Publisher Description
Now updated and revised—from a Forbes senior editor, a compelling portrait of American rapper Jay Z and his rise from the Brooklyn projects to the top of the business world.
Only a handful of people embody the legacy of hip-hop and entrepreneurship like Jay Z. A modern-day King Midas, everything he touches—sports bars, streaming services, record labels, and cognac—turns to gold. How exactly did he do it?
Forbes senior editor Zack O'Malley Greenburg reveals the story of Jay Z's legendary rise from the Marcy Projects of Brooklyn to stages and corner offices worldwide. He draws on over 100 interviews with those who knew Jay Z from the beginning: his classmates at George Westinghouse High School; the childhood friend who got him into the drug trade; and the DJ who convinced him to stop dealing and focus on the music. Also bearing witness are the artists who worked alongside him, including J. Cole and Alicia Keys.
Jay Z's life is a blueprint for any hustler, businessperson, and entrepreneur who seeks to build something spectacular.
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About Zack O’Malley Greenburg
Zack O’Malley Greenburg is a staff writer at Forbes, where he has covered finance and music since 2005. He has profiled the likes of Akon, 50 Cent, and Afrika Bambaataa; his stories have taken him from the casinos of Macau to the diamond mines of Sierra Leone. He has also written for the Washington Post, Huffington Post, and Dan’s Papers. He lives in New York City.
About the Narrators
Mirron Willis—actor of film, stage, and television—is the winner of the prestigious Audie Award for best narration in 2012 and a finalist for the Audie in 2015, as well as the winner of four AudioFile Earphones Awards for his audiobook recordings. He has worked extensively in film and television and on stage with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Houston Shakespeare Festival, and the Ensemble Theatre, among others. He has recorded some 150 audiobooks, including the Smokey Dalton series by Kris Nelscott and My Song by Harry Belafonte. He resides and records audiobooks on his family’s historic ranch in East Texas.
Lloyd James (a.k.a. Sean Pratt) has been narrating since 1996 and has recorded over six hundred audiobooks. He is a seven-time winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award and has twice been a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award. His critically acclaimed performances include Elvis in the Morning by William F. Buckley Jr. and Searching for Bobby Fischer by Fred Waitzkin, among others.