Originally from Marcy Houses housing project in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, Jaz-Z was abandoned by his father Adnes Reeves when he was twelve years old. He attended Eli Whitney High School in Brooklyn until it was closed down, proceeding to attend Geroge Westinghouse Information Technology High School with fellow rappers Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes, and Trenton Central High School. He never graduated; claiming to have been caught up in selling drugs, a reference he makes in his music. 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 as well as to the J-Z subway lines that have a stop at Marcy Avenue in Brooklyn.
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 him. 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.
Despite the concert in 2003 that was supposedly his "retirement party", Jay-Z only retired from making new studio albums. Post-retirement concert he released his greatest hits record, mash up projects and concert appearances. His quasi-retirement also did not stop the hip hop superstar from producing new records (he was the executive producer of Fort Minor's album The Rising Tied), or performing in his notorious "I Declare War" concert, in which he ironically settle his longtime feud with fellow rapper Nas; the two performed on stage together in a mash up of both artists' songs.
His work now consists of being President and CEO of Def Jam Recordings as well as owning/founding the Roc-A-Fella empire, which includes Roc-A-Fella Records, Roc-La-Familia, Roc-A-Fella Films, and Rocawear. He even won GQ's International Man of the Year Award.
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