Influence and Career of Rap Artist Shawn Corey Carter - Coursework Example

Rap Artist Shawn Corey Carter Abstract Shawn Corey Carter, better known as Jay-Z has been a public figure for a number of years now. His achievements in the world of music are apparent; leave alone his prosperity when it comes to his businesses. Though he started as a low life, he is now one of the richest people in the world and his achievements are still picking up. He describes himself as a very confident person, though some interpret it as arrogance. In addition, he uses music as his therapy as that is how he lets out what he has kept inside (Lewis, para17). Introduction One would ask what is so special about Shawn Corey Carter, better known as Jay Z in the music world. Well, Shawn Cater has been on the spotlight for many years and is indubitably going to be there many more years to come. His career in music has improved greatly and he is a great influence to the public and more so the youth. Shawn is well known for his unique rap style, which has been recognized as ‘the flow’. Some call it ‘Das EFX-types, stiggety style’. In his book ‘How to Rap’, Edward refers to Shawn as the master of flow, since he has the ability to flow both fast and slow. He also points out the way Jay-Z utilizes pausing technique to give a verse more weight and his ability to utilize ‘partial linking’ with an aim of increasing the rhymes in his verses (Edward, p65-112). Biography Shawn was born on the 4th day in the month of December back in the year 1969 in Brooklyn in the United States, New York City. He was the last born in a family of four. Life has made it such that we are born with an original name, which is in fact in the birth certificates, but after interacting with others, we are given nicknames to describe us as they see best. The case is not any different for Jay-Z and in fact, he has several nicknames up to date. Some of the names include S-dot, Young Hov, Jazzy, Hova, Jigga, J-Hova, Jiggaman, Iceberg slim, Lucky left and Joe Camel just to mention but a few (J.M, 2010). Thejayz.com records that Shawn is six inches and three feet tall. Shawn’s single mother, well known as Gloria Carter, raised him in the projects. This was because his father disowned them when he was only twelve years old and left them to struggle with life. He grew up in Brooklyn and schooled there too. The first high school he went to was the George Westinghouse High School, but later transferred to Trenton Central High School in the state of New Jersey. However, for his reasons, he did not graduate like other students. In his early life, Shawn publicly declares with no hesitation that he dealt with drugs. Much as we are not certain whether he used them, he confessed to selling drugs like cocaine and marijuana along the streets. His main business streets were in New York City and Maryland, not forgetting Virginia. Though he did not have a good life back then, he took to explore his skills while in school and that is where he discovered his rapping skills (Yuddy, para2-3). According to Thejayz.com, Shawn has come up with quite a number of lyrics describing himself, his passions and his dreams. A very common phrase he uses to describe himself is ‘…I am not a businessman. I’m a business…..maaannn’. Apparently, he really believes this such that he went to the extent of using it in some of his songs for instance, the ‘Diamonds are forever’ remix. Studying his life and interests closely, we can actually say that this is true for him. His great success in life and not only in the music industry can clearly justify this. He has ventured into several fields, all business related, which have come up well. Such businesses include his well-known sports bar. Apart from that, Shawn has come up with his own clothing line and even Scottish vodka. Shawn’s Personal Life Shawn finally met his now spouse Beyonce and started dating in 2002. Having being a couple for six years, Shawn finally married singer Beyonce at a private wedding on April 4 in the year 2008 (Fleeman & Garcia, para1). They are still married to date. According to JM, the couple is planning to purchase two houses, one in Miami and the other one in London in England. Awards and Achievements Shawn was known for his habitual retirement from music and transfer from company to company before he finally decided to settle. First, he decided to leave the music industry and this surprised people since he was doing very well in it. Later, he surprised people again by resurfacing in the same industry and taking it by storm and doing even much better compared to other musicians who had all along been in the industry. The year 2004 proved to be a break through for him. First, he was selected the president of Def Jam recordings. He was later appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the same. During his period of appointment, Shawn signed up a number of artists who have come a long way in the music industry and are now among the major artists in music, including Ne-Yo and Rihanna. As his reputation shows, Jay-Z does not leave any deal that seems better and more promising than what he currently is working on. Later on, an even better deal, the Live Nation deal, that left him with no choice, came knocking at his door and he did not hesitate but took it immediately. It actually offered him a clean hundred and fifty dollars. Up until now, Shawn has been nominated at least twenty five times for the Grammy awards. Out of all these, he has won seven times, a record worth noting (Brindills, para2). In 1995, Shawn saw the start of his career as a solo rapper. His first single ‘In My Lifetime’ was such a great hit that it secured a distribution deal. In the year 1996, during the month of April, he came up with the dance music ‘Aint No…/ Dead President’ that did so well such that it led the bill board dance music for five weeks straight in the singles chart and this album received its ‘Gold’ certification. The year that followed saw him ranked number 141 in the single artists of the year list and in September that year, he