obtained a 2x Platinum status in the US. This album was the first album not to feature Amil, who was dropped in late 2000 because of a feud between Jay-Z/Roc-A-Fella and herself, caused of her meager album sales and her gain of weight, since his breakthrough album Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life.

The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse (2002)
Main article: The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse
Jay-Z's next solo album was 2002's 4 million (USA only) selling The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse a double-album. It was later reissued in a single-disc version, The Blueprint 2.1, which retained half of the tracks from the original and went on to sell a further 800,000 copies. The album spawned two massive hit singles, "Excuse Me Miss" and "'03 Bonnie and Clyde" featuring Jay-Z's girlfriend of four years Beyoncé Knowles. "Guns & Roses", a track featuring Lenny Kravitz, and "Hovi Baby" were two successful radio singles as well. The album also features the tracks "A Dream", featuring Faith Evans and a recording of the late The Notorious B.I.G.; and "The Bounce", featuring Kanye West (who, at that time, was not yet an artist). The Blueprint 2.1 features tracks that do not appear on The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse, such as "Stop", "La La La (Excuse Me Again)", "What They Gonna Do, Part II" and "Beware" produced by and featuring Panjabi MC.

Rivalry with Nas
Main article: Nas vs. Jay-Z
Tension between the two supposedly dates as far back as 1996, when Nas refused to make a guest appearance on Jay-Z's debut album Reasonable Doubt. However, the relationship between the two rappers remained peaceful (Jay-Z even giving a shoutout to Nas in his album liner notes),[10] and the tension did not escalate to full-blown rivalry until after the death of the Notorious B.I.G. The position of favorite rapper in New York seemed vacant after the death of Biggie, and fans were eager to see who would take over.

The dispute involved many of the rappers, especially associates at Roc-a-Fella Records, who declared an all-out war against Nas. However, the feud died down somewhat toward the end of 2002. It is believed by most that Nas won this battle, though it is still a subject of intense debate. New York radio station Hot 97 settled took votes matching "Ether"/"Stillmatic" against "Takeover"/"Supa Ugly," and Nas won with 58% while Jay-Z got 42% of the votes. The battle had the potential to destroy both careers and they have since bounced back after this event. Nas and Jay-Z have paid tribute to each other in interviews, likening the battle to a world title boxing match that pitched the best against the best, and pleased with the entertainment it provided fans. After Jay-Z signed Nas to Def Jam (of which Jay-Z is president and CEO), he also featured on Nas's first Def Jam album - "Hip Hop Is Dead" where he does a song with Nas called "Black Republican." The rivalry also impacted their careers critically and commercially. The battle was significant in that it revived the trend of using 'beefs' as a source for publicity and promotion for hip hop artists, originally unpopular following the tragic deaths of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G., now prevalent within the hip hop community.

The Black Album (2003)
Main article: The Black Album (Jay-Z album)
Jay-Z toured with 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes and Sean Paul while finishing work on what was announced as his final album, The Black Album. Notable songs on the album included "What More Can I Say", "Dirt Off Your Shoulder", "Change Clothes", and "99 Problems". The latter was a cross-over hit comparable to the Beastie Boys' "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" which some believe pays homage to the now-rare old-school rap style. A few of the songs done on this album portray a more personal side of Jay-Z; for example, "Moment of Clarity" sheds light on his feelings towards his estranged father and coping with his death. It also deals with accusations that he sold out to reach a wider audience. "What More Can I Say" addresses the "biting" accusations leveled against him by Nas in "Ether" and other detractors, as Jay-Z raps, "I'm not a biter I'm a writer for myself and others/I say a Big verse I'm only biggin' up my brother." During that same year, Jay-Z supplied new rhymes on a remix of Punjabi MC's "Mundian To Bach Ke", a desi rap jam that Jay became enamored of after hearing it at a nightclub in Hong Kong. Re-released as "Beware of the Boys", the East-West hip-hop fusion track charted in North America. It was notable for Jay-Z's condemnation of the U.S. invasion of Iraq and laying some of the blame on the 9/11 attacks on the foreign policy of Ronald Reagan. The Black Album has sold 3 million copies in the US.

