Jay-Z

Jay-Z
December 4, 1969
Brooklyn, New York

This Archer hits the target with every arrow.

'I'm not afraid of dying. I'm afraid of not trying.'

Shawn Corey Carter was raised by his mother, Gloria Carter. His father walked out on them when he was twelve. For a time they lived in the projects in Bedford Stuyvesant, a rough Brooklyn neighborhood. The boom box his mom gave him as a birthday present may well have launched a multi-million dollar music career. At Eli Whitney High School he became friends with rapper AZ. When that school closed he went on to George Westinghouse Information Technology High School along with some of the better known rappers on the scene, including Busta Rhymes and The Notorious B.I.G. He also attended Trenton Central High School in New Jersey, but instead of graduating he got caught up in the drug trade.

Meanwhile he was rapping and creating music. Unable to secure a record contract, he established his own indie label, Roc-A-Fella Records. As he tells it, 'It was so hard to get a record deal on my own that it was either give up or create my own.' In 1996 he put out his first album, Reasonable Doubt, which was distributed by Priority and features 'hard-hitting street lyrics and rhymes,' as well as vocals by Memphis Bleek, Sauce Money (a rapper who came out of the same Marcy Houses project as Jay-Z), and The Notorious B.I.G. The album went platinum, received enormous critical acclaim and made it to the 23rd spot on the Billboard 200. In 1997 he joined forces with Def Jam Records as his new distributor, and Sean 'Puff Daddy' Combs as Executive Producer, and put out In My Lifetime, Vol. 1. Although the album went platinum, Jay-Z remembers this time as one of the worst of his whole life because of the murder of his good friend B.I.G in a drive-by shooting.

His other albums include Hard Knock Life which went platinum-times-five and earned him a Grammy, and Life and Times of S. Carter which went triple platinum and solidified his reputation with hard core hip-hop fans and industry types alike. In 2000 he put out The Dynasty: Roc La Familia, his first effort at producing other artists. In 2001 he made hip hop classic, The Blueprint, which did well despite the unfortunate release date of September 11. The album features a track by Eminem and four songs produced by Kanye West. The next year he followed up with The Blueprint2: The Gift and the Curse, boasting many guest appearances, most notably one by his girlfriend Beyonce Knowles on '03 Bonnie and Clyde.' The album also has a track called 'A Dream' featuring the voice of Notorious B.I.G. Touted as his last, The Black Album features a host of guest appearances and a track, 'Moment of Clarity,' which deals with his father's death.

When pop died
Didn't cry
Didn't know him that well
Between him doin' Heroine
And me doin' Crack sales
With that in the egg shell
Standin' at the tabernacle
Rather the church
Pretending to be hurt
Wouldn't work
So a smirk was all on my face
Like damn that man's face was just like my face
So pop I forgive you
For all the s---- that I live through
It wasn't all your fault
Homie you got caught
And to the same game I fault
That Uncle Ray lost
My big brothers and so many others I saw
I'm just glad we got to see each other
Talk and re-meet each other
Save a place in Heaven
Till the next time we meet forever.

He celebrated his 2003 'retirement' with a Madison Square Garden concert, filmed for the documentary Fade to Black. All profits were donated to charity. The next year, rapper Danger Mouse mixed Jay-Z's Black Album with The Beatles' White Album to come up with The Grey Album -- thanks to an a cappella version Jay-Z created for others to remix. The concept also begat a Blue Album and a Red Album. In 2006 Jay-Z released Kingdom Come, yet another huge seller. He became President and CEO of Def Jam Records in 2005. The following year, after signing rap rival Nas to the label, the two recorded 'Black Republican' for Nas' first Def Jam release, Hip Hop is Dead. With 7 Grammys to his credit, he will be the first hip hop star to headline the British Glastonbury Festival in 2008. In January of 2008 he retired from DefJam. In addition to his many music enterprises, Jay-Z is an owner of Manhattan sports bar The 40/40 Club as well as the New Jersey Nets basketball team. He has his own clothing line, Rocawear, founded in 1999. He took over full ownership in 2006 and in 2007 sold the brand rights to Iconix for 204 million dollars, although he plans to stay involved in marketing, licensing and product development. He also has his own film company Roca-Fella Films.

