The Struggle That Made Jay-Z

That "hiatus" period in the mid-2000s proved to be some of the most important years in Jay-Z's career, Biography explains. After becoming president of Def Jam Recordings, he signed on future stars like Rihanna and helped propel Kanye West from a producer to a major artist. Meanwhile, in 2004 he became the partial owner of

That "hiatus" period in the mid-2000s proved to be some of the most important years in Jay-Z's career, Biography explains. After becoming president of Def Jam Recordings, he signed on future stars like Rihanna and helped propel Kanye West from a producer to a major artist. Meanwhile, in 2004 he became the partial owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team, and by 2008, he was able to leverage his Def Jam connections to create a massive entertainment company of his own (Roc Nation), as well as a clothing line (Rocawear), not to mention the 40/40 Club in New York City, and many other entrepreneurial endeavors. He also stepped into the political arena in 2008, becoming an outspoken proponent of then-candidate Barack Obama.

Throughout all this, he quietly romanced superstar singer BeyoncĂ© Knowles, and the two shared a surprisingly small, unpublicized wedding in 2008. After experiencing a miscarriage that was initially kept private, according to The Independent, Jay-Z and BeyoncĂ© had their first daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, in 2012. They followed this up in June 2017 with the birth of twins, a boy and a girl. Though they've faced difficult times, including Jay-Z cheating on her, they've now been together for over a decade.

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