Empire State Of Mind How Jay Z Went From Street Corner To Corner Office

Description

"I'm not a businessman--I'm a business, man." --Jay Z

 

As much as Martha Stewart or Oprah--and perhaps more than any musician--Jay Z has turned himself into a lifestyle. You can wake up to the local radio station playing his newest hit, spritz yourself with his latest cologne, slip on a pair of his Rocawear jeans, lace up your Reebok S. Carter sneakers, watch baseball star Robinson Cano smack a couple of hits in an afternoon game, and grab dinner at The Spotted Pig. On the way to Jay Z's 40/40 Club for a D'Uss cognac nightcap, sign up for streaming service Tidal and hear his latest collaboration with Beyonc . He'll profit at every turn of your day.

 

Empire State of Mind reveals the story behind Jay Z's rise as told by the people who lived it with him, from classmates at Brooklyn's George Westinghouse High School and the childhood friend who got him into the drug trade, to the DJ who persuaded him to stop dealing and focus on the music. Now with new interviews with industry insiders like Russell Simmons, Alicia Keys, and J. Cole--more than one hundred in total--this book explains just how Jay Z propelled himself from the bleak streets of Brooklyn to the heights of the business world.

Reviews

"Fascinating, well-done biography of one of the most extraordinary entrepreneurs of our era." Steve Forbes "Greenburg has become one of the rare reporters to bring dignified coverage of the hip-hop business into the mainstream. "Empire State of Mind" is a pure product of Greenburg s care and insight, an exploration of hip-hop s most enigmatic mogul." Dan Charnas, author of "The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop ""Greenburg follows the money and key pieces of the Jay Z puzzle in this insightful, savvy read. This book is like a GPS leading us through the modern urban realityof how Jay Z s empire was built." Fab 5 Freddy, artist, hip-hop pioneer, and former host of "Yo! MTV Raps""A superb guide for your career, even if you are looking to be an investment banker or grocery store manager instead of a hip-hop legend." CNN.com"

Author description

Zack O Malley Greenburg is a seniorr editor atForbes, where he has covered finance and music since 2005. He has profiled the likes of Akon, 50 Cent, and Afrika Bambaataa, and his stories have taken him from the casinos of Macau to the diamond mines of Sierra Leone. He has also written forThe Washington Post, The Huffington Post, andDan s Papers. He lives in New York City."