Jay-Z Is At It Again – The American Tour

Shawn Carter, better known as Jay-Z, was born in Brooklyn and is now nearing 40. Jay-z was raised on the streets, and not just any streets, but the pretty rough ones. The Marcy House projects are known for the roughness of the neighborhood, which is where he spent most of his childhood. Not only was Jay-Z surrounded by street crud, but his father left him, and his family, when he was a young boy. Before Jay-Z was even a teenager, he had been found guilty of shooting his brother for stealing from him. He had a difficult time staying in school and ended his education when he dropped out to make money on the streets. Cocaine was his revenue stream, and was how he made a name for himself on the streets, but was — obviously — a very dangerous route.

Carter’s mother, as any mother would be, was worried for her son, as he was on a dead end path. She recognized the fact that her son was musically talented, and did everything she could to push him in the direction of perfecting that skill. With a limited income, and boys to support, she could not afford much for her boys, but she made sure she got Jay-Z a boom box to help in increasing his musical interest. By the time the early 90s rolled around, Carter had already begun to make a name for him, on the streets anyway, as a talented rapper. At this point in his life he was known for rapping to the tune Zai — a popular Brooklyn rapper.

It wasn’t too long after this that he began performing with a couple of his friends. This new group of artists worked hard to form Roc-A-Fella records, which is also where Jay-Z recorded Reasonable doubt — his very first album. Reasonable not only contained work from infamous artists like the Notorious B.I.G. and DJ Premier, but it was distributed by none other than Priority. The album was amazing, especially for a first release. Unfortunately, regardless of reviews, sales did not support the work the guys put into the album. A second release of the same album was necessary in order to get attention for the group and bring in good sales. This second release did just that, in fact, the album reached ‘double-platinum’ status made the top 500 Albums of All Times list.

After Reasonable was recognized with such praise, Jay-Z began to have hope and great dreams for himself. It was at this point, in his life, where Jay-z straightened up and became a responsible man rather than a hoodlum running the streets. This man was not only talented with music, but business as well. He not only became a sought after rapper, but an inspirational and successful business man as well. After much hard work and dedication, Jay-Z won the well deserved title of the King of Rap. By the year 2008 he was married to Beyonce; a ‘Hollywood’ marriage that will work due to the seclusion of their personal life together.

On October 9 Jay-Z performed his first of many performances for his latest tour, the American Tour. He started out in Pennsylvania and will travel North America for only 40 days. While a short stint of time, Jay-Z plans on hitting 24 locations around Alberta, California, Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky, Texas, and others. Wherever you are, be sure to get tickets to see Jay-Z live in action!

Written by Jake Kohler, sponsored by TicketSeating.com. TicketSeating.com sells Jayz Tickets, Buy Concert Tickets and more to your favorite events around your area.