How Jay Z Went from Street Corner to Corner Office

This book was slow boring and almost painful to read. There were a few interesting points. But no real insight granted the fact that Jay-Z did not participate is a factor but fawor all the people the people the writer interviewed I just expected more. I would not suggest reading this unless your looking for a substitute for sleeping pills

It was ok to read. Nothing really very suprising. Especially since he quoted all kind of stuff that's already publically known.

His business ventures were no suprise, and the writer tried to find some dirt by tracing where the Ace of Spades champagne came from and who. But come on, Jay-Z used to sell crack...

At times interesting but more repetitive than anything else. This guy could have had better sources, people that knew J better. He never even interviewed j and often quotes his lyrics as if a fan wouldn't know....

I was extremely dissapointed in this book it lacked excitement from the author. It puzzles me that this book was published without him once speaking to Jay-Z their wasn't any positive feedback from any of the other people that he spoke to about Jay-Z. At this high price of $12.99 it seems to me that this author is just capitalizing from in my opinion the Best Rapper Alive's name.

With "Empire State of Mind," Zack O'Malley Greenburg delivers on his promise to chronicle Jay-Z's compelling journey from drug-dealer to 9-figure businessman.

As it turns out, Greenburg pitched the book to Jay-Z's management, but they refused to participate and instead went on to write "Decoded" so they could profit directly.

"Decoded" reads like one of those Donald Trump autobiographies: a very self-congratulatory, shallow look into how he thinks (which is somewhat valuable in its own right), but devoid of any juicy revelation beneath the surface.

"Empire State of Mind," on the other hand, paints a very nuanced picture of Jay-Z's character and gives detailed insight into his major business decisions, including the flops and near-misses that Jay-Z doesn't seem to talk about publicly.

If you want direct testimony from key players in Jay-Z's early life, including former business partner Damon Dash, former mentor Jaz-O, and Dehaven Irby (the guy who introduced Jay-Z to drug-dealing), this is probably the only place you'll be able to find it, since most of them have fallen out and don't talk to him anymore.

Greenburg has done a metric ton of research and reconnaissance work, yet his prose flows smooth like Jay-Z's rhymes. The end result is a fascinating read. Highly recommended.

Jay-Z, what a character! Not the best looking guy, grew up in a slum, and his father abandoned him when he was a kid. But he was smart and wanted to prove to the world that he was somebody, so he developed ambition - a LOT of it. Figured the best way to prove himself was money, so he got into drug dealing for quite a while, rapping on the side. Then rapping eventually seemed more lucrative (and safe) than drug dealing, so that became his focus, though his 'rap' was largely bragging about his success, to continue inflating his image. With serious money (capital) starting to accumulate, his focus turned to making it grow, so he progressively branched out into all sorts of business ventures, mostly associated with the pop/hiphop culture he knows best, and using/discarding business associates as necessary - not always a nice and honest guy. And some of these ventures even flopped (he doesn't want you to know that), but most didn't, and some generated crazy high returns. He even picked up a trophy wife along the way - the genuinely amazing Beyonce - both of them clearly leveraging the relationship for business purposes, though maybe he loves her too (who am I to say otherwise?). Today, he sits on an 'empire' worth maybe half a billion dollars, so what does he want next? Probably to at least get to a billion, because this is a guy for whom it seems no amount is too much or even enough, especially when there are people running around worth tens of billions.

This book expands on the story I've just summarized very well, so I recommend it. The author strikes me as being fair and balanced, and did a nice job of piecing things together without being able to interview Jay-Z directly. He gives credit to Jay-Z where it's due, but doesn't idolize him (as Jay-Z would prefer), so he has the ability and courage to criticize Jay-Z appropriately as well.

Ultimately, the value of this biography for me was in seeing yet another example of how ambition and ability can overcome all sorts of obstacles and adversities. But that usually comes at the expense of a narrow focus which necessarily crowds out other aspects of life, so this is a tale which is both inspiring and cautionary.

Interesting very short read about Shawn Carter, who rose from the Brooklyn public housing projects to become worth over a half a billion dollars today. This money seems more important to Mr. Carter than the fame he enjoys as the rapper Jay-Z. The music is fun and sure the rush of the crowd is great, but Mr. Carter is all about business.

And this is his business philosophy: Focus on whatever venture offers the most realistic opportunity to make the most money. Every day he answers the question and goes for the money. He has sold drugs on the streets of NYC, then moved to DC and No Va because the margins were higher and the risk lower.

He made rap records because he had natural talent, leveraged that into a clothing line and some night clubs. He cultivated other careers as a record company exec then became a sports agent. And he owns a skin care line and champagne brand. For a time he was an owner of the New York Nets.

The interesting thing is that his violent and sexist music does not really represent the man illuminated in the pages of this book. Maybe it is the bias of the author, who writes for Forbes. But I think I would like the guy after reading the book, and I really don't care for his music (topical mainly--the beats are fine). I should elaborate on that--I'm not prudish (as my children will attest), but I really don't like vanity and arrogance and modern rap music is the most vain and arrogant display of pomposity invented my man. It is really ugly--all about self glorification. Not a fan.

