INTRODUCTION

Empire State of Mind begins with Jay-Z’s early childhood and includes interviews with people from the housing project he grew up to set the stage for his unprecedented success as one the world’s most successful entrepreneurs of all time. He is a rapper, but he is first and foremost a business. The story begins in 1969 when Shawn Corey Carter, more commonly known as Jay-Z, was born in the Marcy housing projects of Brooklyn, New York. Jay-Z didn’t start producing music until he was 26, which made him more mature. Reasonable Doubt, his first album, had a life-time of experiences in one CD. By waiting, his words meant more and there was a greater complexity to his music.