In 2004, there was a runaway hit remix project by Danger Mouse called The Grey Album in which Jay-Z's Black Album vocals were blended with instrumentals sampled exclusively from The Beatles' White Album (which subsequently embroiled the DJ in a lawsuit that was later dropped with EMI, the owners of the Beatles' work). This was made possible by an a cappella version of the "Black Album" that Jay-Z released with the specific intent for others to mix. The success of The Grey Album led to a rainbow of Black Album remix projects including The Red Album, The Blue Album and so forth.

Collision Course (2004)
Main article: Collision Course (album)
Also in 2004, Jay-Z collaborated with rock group Linkin Park. The project was named Collision Course, and contained a six track EP, as well as a making of DVD. Some of the mash ups tracks were entitled "Dirt Off Your Shoulder/Lying From You", "Jigga What/Faint", and "Numb/Encore". "Numb/Encore" went on to win a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, and was also performed with Linkin Park live at the Grammys, with a special appearance by Paul McCartney, who added verses from his song Yesterday. The EP sold over two million copies in the US alone.

Retirement
On November 25, 2003, Jay-Z held a concert at Madison Square Garden, which would later be the focus of his film Fade to Black. This concert was his "retirement party". All proceeds went to charity. Other performers included collaborators like The Roots (in the form of his backing band), Missy Elliott, Memphis Bleek, Beanie Siegel, Freeway, Mary J. Blige, Beyoncé, Twista, Ghostface Killah, Foxy Brown, Pharrell and R. Kelly with special appearances by Voletta Wallace and Afeni Shakur; the mothers of The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur respectively.

While Jay-Z had attested to a retirement from making new studio albums, various side projects and appearances soon followed. Included in these were a greatest hits record, mash-up projects and concert appearances with R. Kelly, Linkin Park and Phish.

Jay-Z was the executive producer of Fort Minor's debut album The Rising Tied. Mike Shinoda got together with Jay-Z himself, as well as his Linkin Park bandmate Brad Delson, and they went over what tracks they thought should make the album.

"I Declare War" concert
For more details on this topic, see Hip hop rivalries.
Having been such a visible artist in the late '90s through the early 2000s, Jay-Z has been the subject of more rap-related controversy than most artists in mainstream hip-hop. Some of these have been resolved, some are ongoing, and some have simply dissipated.

On October 27, 2005, Jay- Z headlined New York's Power 105.1 annual concert, Powerhouse. The concert was entitled the "I Declare War" Concert leading to intense speculation in the weeks preceding the event to whom exactly Jay-Z would declare war on. As he had previously "declared war" on other artists taking lyrical shots at him at other events, many believed that the Powerhouse show would represent an all-out assault by Jay-Z upon his rivals. However, an anticipated response to subliminal shots taken by The Game and Cam'ron never materialized.

The theme of the concert was Jay-Z's position as President and CEO of Def Jam, complete with an on-stage mock-up of the Oval Office. Many artists made appearances such as the old roster of Roc-A-Fella records artists, as well as Ne-Yo, Teairra Mari, T.I., Young Jeezy, Akon, Kanye West, Paul Wall, the LOX, and P. Diddy.

Jay-Z performing in 2007.At the conclusion of the concert, Jay-Z put many arguments to rest to the surprise of hip-hop fans. Instead of declaring war, he declared that he was the "United Nations of this rap shit" The most significant development in this show was closure to the infamous hip hop rivalry between Jay-Z and Nas. The two former rivals shook hands and shared the stage together to perform Jay-Z's "Dead Presidents" blended with Nas's song "The World is Yours" from which "Dead Presidents" had sampled the vocals on the chorus. Nas's verses were rapped over the "Dead Presidents" beat in the vein of a mix song done by DJ Statik Selektah. Nas also performed songs of his own later in the show.

Disagreements between other artists were also brought to a close (or put on hold) at the Powerhouse show. The event brought together for the first time in years, P. Diddy and The LOX, both who had a longstanding animosity due to a contract agreement between P. Diddy and The LOX and the latter's departure from Bad Boy Entertainment. Shortly after the concert, the altercation was fully rectified.

