- Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z have been invited to dine at Buckingham Palace by British royal Prince Charles. According to insiders, Prince Charles wants to thank the duo for agreeing to take part in his Prince's Trust concert in May, which Beyonce is headlining. (April 13, 2004)
- Has announced his imminent plans to marry Beyonce Knowles. (February 6, 2004)
- Announced Friday that he was pushing up the release of last hurrah, The Black Album, to November 14, two weeks earlier than originally scheduled to preempt online bootlegging. (November 8, 2003)
- Provided a small group of journalists a chance to preview his upcoming set, the Black Album, at a private listening session at Baseline Studios in New York City on October 22, 2003.
- Tickets for Jay-Z's benefit concert scheduled for November 25 at Madison Square Garden in New York City sold out in less than eight hours after going on sale on Saturday (September 27). (October 1, 2003)
- Has announced he's going to hang up his mike to focus on his growing Roc-a-Family empire. (September 27, 2003)
- Jay-Z was at New York's Madison Square Garden on Wednesday morning (September 24) to officially announce his forthcoming benefit concert at the Garden on November 25 -- The proceeds from the benefit will be split by the Hip Hop Summit Action Network and Jay-Z's Shawn Carter Scholarship Fund. (September 26, 2003)
- Jay-Z is leaving behind his record label Roc-a-fella to work with former Universal executive Steve Stoute, letting co-founders Damon Dash and Kareem Biggs Burke take the reins while he approaches other labels. (August 14, 2003)
- Is among the artists who contributed their chart-topping hits to the collection Now That's What I Call Music, Vol. 13, due July 22nd -- To date, the NOW series has generated sales of over 117 million albums worldwide, and has sold more than 39 million copies in the United States since their debut. (July 15, 2003)
- Jay-Z was going all out for the grand opening of his sports bar 40/40 in New York City on Wednesday (June 18), handing out some pretty dazzling gift bags to his VIP guests including $3,000 Grimoldi watches, $1,000 gift certificate for Jacob The Jeweler, Cingular camera phones, Honora leather bracelets, Ike Behar silk ties, and $175 bottle of Remy Martin XO. (June 19, 2003)
- He named his sports bar 40/40 in honor of baseball's exclusive 40/40 club for the few players who have been able to steal 40 bases and hit 40 homeruns in the same season. (May 10, 2003)
- Jay-Z and Reebok are pleased by the buzz and the huge demand for the hip-hop superstar's signature athletic footwear collection, the S. Carter Collection by Rbk. Shawn Carter is his birth name.
- Jay-Z's signature Reebok tennis shoe sold out in only a few hours over the weekend, making it the fastest-selling shoe in Reebok's history. (April 23, 2003)
- Recently added his vocals to a remix of Aaliyah's Miss You, the lead single from the deceased singer's latest album, I Care 4 You -- Aaliyah was dating Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records partner Damon Dash at the time of her death in August of 2001. (March 13, 2003)
- Sheryl Crow, Jay-Z, and Missy Elliott join Musicians United To Win Without War -- The group comprises musical artists from numerous genres, and it will join a coalition of 32 organizations which support tough United Nations inspections to disarm Saddam Hussein instead of an invasion and occupation of Iraq. (February 28, 2003)
- Jay-Z, along with Mike Tyson, will do what he does best on cable's Showtime February 22 -- that night, Jay-Z will air a live telecast of his concert at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis at 9 p.m. ET. (January 9, 2003)
- Jay-Z told an audience at the city's Cass Technical High School about the importance of staying in school -- the students had won a contest sponsored by radio station WDTJ-FM by having good school attendance and the prize was Jay-Z as principal for a day. (November 23, 2002)
- Jay-Z and Eminem, two of rap's biggest stars, shared the stage in Detroit on Thursday night (November 21) -- Jay-Z was in town on his Principal For A Day tour, performing at St. Andrews Hall, when Eminem (news - web sites) joined him onstage for a performance of their hit song Renegade, from Jay-Z's The Blueprint album. (November 23, 2002)
- Jay-Z sold more than a half-million copies of Blueprint 2: Gift & the Curse, to smack bad-boy rapper Eminem and his 8 Mile soundtrack out of the No. 1 spot on the Top Album Sales Charts. (November 22, 2002)
- Jay-Z recently launched a tour unlike his previous tours--the rapper will spend the road trek visiting numerous schools as the principal for a day and then performing at small venues in the evenings. (November 13, 2002)
- Jay-Z denies Toni Braxton's song theft charge, saying that if he'd known they were both planning to sample the same Tupac hit, he'd have tried to arrange a duet with her. (October 16, 2002)
- Jay-Z was a high school friend of the Notorious B.I.G.
- He first financed his music by hustling.
- At age 9, he shot his brother in the shoulder (for stealing his ring).
- He was one of the first in the industry to start his own record label...Roc-A-Fella records.
- Before he started dropping albums, he worked as a cashier at a Kentucky Fried Chicken.
- Met Memphis Bleek at KFC.
- In the video of Hard Knock Life, the girl sitting beside Jigga is Peter Gunz' daughter.
- In his video of Can I Get A ..., there was a special appearance by Jermaine Dupri.
- Jigga got the Hard Knock Life chorus from the Broadway play ANNIE.
- Likes to make pancakes when he's at home.
- Got his name because he always dressed nice and his friends said he was jazzy.
- Nominated for Best Movie Song at MTV Movie Awards for RUSH HOUR (1999)
Quotes- "Nas is definitely going to bring out the best of me. He's gonna put me at the top of my game. I hope I do the same for him. It's like playing basketball with a guy. It's just verbal sparring- no one's fighting, it's just records."
Awards- MTV Video Music Awards: Best Rap Video; Best Direction; Best Editing;Best Cinematography, 99 Problems (2004)
- BET Awards: Best Male hip hop artist (2004)
- BET Awards: Best Collaboration, Crazy in Love (2004) - with Beyonce Knowles
- Vibe Awards: coolest collaboration that he shared with Beyonce Knowles for Crazy in Love (2003)
- Vibe Awards: TuBig Award (2003)
|
