Jay-Z was born Shawn Corey Carter in 1969 in New York. He released his debut album 'Reasonable Doubt' back in 1995 after forming his own record label company 'Roc-a-Fella Records' with his two friends Damon Dash and Kareem Burke. Although the record reached only No. 23 in the Billboard 200 during that time, nowadays it is considered to be a classic hip-hop album. Two years later Jay-Z achieved even broader success with his second album 'Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life' in 1997. He produced an album every year till 2012, barring a stint of 3 years when he turned to the business side of music. In 2005, he became the president of Def Jam Recordings, and signed popular acts such as Rihanna, Ne-Yo and helped Kanye West transition from a producer to best-selling record artist. He returned to music in 2007 with the music album 'Kingdom Come'. On June 15, 2017, he became the first rapper to be inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Although a multi-millionaire and one of the highest paid artist in the music business, Jay-Z likes to live a private life.