Except Empire State of Mind. It is the new anthem of New York City and is a classic.

Bottom line: I respect Mr. Carter's focus on business and his work ethic and intelligence. Good short read about his background and business and music.

I purchased this book years ago and for whatever reason it took me a while to get around to reading it which is surprising as Jay Z is a polarizing figure whose made a living hustling cocaine on Brooklyn street corners, became a big businessman in that trade, eventually transitioned to rap and crossed paths with hip-hop's most famous and notorious figures (Biggie, Puff Daddy, and Tu Pac to name a few) early in his career before before making it big himself. This should be an awesome and interesting read! The man is only fourty-three years old and has lived a very diverse and multi-faceted life and is currently married to one of the world's most beautiful and greatest performers. There should be plently of interesting material to fill ten volumes but for some reason this author had a hard time writing two hundred pages with Jay-Z's history and only about a hundred of those pages is somewhat interesting at all. He devotes way too much time (full chapters) regarding subjects that have little to no interest at all to the common reader of Jay-Z. Some of the subjects include the scrapped Jay-Z Jeep (this should be a paragraph or a page at most), his dealings with the Brooklyn Nets, and lastly there is somewhat interesting chapter on champaigne that is quite simply too long and barely deals with Jay-Z at all.

These are death blows to a book like this as the author puts all the uninteresting chapters towards the end of the book which really made if feel like a drag towards the end. It starts off strongly enough telling the story a smart boy who eventually lost his father and in the process lost his way and looked to fill that void with money and power. He once shot his brother in the shoulder for stealing his jewelry (his jewelry!) and did whatever it took to survive on the mean and often deadly streets of Brooklyn. This is good stuff and gives good insight into the mind of a hustler who eventually left the streets of Brooklyn but kept that Hustler's mindset afterwards. Unfortunately after his split with Damon Dash this book becomes a complete bore which is too bad as I think in the hands of a better author this book would have been able to dig up plenty of relevant and interesting stories that occured well after Damon and Rocafella split ways.

I have yet to read Jay-Z's own account of his life in the book Decoded but I'm pretty sure it will be a better than this.

Jay-Z is everywhere these days with the opening of the new Barclay's Center and the debut of the Brooklyn Nets. The highlights of his life are pretty well known: his drug dealing days, entry into the world of hip-hop, some of his romantic history. Empire State of Mind chronicles his moves as a businessman and the stories behind the mega-deals and branding he has been associated with.

While we are familiar with his clothing brands, his nightclubs, and stint as the head of Def Jam, Greenburg shows us the plans that either never came through because of Jay's need for perfection or were kept under raps because of his need for secrecy. Some of the people interviewed were obviously reluctant to speak about someone who admittedly still holds a lot of power in the world of hip-hop. But Greenburg doesn't give up; especially when tracking down the ultra secret story behind a deal with Jeep that never happened.

Perfect for Jay-Z fans as well as for those who enjoy a good business biography.

Put simply, this book is a wonderful, engaging profile of a figure worth reading about, and will teach even hip-hop devotees something about Mr. Carter they did not know before.

Jay-Z is naturally an intriguing figure, part-musician, part-former hustler, part-executive - just to name a few of the roles he has played. Yet Greenburg - to his credit - does more than simply kowtow to the great lyricist. Greenburg digs further to paint a comprehensive, inquiring, insightful and often less-than-flattering view of one of the great entrepreneurs of the last 50 years.

Greenburg's book reveals Jay's obvious successes, to be sure: rising from dealing in Brooklyn to a career as a recording artist, a successful turn atop Def Jam Records, a happy marriage with Beyonce. But Greenburg also covers those items Jay doesn't want you to know about: a covert deal to profit from Armand de Brignac champagne; a failed attempt at making a basketball documentary; an aborted effort to release a Jay-Z edition Jeep; and repeated failures as part-owner of the Nets.

Greenburg's warranted conclusion is that Jay-Z is a tremendous businessman and individual. The unique piece Greenburg brings to this story is that Jay came to this success through a portfolio approach, dabbling in so many different industries and fields that while some ventures flopped (see: LeBron in South Beach), many others have resulted in unprecedented revenue and publicity (see: Live Nation). Jay would have you know nothing of those failures. Fortunately, Greenburg thinks otherwise. Do yourself a favor: Read this book.

An interesting perspective into how the entertainment industry operates with Jay-Z in the spotlight. The book is well written, and offers a good mix of biographical details, as well as business research to help us understand how Jay-Z went from a drug-dealer to a "9 figure business, man". Unfortunately, the author did not have access to Jay-Z directly, hence much of the reporting is done through his past associates with whom Jay-Z have since severed business (which makes you wonder, at times) - this is no fault of the author, but it is my reason for less than five stars. Overall, an entertaining and an educational read, but it does leave you wondering on whether you've got the full picture.