Jay Z debuted his first album way back in ’96! And he’s still killin’ em — and the HOV won’t get you forget it! “Even my old fans like, ‘Old man just stop,” Jay Z spat in Magna Carta Holy Grail‘s “Picasso,” “I could if I would but I can’t. I’m hot.” While other famed rap artists seem to come and ago, Jay Z has had solid footing in the rap game for more than two decades!

How did he do it? How in the world did Shawn Corey Carter remain relevant for so long? To be concise, it all boils down to Jay Z’s ability to know his market and audience. Hip-hop lovers of the new millennium have a different music craving than rap fans from ’90s. With each album, Carter knew how to tweak the caliber of his work to parallel the music mentality of every epoch.

Now if you want to get into the nitty gritty of how Jay Z has successfully prolonged his presence in the industry, let’s break it down record-by-record shall we?

You can also get the full back story about Jay Z’s rise to the top from the new Moguldom Studios documentary A Genius Leaves The Hood: The Unauthorized Story of Jay Z. Purchase your copy here.

Forbes‘ Top 5 Wealthiest Hip-Hop Artists list has remained unchanged for three years — until now! Jay Z can no longer claim his throne as the second-richest rap mogul in America. And while Diddy (unsurprisingly) tops the list again, he’s about $120 million richer this time around!

Diddy can now boast to being worth a whopping $700 million — a sweet upgrade from last year’s $580 million, thanks to a majority equity stake in Revolt TV, a new channel focused on up-and-coming music aficionados.

“Right now my focus is Revolt and making it the number one, most-trusted, most credible worldwide brand for music,” he recently told Forbes in an interview. “And to get Revolt to be the quintessential definition of real time. I think that’s the future.”

Diddy is closer to becoming a billionaire than ever! At $700 million, Ciroc Obama — as he once dubbed himself — damn near can’t be surpassed.

Jay Z and Dr. Dre, however, have been neck-and-neck for years with Hov having the slight advantage. But this time, the Beats headphone tycoon penned a deal with Carlyle for a cool $500 million — “Beats’ value is soaring toward $2 billion,” Forbes adds. Dr. Dre pushed Jay Z out the way and secured second place with a net worth of $550; he was at $350 million just last year!

Jay Z falls down to third place with a net worth of $520 million, a step up from 2013′s $475 million. Much of Jay Z’s recent growth comes from Roc Nation, the sports management agency that the Holy Grail rapper added to his record label.

Birdman, founder of Cash Money, has seen a slight jump in his net worth — $150 million to $160 million in one year. The record label includes hip hop’s most lucrative artists such as Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Lil Wayne. “Diversification is on the way with Cash Money Content, a YMCMB clothing line and GT Vodka,” Forbes adds.

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson saw his net worth increase by $15 million. Currently worth $140 million, the laid-back rapper owes his fortunes to his VitaminWater venture.

The Forbes‘ Top 5 list hasn’t seen new rappers on the list since 2010 — Jay Z and Diddy was No.1 and No.2 respectively, but Akon and Lil Wayne followed with Dr. Dre in fifth place.

And if you want to learn more about how Hov made it to the top of this list, check out the latest Moguldom Studios documentary.

We can’t say we didn’t see this coming. After showing up and performing at each other’s shows frequently and Jay Z mentioning that a duo tour with his wife Beyoncé was starting to “make sense” in an interview with Hot 97, there are rumblings that music’s first couple are embarking a stadium tour as soon as this summer.

Sources told The New York Post’s Page Six that Beyoncé and Jay Z tour would start in late June with the couple performing in New York on July 4.

I guess there’s no rest at the kingdom because both of them just came off tour. Jay performed 52 dates for his “Magna Carta…Holy Grail” tour in January and Bey just closed a whopping 132 shows for “The Mrs. Carter Show” in March.

I agree this does make sense for them at this time and there are a lot of salty…or eager Bey fans who want to hear her perform songs from her latest surprise album.

All I know is tickets are about to be cray-zee.

What do you think about a tour with these two? Will you try to check them out?