Jay-Z and Beyonce have been together since 2003 when they made beautiful music together on her solo hit 'Crazy in Love.' They have been crazy in love ever since. On April 4, 2008 the super-power couple was married in a private ceremony at his Tribeca penthouse.

Sun in Sagittarius makes Jay-Z a serious gambler who loves to take a risk. He likes to discover new worlds and take the untried path. He is an independent soul, often very restless. He needs a lifestyle that lets him travel and meet new people. He's definitely not one to sacrifice freedom for security. It may be difficult for him to decide where to focus his attention and efforts; he may go from one project to the next, for once the challenge is gone, he is quick to move on. An unconditional optimist, he has big dreams for the future and is usually aiming at a new target. He has a great deal of faith, a sporting attitude and is philosophical about his mistakes. He has the ability to sense future trends and to see the big picture.

While he enjoys companionship, he needs freedom. He is quite generous and heartily dislikes stinginess in others. Someone who shares his ideals, sense of fun and zest for life is the ideal companion for Jay-Z. One need only watch him and Beyonce playing Bonnie and Clyde to see that he has found his perfect match, beginning with his opening line, 'You ready B? Let's go get 'em.' With Sun in the 9th house, world travel, foreign cultures and studies which expand his understanding of the world appeal to him. He is a truth-seeker, searching for answers to the big questions of life. Abstract concepts and plans for the future occupy his mind much of the time. With a Sun sextile Moon his subconscious needs are in harmony with his conscious intentions and desires. Therefore he is able to pursue his goals unhampered by internal resistance. His personal relationships reflect his state of internal harmony. Sun conjunct Mercury/Venus tells us he always seems to find the right words to verbalize his feelings, especially in regard to love and friendship. He has a keen sense of beauty and appreciates art, music and poetry.

Moon in Libra means his desire for harmonious relationships and surroundings is so strong that he may avoid personal confrontations. He is an idealist who wants to live in peace. He is able to see points of similarity and unity with people who are vastly different from himself, and he befriends many different types of people. He is a considerate and thoughtful friend, with a flair for making others feel accepted and appreciated. Moon in the 7th house suggests he depends upon other people for emotional support and has a large family of friends who care about him and treat him as kin. The women in his life are particularly important to him, and his relationship with them powerfully influences his sense of wellbeing. He needs a close partner in life.

Moon conjunct Uranus tells us he has an unusual sense of humor and enjoys acting a little outlandish at times. He craves excitement and emotional freedom and likes to break the rules. Anything new appeals to him and he has little patience for restrictive customs. He is attracted to unusual, creative or offbeat people and nontraditional lifestyles. Moon conjunct Jupiter/Pluto means he has a very rich emotional life and the ability to do the right thing at the right moment. By appealing to their emotions, he is able to influence the public and very likely has a desire to work to bring about social change.

Pisces rising reveals he is gentle and sensitive with a deep understanding of people and a nonjudgmental approach. In a noisy, competitive atmosphere he is often withdrawn for he is not an aggressive person and intensely dislikes conflict. He may have a deeply spiritual feeling about life, not in the orthodox sense necessarily, but an intuitive sense of the underlying oneness of all life. He is very compassionate and cannot tolerate seeing any fellow creature suffer. As a child he probably was distressed whenever others were hurt, physically or emotionally. The world of his imagination was a place to escape to when the outer world became too harsh or demanding.

People in need gravitate to him, sensing his sympathetic and giving nature. Often he will continue to give to a person even when he knows they are taking advantage of him or becoming overly dependent. Though he is very intelligent, he follows his heart, not his head. Guided by his intuition, he is able to see many different points of view and accept all of them as valid. Neptune square his ascendant makes him extremely sensitive to all of the energies around him. Saturn sextile the ascendant means he comes across as responsible and solid -- qualities which encourage others to take him seriously. He is unlikely to present himself as more than he is, and this humility is appealing to others. Even as a youth, he seemed mature for his age. With his ascendant conjunct Mars/N. Node he believes in good fellowship and solidarity. His dealings with others tend to be very harmonious and his participation in group efforts is carried out with vigorous and energetic cooperation.