Born Shawn Carter in New York City in 1970, Jay-Z enjoys the kind of rags-to-riches success that few can only dream of. Driven by raw ambition and tremendous talent, Jay-Z started his own record company, Roc-A-Fella Records, in 1995, when, as a struggling artist, he couldn't convince any music labels to give him a recording contract. On the strength of seven consecutive best-selling albums, Jay-Z quickly established himself and Roc-A-Fella as powerful forces in the music industry. Today he is a Grammy Award winner, the president and CEO of Def Jam Records, and a multimillionaire with ventures in film, apparel, and even professional sports. Providing a wealth of features such as full-color photographs, sidebars, a discography, chronology, glossary, and an index, this captivating new biography traces the meteoric rise of Jay-Z, exploring in full detail why he remains one of the most popular and successful rappers around.