We told you over the weekend that Beyoncé hopped on stage with sister Solange during Solo’s performance at Coachella. Of course, that wouldn’t be the only stop Bey (who was just named the most important person in music right now by People) would make in Indio, California. Along with her family (Blue sat this one out and Mama Tina took her place), she took in the sights, sounds, and flowing drinks that were made available to folks at the popular festival, and it looks like she had a very good time. Quite a few pictures from this weekend were shared on Beyoncé’s Tumblr, which included Mama Tina and Solange getting their boogie on, and Bey and Jay taking their private jet to the festival. Must be nice! Check out a wealth of colorful shots here and on the next couple of pages.

 

If there’s anyone who can speak to the possibility of a woman dominating in a male-driven industry it’s Kim Osorio. The 39-year-old Bronx native made history when in 2003 she became the first female Editor-in-Chief of The Source and even after the mag went through several tumultuous years of suspect leadership, returned in 2012 to take the reigns and restore its credibility. As we got to thinking about the current environment of women in rap we reached out to the hip-hop journalist veteran to get her thoughts as well as her first-person insight on her participation in the documentary A Genius Leaves The Hood and the influence Jay Z has had on women in the industry. Check out the Q&A.

How do you feel about the current landscape of hip-hop as it pertains to women?

“I think the landscape has changed over the years and what I think is next is… it’s important to  fill in the void. There was one point in time where Kim, Foxy, Lauryn, Missy and Eve were all out and very successful. Then that died and Nicki came out on the scene. She has been out for four years but we have not seen any mainstream female hip-hop artists since.  Sex appeal has been driving the success for female artists and that is a little sad. A lot of times we look at who’s the sexiest and say they are successful. But that is a reflection of the culture as a whole. We only celebrate and reward sex appeal not intelligence.”

Female

rappers are always told to form a sisterhood and discouraged from battling, which is a pillar of rap. What do you think about that?

“I think there is a strong sisterhood, but you also have to remember once women get to a certain level, things change and people change. People start pitting you against one another. It is very hard for someone in our culture to share the spotlight. Sisterhood usually exists more when people aren’t doing as well. People should also remember a lot of these women don’t know each other, so you can’t build a sisterhood if you have never met each other.”

How did you get involved with A Genius Leaves The Hood?

“I have a relationship with one of the producers; We worked together in the past. When he asked me to be a part of it, I said ‘Why not?’ I talk a lot about the culture and Jay Z  – obviously being a big force within our culture. Speaking to that, based off of my profession, being vague does not allow you to say anything negative or positive because it may affect your career and, in the long run, you want a bigger check. But for me, it gave me the opportunity to speak out on something I am familiar with.”

How did you feel about Jay Z coming up in the ’90s; at the time did you see him expanding his brand beyond a rap artist?

“In the 90s, I remember respecting not only his artistry but his business sense because he was an artist who made himself. I think during that time period, it was very hard for him to be acceptable without a major label backing him, since he was turned down by so many. Therefore, he had to make a name for himself. Those business skills are a hustler’s spirit. In hip-hop that’s very valued because you are able to hustle and make your own way. Would I have been able to predict he would be at the level he is at today? Probably not.”

Has your opinion of Jay Z changed based on some of his business deals and the backlash he receives?

“I don’t’ think so. As you study people and watch them grow, they do different things that you may have an opinion on here and there. I do not have a strong opinion and I am also a fan of Jay Z. So my opinions on him are rooted in what he has done as a rapper and he has mastered both the rap and business world greatly.”

What influence has Jay Z had on women in hip-hop?

“I think he has an influence on both women and men just in general. That’s something everyone says, he influences them. You can answer this question many different ways, but I don’t think there’s a difference. If you look at the culture overall, there are so many debates about how he portrayed women in his videos to where he is now as a husband and father. There are so many ways you can go with this conversation.

Thinking about the female artists Jay Z has worked with and signed, would you say these women benefited from his mentorship?

“I would say those women benefited from his grooming. A lot of people may say Foxy Brown became who she is because of him but I don’t agree with that. Every women that has been under his guidance, had to make their own way. For example, if you tell me Jay Z influenced Beyonce and her creative decisions, I would believe that because they are married. But would I say he’s responsible for it? I wouldn’t believe that. There are some careers that took off because of Jay’s influence and others have not. Either way he is not responsible for how successful an artist becomes.

There were a lot of thought pieces about Beyonce’s “Drunk In Love” Grammy performance, with people claiming Z was pimping out Beyonce. Is there any merit to this?