released ‘In my lifetime’, which had tracks like ‘The city is mine’ and ‘Sunshine’ (Brown & Books, p229). In 1998, he moved to position 44 and in that year, his volume 1 ‘…In my lifetime’ received its gold certification. In May the same year, he appeared on several soundtracks where he improved his singing. In addition, he featured in the film ‘Streets is watching’ before releasing his second volume entitled ‘Hard knock life’ in September. This volume did very well that pop as well as rap radio stations played it repeatedly and the video clips became a hit on MTV. It did not stop there as the same album topped the Billboard charts for a period of five weeks. It was also top on the R&B album charts for a much longer time – a period of six weeks. This album was later in December certified as 3X platinum and because of the same album, he was ranked the top Hip-Hop artist that year and topped the year’s Billboard awards as the best R&B Artist (Brown, p230). Since then, Shawn has climbed up the industry and won many other awards. For instance, in the American Music awards, he scooped quite a number of awards and was nominated in different categories. From the year 2002, he received nominations for several categories and he won quite a number. In the year 2004, he scooped top position as the favorite rap male artist, thanks to his album ‘the black album’. He received an award for having released ‘the blue print 3’ and scooped the favorite rap/ hip-hop album award in the year 2009. In the same year, he scooped the favorite rap, hip-hop male artist award (Aceshowbiz, para1). Shawn also received recognition in the BET awards and has continued to be recognized to date. In the year 2001, he was voted the best male hip-hop artist and he scooped the same prize in the year 2004. During the same year, he was also voted as having done the best collaboration. In the year 2010 (this year), he has had the most nominations in the BET awards. He received nomination for video of the year, both for ‘Empire state of mind’ and ‘Run this town’, viewer’s choice, best collaboration and best male hip-hop artist but only managed to scoop the award for ‘Best collaboration’, which he did with Alicia Keys. In the BET hip-hop awards, his name is a legend. He has received nominations from the year 2006 until the year 2009. In the year 2006, he won the ‘Hip-hop hustler award while in the years 2007 and 2008, he only received nominations but never won. However, we see a twist in the year 2009 when he scoops several awards where he was a nominee. He received awards for the hustler of the year, the best live performer, the lyricist of the year and the most valued player of the year. In 2010, he was a nominee in several categories and received an award for being the best international male solo artist during the Brit awards (Aceshowbiz, para2, 3&7). Regarding the Grammy awards, which he had earlier boycotted, he is known for scooping awards for his great work. From the year 1999 to date, he has been a nominee in several categories, mostly in the rap categories. In the year 1999, he won the first award for having produced the best rap album. In 2004, Shawn scooped two awards for having done the best rap/sung collaboration and the best R&B song. In 2005, he won the best rap solo performance and in 2006, he received a reward for having produced the best rap/sung collaboration and scooped the same prize in the year 2008. In 2009, he scooped the best rap performance by a duo or group award in the Grammies. In the year 2010, he has received nominations for various categories and has scooped quite a number of awards including the best rap song of the year awards, the best rap solo performance and the best rap/sung collaboration (Aceshowbiz, para8). One thing that is worthy mentioning is Shawn’s philanthropy, which he carries out well with the help of his wife. The USAtoday.com documents that he took part in raising awareness of water shortage globally and preached on how to combat it. He also promised to give one million dollars to the Red Cross Society after the hurricane at Katrina. He addresses the catastrophe in the song ‘Minority Report’. Due to his liking for his fans, Shawn has gone to the extent of signing up on twitter and face book so that he can receive comments and feedback from them. Conclusion Up until now, Shawn, who has several nominations and awards to his name, has grown to become the president of Def Jam Records and so far, he is doing well. All his businesses are thriving and doing well in the market. He refers to himself as an innovator. Therefore, all we have to do is sit and wait for more of his surprises both in the music and business industry. Works Cited Aceshowbiz, (2010). Jay-Z Awards. Retrieved July 27, 2010 from http://www.aceshowbiz.com/celebrity/jay_z/awards.html Brindills, (2010). Top 10 musicians and their nicknames. Retrieved July 27, 2010 from http://www.top10source.com/top-10-musician-and-their-nicknames.html Brown, J. & Books, C. (2005). Jay Z and the Roc-a-fella Records Dynasty. Phoenix: Colossus Books. Edward, P. (2009). How to Rap: The Art and Science of the Hip-Hop MC. Chicago Review Press. Retrieved July 27, 2010 from http://www.amazon.com/How-Rap-Art-Science-Hip-Hop/dp/1556528167#reader_1556528167 Fleeman M & Garcia J. (2008). Source: Beyonce and Jay-Z are married. Retrieved July 27, 2010 from http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20188764,00.html J, M. (2010). Biography for Jay-Z. Retrieved July 27, 2010 from http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0419650/bio Thejayz.com, (2010). The Jay-Z Biography. Retrieved July 27, 2010 from http://www.thejayz.com/biography Lewis, P. (1998). JAY-Z: A B&S classic interview. Retrieved July 27, 2010 from http://www.bluesandsoul.com/feature/441/jay_z_is_back/ USAtoday.com, (2007). Jay-Z helps UN focus on water crisis. Retrieved July 27, 2010 from http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-08-09-jay-z-water_x.htm Yuddy.com, (2008). Jay Z Bio. Retrieved July 27, 2010 from http://www.yuddy.com/celebrity/jay-z/bio Read More