Indeed, the original trio boasts a combined net worth well over a billion dollars, rendering their lyrical prognostications accurate. They’re joined by Dr. Dre, flush with cash from his Beats headphone line, and Cash Money Records cofounder Bryan “Birdman” Williams.

Jay-Z ranks second on the list with a fortune of $460 million. Unlike his fellow Forbes Five members, Jay-Z still churns out music and goes on tour—most recently with pal Kanye West—adding to his considerable war chest. He sold his Rocawear clothing label for $204 million in 2007 and signed 10-year $150 million deal with Live Nation in 2008, and also holds stakes in the New Jersey Nets, his 40/40 Club chain, ad firm Translation, cosmetics company Carol’s Daughter and other businesses.

Read the rest of my article on Forbes.com

Buy the book Empire State Of Mind: How Jay-Z Went From Street Corner to Corner Office by Zack O’Malley Greenburg.

Titled “Glory” and produced by Pharrell Williams, the song debuted this morning on Jay-Z’s Life + Times site. The track includes Jay-Z and Beyonce’s child crying and cooing after her father raps about the joys of fatherhood, the sins of his past, and even the pain of a previous miscarriage, which Jay-Z opens up about for the first time.

Blue Ivy Carter appears on the track under the name “B.I.C.” — a possible nod to Jay-Z’s late friend, the legendary Notorious B.I.G. The newest member of Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s family, born Saturday night in Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, has a name that also hearkens back to her parents’ achievements: The Blueprint is considered by many to be Jay-Z’s best album, while 4 (or IV, in Roman numerals), is the title of Beyonce’s latest offering.

Despite having the youngster on board, don’t expect music’s first couple to slow down.  Jay-Z plans to play two nights at Carnegie Hall in February, and while Beyoncé will likely take longer to get back on the stage, some industry insiders believe the birth will be a boon to both artists’ careers.

“It opens [them] up to a different world, a different side of the business,” Ryan Schinman, chief of media buyer Platinum Rye, told me in an interview for my book Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z Went From Street Corner to Corner Office. “If you see what’s going on right now, family sells. I think [they've] got nothing but upside.”

Read the rest of the story on Forbes.com

From Bloomberg News:

Jay-Z’s rise to fame has as many lessons for would-be moguls as for budding rappers: Turn yourself into a brand. Take risks. Take more risks. Work insanely hard. Have boundless self-belief. Always look for the most realistic way to maximize profit. Jay-Z might add: Become boss of Def Jam records. Set up Roc-A-Fella records. Marry Beyonce.

All these lessons are clear from Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z Went From Street Corner to Corner Office by Zack O’Malley Greenburg (Portfolio, $25.95), one of the year’s best rock books. The performer, whose real name is Shawn Carter, started as a Brooklyn kid who shot his brother in the shoulder for stealing his jewelry. He then tried selling crack cocaine. He missed few street-smart tricks on his way to a fortune estimated by Forbes at $450 million. As he fliply rapped, “I’m not a businessman: I’m a business, man.” His biggest lesson, both in music and money, is to broadcast only success and ignore failures — such as the few singles that failed to chart (“Hovi Baby”) or the Jay-Z- branded Jeep that failed to make it into production.

The book tells us rather more about Jay-Z than his own work, “Decoded” (Spiegel & Grau, $25), a fragmented memoir and picture-heavy scrapbook that has been reissued with 16 pages meant to explain his newer lyrics. (Read the full story at Bloomberg News)

From The Financial Times:

The story of how Jay-Z acquired that fortune – as the subtitle says, making the move “from street corner to corner office” – is well told in Zack O’Malley Greenburg’s slender but entertaining Empire State of Mind. Tales of how artists rose from difficult backgrounds to stardom are familiar, as are accounts of how entrepreneurs built business empires from nothing. What is striking about the Jay-Z saga is that it is both. A teenager growing up with an absent father in a tough New York housing estate in the 1980s, Shawn Carter, as he was born, became a crack dealer and continued selling even as he tried to get his music career off the ground in the early 1990s. (His performing name comes from the intersection of the J and Z subway lines near the Marcy Houses – typically dour, brown New York public housing in six-storey apartment buildings – where he grew up.)

