Black Excellence: Jay Z Is First Hip Hop Artist To Become A Billionaire

From The Struggle To A Billionaire

Nine years ago, two totally different  lunch partners sat down at the Hollywood Diner in Omaha, Nebraska. The first, famous mogul Warren Buffett, was a regular. The other,  was Jay-Z, a young aspiring mogul who was a successful rapper. The billionaire and the rapper ordered ice cream and chatted deeply enough to continue the conversation back at Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway offices. Buffett, who was 80, walked thoroughly impressed impressed with the artist 40 years younger than him

“Jay is teaching in a lot bigger classroom than I’ll ever teach in. For a young person growing up, he’s the guy to learn from.”- Buffet on HOV’s intellect and maturity.

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Less than a decade later, Jay-Z has officaly accumulated a fortune that conservatively totals $1 billion, making him one of only a handful of entertainers to become a billionaire. Also, the  first hip-hop artist to do so. Jay-Z’s ever expanding  kingdom is vast, encompassing liquor, art, real estate (with multiple homes in Los Angeles, the Hamptons, Tribeca) and stakes in companies like Uber. He constantly inspires black ownership and community value.

Source: VIBE

Transforming Wealth For Black Business

His journey is even more impressive given his humble beginning in  Brooklyn’s notorious hood Marcy housing projects. He was a drug dealer before becoming a musician, starting his own label, Roc-A-Fella Records, to release his 1996 debut, Reasonable Doubt. Since then he’s amassed 14 No. 1 albums, 22 Grammys, and over $500 million in pretax earnings in a decade. To put it simply, he;s a hustler!

Crucially, he realized that he should build his own brands rather than promote someone else’s: the clothing line Rocawear, started in 1999 (which was officially sold for $204 million to Iconix in 2007); D’Ussé, the famous liquor he co-owns with Bacardi; and Tidal, a well received music-streaming service. The most important thing about this, he has shifted the narrative for black business, and inspired the youth the pursue business in different avenues.

Artists such as Drake, J.Cole, Young Dolph, Kendrick Lamar, and many more have started to own multiple business while using their music to push it to the forefront. Jay Z is the pioneer of the shift in black business. He transformed the mindset of making it in one income to spreading your wealth in multiple streams. We can’t wait to see what’s next for the hip hop tycoon!

You can want success all you want, but to get it, you can’t falter. You can’t slip, you can’t sleep. One eye open, for real, and forever.