The event also saw the return of Beanie Sigel from incarceration. There had been some speculation that Beanie Sigel was going to depart from Roc-A-Fella Records, but this concert proved otherwise. Beanie and The LOX's Jadakiss also officially ended their own argument when they, Jay-Z, the rest of the LOX and Sauce Money (who had been thought to have some animosity towards Jay-Z, but this was also untrue) all performed the song "Reservoir Dogs".

Return to recording music

Kingdom Come (2006)
Main article: Kingdom Come (album)
Jay-Z returned with his comeback album on November 21, 2006 titled Kingdom Come.[11] Jay-Z's comeback single, "Show Me What You Got", was leaked on the Internet in early October 2006, scheduled to be released later on that month, received heavy air-play after its leak, causing the FBI to step in and investigate.[12] Jay-Z worked with video director Hype Williams, and the single's video was directed by F. Gary Gray (Friday, The Italian Job). The album features producers such as Pharrell Williams, Kanye West, Dr. Dre and Coldplay's Chris Martin (single entitled "Beach Chair").[13][14] This album has already sold 2 million copies in the US alone. Jay-Z made a guest appearance on the Fall Out Boy album Infinity On High. In June 2007, Jay-Z got number one song on the Billboard Hot 100, Umbrella with Rihanna becoming his first number one since Crazy in Love with Beyoncé. Umbrella was at #1 for 7 weeks on the Hot 100. Jay-Z appeared on rapper T.I.'s album T.I. vs. T.I.P. on the song "Watch What You Say to Me".

American Gangster (2007)
Main article: American Gangster (album)
Jay-Z released his tenth album entitled American Gangster on November 6, 2007. After viewing the film, he was heavily inspired to create a new "concept" album that depicts his experiences as a street-hustler.[15] This album will not be the film's official soundtrack, even though it will be distributed by Def Jam.[16] According to the XXL Magazine, which features Jay Z on the cover, he gave further detail into "American Gangster." Jay Z's "American Gangster" (in stores November 6) depicts his life in correlation to the movie American Gangster. Jay Z reports, “When I saw the movie, the way Denzel portrayed the character, you know, we never seen a Black guy ascend this high in a movie before, to being over the mob. So immediately that struck with me. Like, the success of it all. [...] I took that emotion and pulled it into my song. So it’s my own movie. I call it an indie film now – that’s my new shit. It’s the indie-film version of American Gangster.”

Hip-Hop entrepreneur
Apart from being President and CEO of Def Jam Recordings, Jay-Z is also one of the owners and founders of the Roc-A-Fella empire, which includes Roc-A-Fella Records, Roc-La-Familia, Roc-A-Fella Films and Rocawear.

Jay-Z has also established himself as an entrepreneur like his fellow hip-hop-moguls, and friends, Russell Simmons, Dr. Dre and Sean "Diddy" Combs, who also have business holdings such as record companies and clothing lines. He redirected the hip hop culture from hooded sweatshirts and baggy jeans to button-ups and crisp jeans, and received GQ's International Man of the Year award.

Roc-A-Fella Records
Jay-Z co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records with partners Damon Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke. Def Jam purchased a 50% stake in the company in 1997 for a reported $1.5 million.[17]

In late 2004, Jay-Z, Dash and Biggs sold their remaining interests in Roc-A-Fella Records and the Def Jam Recordings by Island Def Jam chairman L. A. Reid. Reportedly this major industry move was prompted by disagreement between Jay-Z and Dash as to what new ventures Roc-A-Fella could undertake.

The publicized split between Jay-Z, Dash and Biggs led to the former partners sending jabs at each other in interviews. Dame Dash has made comments that after the break up he was portrayed as "Osama bin Laden" to ensure that rappers would stay with Jay-Z and not sign with him.[18] Dash currently operates the recently-founded Dame Dash Music Group as a joint venture with Island Def Jam producing some former Roc-A-Fella artists.