“I think the criticism was a little bit much. They are a power couple and everyone will scrutinize what they do. I believe their performance was another business move on their part. They are husband and wife, they can do what they want. Who cares what everyone says? I don’t think anything disrespectful was done. It was a marketing thing to me. My kids love that song but I am mindful of what they sing. I think people need to be mindful on how they parent their children.”

Purchase A Genius Leaves The Hood, available on iTunes, Google Play, and VHX now, here!

Beyonce is one of the most recognizable celebrities in the world so it comes as no surprise that she is also the subject of incredible speculation and some of Hollywood’s most ridiculous rumors. Though Queen Bey seems to take it all in stride, we couldn’t help but call out some of the most insane, off-the-wall and absolutely ludicrous whispers even a Beyhive hater wouldn’t believe. So without further adieu, her are the most ridiculous beyonce rumors to hit the web.

Six years of marriage is worth at least a nice dinner somewhere fancy, but if you’re one of the wealthiest couples on the planet, it’s worth a tropical trip to the Dominican Republic. Now that the Mrs. Carter World Tour has ended, Beyoncé and Jay Z had time to take Blue Ivy and jet to the DR for an extended family vacation.

According to E! Online, at one point in their vacation, the couple was spotted at a local bar at the Casa de Comp resort mingling with other patrons:

A source tells E! News, “They were sitting at the bar,” adding that at one point, Jay Z tapped a man on the back who was “wearing a Brooklyn Nets shirt, and said ‘cool shirt man.’ ” The insider also noted that the couple looked happy and in love, and sharing that Beyoncé “looked beautiful” (as if we would think otherwise).

Jay was also reportedly spotted by people as he pushed Blue on a swing on the playground at the resort.

As cute as all that sounds, you can actually see how much fun the couple had because quite a few photos were shared through Beyoncé’s Tumblr of time the couple spent together, them playing with the growing Blue Ivy (in her colorful swimsuits), and Bey by herself, reflecting. Check all that out on the next couple of pages. As Jay would say, life is but a beach chair!

 

From The Grio 

Jay Z turned more than a few heads rocking a gold 5 Percent Nation medallion at a Brooklyn Nets game over the weekend.

The New York Post reported that some members of the radical Islamic group were displeased, because Hov is not a practicing member of their faith.

But what some of the media coverage around this latest ‘controversy’ has missing is the long-standing connection between hip-hop and the 5 Percenters — and Jay’s own background with the group.

Founded in 1963 by former Nation of Islam member Clarence 13X (Clarence Smith), the Five Percent Nation (also known as The Nation of Gods and Earths) came together in Harlem against the backdrop of the civil rights movement.

Much like the NOI, the Five Percenters integrated Islamic teachings with messages of black empowerment and social reform.

Practitioners count themselves among the 5 percent of people who are righteous teachers of truth, while they believe another 10 percent of the population controls the remaining 85 using false teachings.

Read more about Jay Z and the 5 Percent Nation at TheGrio.com 

They have been making sweet music together for quite some time — both on the stage and as husband and wife. Undoubtedly one of the hottest couples of our generation, there’s no stopping the force known as Beyoncé and Jay Z.

In honor of their sixth wedding anniversary today, here’s a look at gift ideas for the occasion. And no there aren’t any crazy-priced items that us common folk couldn’t purchase.

(For more on Jay Z, check out Moguldom Studios’ film, A Genius Leaves the Hood: The Unauthorized Story of Jay Z.)

Six years ago today Jay Z and Beyonce tied the knot and officially became the most powerful couple in music. While they may not talk about their relationship openly to the press, both the rapper and the singer have referred to each other in their music. Celebrating their love for each other, we look at some of Jay and Beyonce’s cutest lyrics that they wrote about each other.

Beyonce featuring Jay Z – “Crazy In Love”

After achieving success with Destiny’s Child, Beyonce was ready to fly solo. Dropping her first solo album in 2003, Bey recruited the services of Jay Z for her first solo single. The two recorded the smash hit “Crazy In Love” and once it was released, it immediately shot up the Billboard charts. Jay Z boasted this was “history in the making” at the beginning of the song while Bey sang: “I look and stare so deep in your eyes. I touch on you more and more every time. When you leave I’m begging you not to go. Call your name two or three times in a row.”