Today, as O’Malley Greenburg puts it, “As much as Martha Stewart or Oprah [Winfrey], he has turned himself into a lifestyle.” Jay-Z’s personal brand has been extended to clothes, shoes, cologne, Manhattan’s Spotted Pig restaurant and the New Jersey Nets basketball team, through licensing deals and shareholdings. The common thread is that “Jay-Z has a nose for money”. In whatever form his entrepreneurship has manifested itself, as a crack dealer, a rapper or an executive, he has had an acute sense of commercial opportunities, and the determination to exploit them to the full. (Read the full story at The Financial Times)

The course’s instructor, Professor Michael Eric Dyson, had invited me to give a guest lecture (my book,Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z Went From Street Corner To Corner Office,is required reading). His 140 students sat and listened–and then grilled me on an array of topics from the legal ramifications of writing an unauthorized biography to the cultural significance of Jay-Z’s rise from one of Brooklyn’s most notorious housing projects.

“Jay-Z is located within the central motif of American history,” Dyson told me after the class. “I think that thematic preoccupation of Jay-Z’s is central to what it means to be an American, which is why he’s such a successful person and valorized in many ways, having meetings with Warren Buffett or Bill Gates, trying to figure out how to become the first billionaire in hip-hop.”

I couldn’t have agreed more; Jay-Z’s life story is the manifestation of the elusive rags-to-riches American Dream. So it came as a bit of a surprise to hear some of the criticisms directed at the class. Though there was plenty of positive coverage from the Washington Post and others, Gawker declared that Dyson and his class should not be taken seriously; Spin called it “semi-ridiculous.”

But it was an opinion piece in The Hoya that struck me most. Penned by a Georgetown junior, the itemtook particular umbrage at Dyson’s comparisons between Jay-Z and Homer:

Who honestly thinks that the productions of [Jay-Z] can compare in any way, shape or form with the Homeric corpus? The great bard inclines toward the divine; he brings to light much of the character of human nature and puts man in communion with higher things. Rap music frolics in the gutter, resplendent in vulgarity and the most crass of man’s wants.”

Really? I’m not disputing Homer’s impact on Western civilization, but this sort of small-minded statement ignores the entire body of socially conscious hip-hop (yes, parts of it contributed by Jay-Z), not to mention some of the most prominent themes present throughout Homer’s works.

I spent my freshman year of college studying classics, and I’ll say with confidence that The Iliad glorifies crass desire–and objectification of women–as much as any rap song.

Read the rest of the story on Forbes.com

Jay-Z and Kanye West make their own throne.

At first it seemed more like a movie premiere than a concert. Outside, black Escalades sat along the sidewalk like a string of bulky metallic rosary beads, punctuated by the occasional pearly Maybach or Rolls Royce. Inside, a red carpet led the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Diddy to their seats.

But when the lights went down at Madison Square Garden last night a little before 10pm, the glitz dimmed as well, and two old friends traded rhymes for over two hours as a sellout crowd looked on. For all its pretensions–starting with the title–Jay-Z and Kanye West’s Watch the Throne tour presented the two Cash Kings in a refreshingly uncomplicated and accessible light.

Of course, there were a few flourishes: the ten-foot plumes of flame that spouted from the stage at random intervals, the giant blocks that occasionally emerged from the ground to physically elevate the rappers, and the Discovery Channel-esque reel of wild critters playing in the background (think Ratatat concert visuals, but replace the budgies with panthers). And then there was Kanye’s outfit–a souvenir t-shirt featuring a tiger’s face superimposed over his own, worn on top of what appeared to be a leather skirt and tight leather pants.

But for the most part Watch the Throne, the tour, was a much more inclusive endeavor than Watch the Throne, the album. The latter billed itself as “luxury rap,” with Kanye styling himself the Hermès of Verses and Jay-Z reasserting himself as King Hov, while both taunted audiences (“Can’t you see the private jets flying over you?”) and foes alike with their wealth (“Really, you got baby money“).

At Madison Square Garden, though, the two rappers achieved something much more inclusive. Midway through the show, they sat down on the stage together and rapped their way through the thoughtful “New Day” as though discussing it on a stoop over a beer. And they played the song whose radio-edited title is “Paris” three times, just because.

