5 Ugly Truths About Jay-Z’s Life He Probably Doesn’t Want You to Know

1 week ago 13

Shawn Corey Carter, better known as Jay-Z, is a popular rapper and billionaire whose story of rags and riches is one made for Hollywood movies.

The 24-time Grammy winner is one of the most influential celebrities who not only earned a position in the music and entertainment world but also made a name for himself alongside Beyoncé as her partner. His life story is filled with many accomplishments beyond his musical career.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, he began his career at a very young age. The rapper has seen many ups and downs, some quite dangerously low while the others impressively high.

In this article, we will discuss 5 ugly truths about his life that he probably wouldn’t want his fans or anyone to know.

Jay-Z doesn’t write the lyrics to his songs

Jay-Z does not write down the lyrics of his tracks. He has been following this trick since forever. However, back in his teenage years, he would buy juice to use its paper to write down the lyrics. He would then stuff it in his pocket until he got back home to note it down in his notebook.

However, he made a habit of memorizing the lyrics and the rhythm of his write-up when he moved away from his home. In an interview with NPR’s Fresh Air, he said,

As I got further and further away from home and my notebook, I had to memorize these rhymes — longer and longer and longer. … By the time I got to record my first album, I was 26, I didn’t need pen or paper — my memory had been trained just to listen to a song, think of the words, and lay them to tape.

Since his first album 1966’s ‘Reasonable Doubt’, he has never written down his lyrics, although he wouldn’t recommend this process to anyone. The rapper shared,

It’s not the best way. I wouldn’t advise it to anyone. I’ve lost a couple albums’ worth of great material. … Think about when you can’t remember a word and it drives you crazy. So imagine forgetting an entire rhyme. ‘What’s that? I said I was the greatest something?’

Jay-Z’s cheating scandal pushed him on the verge of divorcing Beyoncé

The Hollywood rapper is now a billionaire but his childhood was quite tough. However, things started to look better for him after he entered the hip-hop genre and found Beyoncé as his partner.

The duo is a power couple, and their marriage remains strong even after all these years. Not long ago, Jay-Z opened up about his infidelity which led to a situation where he almost got divorced.

In a 2017 interview with The New York Times Style Magazine, the rapper admitted that he cheated on his wife and remorsefully shared,

The hardest thing is seeing pain on someone’s face that you caused, and then have to deal with yourself.

The couple even described the turmoils of their marriage in separate songs. Beyoncé wrote in one of the tracks of her album Lemonade, “He only want me when I’m not there/He better call Becky with the good hair.” On other hand, Jay-Z apologized on his 4:44 album by rapping,“Look, I apologize/Often womanize/Took for my child to be born to see through a woman’s eyes.”

They finally overcame that situation through therapy and the rapper himself revealed that now they are in a better place, communicating and growing.

Jay-Z used to sell crack

Jay-Z on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction

Before he made his name in the music industry, he used to sell crack. You hear that right. Explaining his situation, Jay-Z, in an interview with GQ said, “About 16, around that age, until I was around 22.” He further added,

I started out as a really small guy on the street, but after a while I did OK and that made it even harder to leave. I felt like I was making even more than the rappers. I had a Lexus with TVs in the car. I felt like my life was better than theirs. You mighta had a rope chain but so did I.

Crack was very prevalent in his neighborhood at that time. The rapper was recruited by a bodega dealer to sell drugs 70 miles away from Trenton, New Jersey. In conversation with David Letterman during a 2018 appearance on his Netflix series, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, “No one survives that. You were either going to jail or you were gonna get killed.” He revealed.

Jay-Z shot his own brother who was a drug addict

When Jay-Z was 12 years old, he shot his own brother, Eric Carter on his shoulder because of an argument. But now, they both have moved past that incident. His brother was a drug addict at the time.

Explaining how gruesome the situation was back in the day in their neighborhood, the rapper told GQ,

Back then during Reaganomics, it was crack wars. The aroma was everywhere. It was unbelievable. I always think of that Public Enemy song, “Night Of The Living Baseheads”. At night, it was like zombies walking around, very dangerous. A lot of money was being made by black kids and they was fighting over that money and then they had Uzis. Can you imagine? Semiautomatic guns?

Recalling the day of the incident, Beyoncé‘s partner shared that it was Sunday noon when a few guys came through shooting Uzis while chasing after another guy.

He further added, “But I saw my brother the other day and we were able to get past it. He was able to get past his addiction and I was able to get past my stupidity. Now we’re a family.” When he was asked how he got a gun, he said the same way kids get things either from a friend or a family.

Jay-Z was almost shot to death by someone close and got arrested for possessing gun

Jay-Z once had a run-in with the law when the Grammy-winning rapper and three men got arrested in 2001 under the charges of illegal gun possession.

It was reported at the time that the weapon was found in the vehicle Jay-Z was riding. And as per ABC News, it was the rapper’s bodyguard Hamzah Hewitt who was found with a loaded weapon (Glock semiautomatic handgun).

Jay-Z and Beyoncé from THE CARTERS - APESHIT

In another incident, the rapper nearly escaped death. He was shot once ‘from a very close range’. Revealing what happened and how he got shot, the rapper shared via GQ that a friend of his pulled the trigger on him. He continued, “And at that time, all misunderstandings ended with someone getting shot. Luckily, I’m still here.”

Well, thank God, he’s still here. Otherwise, the Hollywood music industry wouldn’t have such a talented rapper.

*** Disclaimer: This Article is auto-aggregated by a Rss Api Program and has not been created or edited by Bdtype.

(Note: This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News Rss Api. News.bdtype.com Staff may not have modified or edited the content body.

Please visit the Source Website that deserves the credit and responsibility for creating this content.)

Watch Live | Source Article