Jay Z tickets will be available in late summer and fall 2011, but they will not be his alone. He has teamed up with Kanye West to create the foremost hip hop super group, The Throne. The project began with the intent to release a five-track EP, but has blown up and become a full-length studio album, Watch the Throne, and now has the 24-concert date Watch the Throne Tour scheduled to begin September 22, 2011 in Detroit at the Palace of Auburn Hills. This is truly the event schedule of the summer, so find the concert nearest you before the tour is over November 3, 2011 in Boston at the TD Garden. If you want a sampling for what will be in store, head on over to YouTube and check the two singles, "H.A.M." and "Otis."
Jay Z, born Shawn Carter on December 4, 1969, is perhaps the most recognized and respected name in his genre, hip hop and rap. A man who has become both a platinum-selling artist and highly successful businessman who owns part of a professional sports franchise, Jay Z has risen far above the game to the point where any music he releases and any Jay Z tickets that go on sale are immediately dominate the radio and sell out.
The most recent musical venture being undertaken by Jay Z is a series of double dates with another rap icon, Eminem. Jay Z and Eminem tickets are on sale to see the pair of artists at Comerica Field and Yankee Stadium in early September. The two will first play Comerica on September 2nd and 3rd and then travel east to New York to play Yankee Stadium on September 13th and 14th.
Jay Z grew up in poverty in Brooklyn, raised in Marcy House housing project and abandoned by his father at an early age. His formative years at Eli Whitney High School, George Westinghouse Career and Technical High School, and Trenton Central High School were spent, reportedly, selling crack cocaine. Incredibly, though he never graduated, he became part of an incredible class of rappers at George Westinghouse. He, the Notorious B.I.G., and Busta Rhymes attended the school at the same time.
Shawn Carter had little interest in school, but he was obsessed with music and the idea of making money. He adopted local rapper Jaz-O as a mentor. His stage name, Jay Z, is part homage to this music figure. The name also pays tribute to his roots, taking inspiration from the J/Z subway lines.
Jay Z participated in rap battles with performers like LL Cool J and went on stage as Big Daddy Kane's hype man in the early ‘90s. He was an incredibly active performer, all in the hopes of signing some sort of a record deal. No record deal came though, so he, Damon Dash, and Kareem Biggs founded Roc-A-Fella Records. The then-independent label brokered a deal with Priority to distribute their albums.
Through this new venture Jay Z released his debut album Reasonable Doubt in 1996. The album earned rave reviews from critics and peaked at number 23 on the Billboard 200. The album also reached platinum certification, beginning the rapper's unbroken platinum streak.
The album introduced the world to an angry young man whose master of flow, able to deliver lines quickly or slowly with the beat with ease. His initial style was far faster than his more recent material.
This remained true on his next album My Lifetime, Vol. 1 again went platinum, but this album garnered even more mainstream success, peaking at number three on the U.S. charts. Jay Z has released 10 albums overall, and the eight that proceeded My Lifetime, Vol. 1 all became the number one album on the charts. His biggest seller, Vol. 2…Hard Knock Life (1998), has been certified platinum five times over. This album made Jay Z a household name and released a song that would become his anthem, Hard Knock Life.
Over the course of his career, Jay Z has been in trouble with law, had a few personal beefs end up on the stage in rhyme, and has helped launched the careers of several new artists who have become incredible successes and household names on their own.