This story was originally published by yours truly on Forbes.com — click the following link to read the rest of “Watching Jay-Z And Kanye West’s Throne at MSG“

Buy The Book: How Jay-Z Went From Street Corner to Corner Office

The Jay-Z Jeep would have been a multimillion-dollar bonanza had it ever hit the streets, but it fell through at the last minute. Through no fault of Jay-Z’s, a change of management at Jeep parent Chrysler iced the plans (the episode wasn’t reported until I stumbled upon it while reporting my new Jay-Z biography, Empire State of Mind). Those close to the negotiations say that the situation turned into a fiasco of epic proportions.

“That deal was the most [screwed]-up deal that I’ve ever seen or heard of,” says Michael “Serch” Berrin, the rapper-turned businessman who helped put together the Jay-Z Jeep proposal. “I came to Jay with the automobile industry in my back pocket to do a Shawn Carter edition vehicle that he approved, only to have the automobile industry basically shoot it down for fear that he was a bigger star than the car.”

Though Jay-Z is a perennial hip-hop Cash King, the eponymous Jeep is one of many deals crowding his entrepreneurial wastepaper basket. But listen to some of his work and you might get the impression that he’s never made a misstep in his life. He utters the phrase “I will not lose” in at least three different songs and constantly peppers himself with godlike monikers “Jay-Hova,” “Hova,” and “God MC” throughout his oeuvre.

In many ways, though, Jay-Z’s failures are more instructive than his successes, especially for people who aren’t lucky enough to be famous rappers.

Read the rest of the story on Forbes.com

Buy The Book: How Jay-Z Went From Street Corner to Corner Office

Fueled by the tail end of his Blueprint 3 Tour and a vast portfolio of business interests, Jay-Z barely edged second-ranked Diddy—who raked in $35 million, roughly half of that total coming from a lucrative partnership with Diageo’s Ciroc vodka—but handily topped West, who earned $16 million. The duo is steaming ahead with plans for co-headlining tour starting this fall.

“Jay-Z and Kanye are hip-hop ambassadors,” says Steve Stoute, chief of branding firm Translation and author of The Tanning of America. “They bring the art form around the world, and they’ve taken production and everything to the next level. Now they’ve got a chance to grow with their global audience.”

The Watch The Throne rappers, whose album debuted around the world exclusively on Apple’s iTunes, aren’t the only ones making millions by going global. Fresh off a eight-month jail stint, Lil Wayne released a new album and performed a slew of shows from Buffalo to Vancouver, netting $15 million over the past year. That sum tied him with his mentor and label boss, Cash Money Records co-founder Birdman, for the fourth spot.

“If we ain’t number one now, we’ll be there soon,” said Birdman while discussing his billion dollar dreams with FORBES. Farther down the list, Swizz Beatz also looked to the future: “I will be #1 next year,” he wrote in an email. Wiz Khalifa—whose high earnings landed him at No. 11—seemed pleasantly surprised to learn he’d be making his Cash Kings debut. “I’m one of them?” he exclaimed. “That’s what’s up!”

Read the rest of the story on Forbes.com

Buy The Book: How Jay-Z Went From Street Corner to Corner Office

Full Coverage: Hip-Hop Cash Kings 2011

Last week, a group of independent record store owners released an open letter to Jay-Z and Kanye West in protest of the duo’s plans for collaborative album Watch the Throne, due out in August. At issue: a four-day window granted to Apple’s iTunes from August 8th to August 12th, in which the retailer will be the record’s exclusive seller. From August 12th to August 24th, Best Buy will be the only place fans can buy a deluxe CD edition of the album. Representatives from the indie stores (full text of their letter here) were joined by others including Amazon Music’s director in condemning the strategy.

But how fair is the criticism? Jay-Z’s wife, Beyoncé, followed a similar strategy with the recent release of her album, 4, striking a deal with Target to be the exclusive retailer of a deluxe CD edition. Amazon itself launched a bold promotion around Lady Gaga’s release of Born This Way in May, selling the entire album for just $0.99 — effectively giving itself an exclusive (because who would want to pay another retailer $12 for the same thing?) Gaga also partnered with Best Buy to give away copies of the album to the store’s newest smartphone buyers.

I’m not saying that any of these strategies are fair to independent record stores. But what does seem unfair to me is the singling out of Jay-Z and Kanye West, as opposed to Beyoncé or Lady Gaga or any other artist who engages in an exclusive promotion. Perhaps retailers are more reluctant to criticize the aforementioned artists because they sell more records than Jay-Z and Kanye; perhaps the issue at hand has nothing to do with the artists and everything to do with Apple, which seems to be eating everybody’s lunch in the music industry.

