As we all know, rapper Jay-Z is one of the most successful artists in hip hop history. He has had an incredible career full of massive hit songs and collaborations with some of top musicians and producers out there!
He even built his own music production company called The Blueprint Group. But how did he get here? What made him become famous?
Fortunately for us, Jay does not take himself very seriously. In fact, he loves to talk about himself and his success frequently.
In this article, I will be going over five ways that helped make Jay Z famous as well as three more ways that are important to maintain his status as a popular artist. Read on to learn more!
Disclaimer: This article may contain affiliate links where we earn a small percentage of each sale. For more info click here. Listing a product or service through an affiliate link helps support our site and source material.
Five Ways That Made Jay Z Famous
Writing your own lyrics is another way to contribute to the success of someone else’s song. Even if you don’t consider yourself a good lyricist, you can still give credit to others by using their lines or paraphrasing them.
This would include taking a phrase that only you understood and putting your own spin on it. For example, say Beyonce sang something like “I got money and my name on me”.
As we know, The Blueprint is one of hip hop’s classic albums that helped launch his career as an artist. It features some of his most recognizable songs like “Change," "Rock With Me,” and ""Oooh Baby.""
But how did he get here?
He didn't have a large number of successful singles before The Blueprint. He had hit songs like the aforementioned tracks, but nothing close to what it took for him to reach the top.
It was The Blueprint that made him famous though. Not only are those songs still in heavy rotation today, they also launched his album-making business acumen.
By creating his own independent music company, Hov built up his capital which then allowed him to start investing in other artists and their projects.
That's why you'll always see his name attached to various musicians and projects (Beyonce, Rihanna, Drake etc) with him taking a share of the profits.
In addition to being one of the best rappers of all time, Jay-Z is also quite the businessman. He’s launched his own clothing line, signed endorsement deals with major brands, founded a production company, and invested in various business ventures.
But none of that would have ever happened if he didn’t start off by selling music.
In fact, it was his first album that really took him to the next level. You may remember his song “The Originator,” where he rapped about how he worked hard as a kid and wanted to be like Michael Jackson so he could buy things.
After developing his craft and learning his lyrics from producer The Legendary Trae, Jay made his debut as an artist in 1999 with Reasonable Meals. It featured the hit songs “Big Pimpin’” and “Oooh Wee!”
He quickly picked up steam after releasing his second album, Vol 2... Hard Way!, which included the tracks “Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You,” “Niggas Ain't No Humans,” and “I'm A Badd Boy.
As we know, Jay-Z is famous for his music and business acumen. But how did he get here? He didn’t achieve success overnight but through years of hard work in different fields. In fact, some people might say that it was his career as a film producer that got him where he is today.
He made his acting debut in 2003’s The Best Man Holiday, which also starred Beyoncé and Dwayne Johnson. Since then, he has appeared in several more films including Kingdom Come (2009), Dream Team (2004) and Ride Along 2 (2017).
In 2006, he produced the critically acclaimed documentary Life Is King, about faith and family. It won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary Makeup and Hairstyling.
Jay has always enjoyed producing other artists so when he wasn’t filming or doing interviews, he was working on projects such as Reasonable Doubt (2013), No Church in the Wild (2010) and 8 Mile (2002). All these movies received great reviews and helped launch successful careers.
His love of filmmaking doesn’t stop there though. He co-produced the 2018 movie Venom, starring Tom Hardy. He even wrote and directed 2002 hit comedy Heat.
As we know, rap music has been around for quite some time now- it’s almost impossible to talk about hip hop without talking at least tangentially about its roots in New York City. Artists like The Sugarhill Gang and Run DMC made their names known for lyrics that spoke of life experiences and emotions, while artists such as Tupac Shakur and Drake have left legacies that continue to influence newer generations of rappers today.
However, before those artists became superstars, they were working hard to be recognized and appreciated by bigger name musicians and producers. While many may not agree with all of what these artists do or say, one thing is clear – their work ethic paid off!
Jay Z is one of the biggest pop culture icons out there right now, so how did he get here? By putting in consistently long hours in the studio and meeting after meet, Jay was able to take control of his career and make it something special. He always put in the effort necessary to succeed, which is why he still enjoys success more than a decade later.
His advice for aspiring professionals is simple – don’t ever feel like you’ve “arrived.” You will keep striving towards your goals until you reach them, and this should apply even if you already have what you want. This way, you stay hungry, which is what it takes to achieve things.
As we know, rapper Shawn “Jay-Z” Jackson is now one of the highest paid artists in music. He boasts about owning an NBA team and a college football program, but his first career success was as a restaurateur!
In fact, he opened up a chain of restaurants called The Shop by Jimmy Jostens in 1998. They were later renamed TASQ after his initials.
The eatery featured expensive food that people with big money orders or are rich can enjoy. It also had a bar area where guests could order drinks and snacks.
Many celebrities have visited TASQ to eat at Jay-Z’s table including Rihanna who took her then boyfriend Chris Brown there for their second date. She even posted pictures and comments about it on social media.
He has always sponsored the restaurant and hosted events there as well.
Hip-hop is a genre of music that has seen its share of celebrity status. Artists such as Kanye West, Drake, and The Game have all received significant recognition for their contributions to the art form.
But it was rapper Shawn “Jay” Carter who really made his name in the industry. He released his first album at the age of 19 and now he boasts more than 30 million followers on Instagram!
As popular as he may be today, however, Jay did not always live an easy life. In fact, he had quite the uphill battle when it came to fame and fortune.
He struggled with addiction and depression throughout much of his early career and even considered suicide several times. It wasn't until he met entrepreneur Russell Simmons that things started looking up for him.
Simmons helped get Jay into hip hop by producing his debut LP and then introducing him to other artists in the business. With his new connections, Jay began landing bigger projects and eventually signed with Def Jam Recordings in 1996.
Since then, he's launched multiple successful brands and solo careers and collaborated with some of the biggest names in entertainment. He also found success outside of rap with fashion lines and a line of oral hygiene products.
Now, Jay is one of the most well-known rappers in the world and he owes a lot of his success to his wife, singer/songwriter Beyonce.
As we know, rapper Jay-Z got his start as an aspiring artist in his early twenties when he released his first album, The Best of Time. Since then, he has gone on to become one of the most famous people in the world!
He made this possible by creating and fostering relationships with other artists and influencers. He would purchase or coproduce songs from newer artists, include references to these songs in his own tracks, and even cover some songs!
His relationship with fellow music mogul Dr. Dre is a good example of how he built up his career. Both men worked together on several projects before Jay left for another position at Def Jam Records.
Once he secured his job at Def Jam, he took it upon himself to create and promote Drake’s song “The Real Me.” This helped him get noticed more quickly and paved his way to success.
As we mentioned earlier, it’s easy to get famous by promoting yourself or your products. This is what most people do to achieve success! But there are more advanced ways to promote a product while also developing its audience.
A popular way to do this is being a “brand ambassador.” A brand ambassador is someone who represents a company in the media by endorsing their products through social media posts, interviews, etc. They can win money from the company for doing so!
Jay-Z is one of the greatest brand ambassadors of all time. He has spent over $100 million as a paid brand ambassador for almost every major company. His main job is still to promote the brands he is representing, but now he also creates content about how well these brands work and why you should try them.
His website even contains his own products! These are not necessarily advertisements, however — some of them are just honest opinions about the products. It is important to remember that marketing materials such as commercials will often contain false information or exaggerated claims.
By giving true, unbiased reviews, Jay-Z can help educate his followers along with providing good recommendations. That is his legacy – he built an empire off of helping others learn about new companies and products.