Rocawear
In 1999, Jay-Z co-founded the urban clothing brand Rocawear with Roc-A-Fella Records partners Damon Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke.[19] Rocawear has clothing lines and accessories for men, women and children. The line was taken over by Jay-Z in early 2006 following a falling out with co-founder Damon Dash.

In March of 2007, Jay-Z sold the rights to the Rocawear brand to Iconix Brand Group, for $204 million. Jay-Z will retain his stake in the company and will continue to oversee the marketing, licensing and product development.[19][20]

Entertainment and lifestyle
Jay-Z co-owns The 40/40 Club, an upscale sports bar that started in New York City and has since expanded to Atlantic City, NJ. Future plans will see 40/40 Clubs in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Singapore. Roc-A-Fella also distributes Armadale, a Scottish vodka, in the U.S.

On October 16, 2006, Jay-Z's new commercial spot with Anheuser-Busch aired, featuring his latest single "Show Me What You Got". Jay-Z will serve as co-brand director for Budweiser Select while collaborating with the company on strategic marketing programs and creative ad development. He will be providing direction on brand programs and ads that appear on TV, radio, print, and high-profile events.[21]

Jay-Z is a part-owner of the New Jersey Nets NBA team paying a reported $4.5 million for his share. He is also interested in relocating the team to Brooklyn. In October 2005, he was reported in English media as considering buying a stake of Arsenal FC, an English football (soccer) team.[22] However, at this point, this is still speculation.

Personal life

Criminal charges
In 1999, Jay-Z was accused of stabbing record executive Lance "Un" Rivera for what he perceived was Rivera's bootlegging of Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter. The stabbing allegedly occurred at the record release party for Q-Tip's debut solo album Amplified at the Kit Kat Klub, a now defunct night club in Times Square, New York City, on December 9. Jay-Z's associates at the party were accused of causing a commotion within the club, which Jay-Z allegedly used as cover when he supposedly stabbed Rivera in the stomach with a five-inch blade.[23]

Jay-Z initially denied the incident and pleaded not guilty when a grand jury returned the indictment. Jay-Z and his lawyers contended he was nowhere around Rivera during the incident and they had witnesses and videotape evidence from the club that showed Jay-Z's whereabouts during the disturbance. Nevertheless, he later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge that resulted in a sentence of three years probation. Jay-Z makes reference to the trial and incident on his songs "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)", on The Blueprint, "Threat", on The Black Album, "I Did It My Way" on The Blueprint 2: The Curse, and "Dear Summer", which was included in Memphis Bleek's 2005 release 534. Nas references this on "Ether" with the lyrics: "your man stabbed 'Un' and made you take the blame."

Romantic life
Jay-Z's most public relationship to date has been with Beyoncé Knowles member of Destiny's Child and solo singer & actress. Some fans mark their relationship as going public in their colloboration on "03 Bonnie & Clyde", the first single off his 2002 album The Blueprint 2 - The Gift and the Curse. His lyrics include "Let's lock this down like it's supposed to be/ The '03 Bonnie and Clyde, Hov and B." Jay-Z returned the favor the next year on Beyoncé's hit single "Crazy in Love" and as well as "That's How You Like It" from her debut Dangerously in Love. On her second album, B-Day, he made appearance on the 2006 hits, "Deja Vu" and "Upgrade U". In the video for the latter song, she comically imitates his appearance.

The couple generally avoids discussing their relationship. Beyoncé has stated that she believes that not publicly discussing their relationship has helped them. Jay-Z said in a People Magazine article that "We don't play with our relationship". They keep a low public profile despite being photographed at New Jersey Nets home games and while on vacation in Cannes in 2007. The pair were listed as a Power Couple on Time Magazine's 100's Most Influential People of 2006.

Jay-Z has been previously linked to 106 & Park hostess Free and actress Rosario Dawson, who appears to be the subject of a verse in "Lost One."[24]

Additionally, the rapper's sexual escapades have been detailed in two books, Karrine Steffans' Confessions of a Video Vixen and in Carmen Bryan's It's No Secret. In Bryan's book, she alleges having a five year affair with Jay-Z, while in an on-off relationship with rapper Nas with whom she had a child.
Wikipedia - Jay Z