The question is bigger than any single artist, and has everything to do with independent record stores’ lamentable loss of leverage in negotiating such deals. I don’t know what the solution is, but in an era where artists are getting squeezed more and more by declining revenues from music sales, I find it hard to blame Jay-Z and Kanye West (or Lady Gaga or Beyoncé, for that matter) for trying to get themselves the best deal possible — and in the process breaking and making new rules for music promotion. And for a businessman like Jay-Z, I’d expect nothing less.

This story was originally published on Forbes.com by Zack O’Malley Greenburg. For more on the business of Jay-Z, be sure to check out Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z Went From Street Corner to Corner Office.

“In his debut book, Greenburg hits the mark. Empire State of Mind is an easy read that packs an informative, motivational punch for anyone who is trying to improve their situation, land a job, or advance their career.” - AOL/Huffington Post

“After reading Greenburg’s book, I have to admit I understand why [Jay-Z] makes a superb guide for your career, even if you are looking to be an investment banker or grocery store manager instead of a hip hop legend.” – CNN.com

“Business savvy is really what sets Jay-Z apart, and that’s the subject of Zack O’Malley Greenburg’s enlightening, engaging, and excellent new book … Greenburg zeroes in on Jay-Z’s ability to hustle in the studio and in the boardroom, creating a fascinating look at the businessman behind the man. In addition, he writes with a rapid-fire prose that makes Empire State of Mind flow like an novel or film.” - ArtistDirect

“Every person with an iota of entrepreneurial inclination should read Empire State of Mind … [Greenburg's] understanding of hip-hop and his familiarity with the world of high finance make him uniquely suited to pen such a smart, informative and entertaining work. Excellence!” – Hip-Hop Weekly

“Empire State of Mind … fill(s) in many of the blanks surrounding the rapper’s business dealings, pulling from interviews with some of Hov’s colleagues and business partners willing to dish the dirt on how he rose to fame and fortune.” – The Boombox

“O’Malley Greenburg is easily the world’s foremost authority on the subject of the finance of hip-hop … Acting often as investigative reporter, he travels thousands of miles to hunt down insider information on Jay’s various ventures, from the Jay-Z Jeep that never came to be, to the hush-hush details of the rapper’s partnership with champagne Armand de Brignac … Greenburg does a great job of unpacking the rapper’s business mentality, and the steps he’s taken to earn his half-billion.” – Crawdaddy

Praise for specific chapters:

“Before Diddy and his missing Mercedes-Benz S-Class, before Eminem and his imported-from-Detroit Chrysler 200, even before Funkmaster Flex and his special-edition Ford Expedition, there was the Jay-Z Jeep Commander. You would be forgiven, however, for not remembering the commercials … the Jay-Z Jeep never rolled deep. Mr. Greenburg dissects how the collaboration went awry.” – New York Times

“To learn more about how Jay-Z changed many people’s taste in Champagne and so many other things, be sure to check out Empire State of Mind … Until now, all those interested begrudgingly had to buy into the story spun by Jay-Z’s camp that Armand de Brignac was just a bubbly that HOVA discovered in a New York wine shop.” – Bottlenotes

“In summer of 2003, Jay-Z assembled a team with LeBron James at Rucker Park … ” – book excerpt in Sports Illustrated

Multimedia

Zack O’Malley Greenburg talks about Empire State of Mind — and why Jay-Z refused to cooperate — on Good Day New York (Video)

Zack chats about his book with Gregg Greenberg (no relation!) on TheStreet.com (Audio) | (Video)

Zack talks about the rise of Jay-Z on Bloomberg Game Changers (Video)

Zack chats about Jay-Z’s half-billion dollar fortune with The Daily Ticker’s Dan Gross on Yahoo! Finance (Video)

Zack discusses Jay-Z’s business, man, on Canada’s Urban Rush (Video)

Zack talks Jay-Z with Fanny Kiefer live from Vancouver on Studio4 (Video)

Zack discusses Jay-Z’s humble origins and rise to fame with Michael Noer on Forbes.com (Video)

Follow Zack on Twitter and read his Forbes column!

Buy the book: Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble | Borders | IndieBound

Jay-Z continues to reap the rewards of his 10-year, $150 million multiple rights deal with concert promoter Live Nation; he brings in additional cash from endorsements and ownership stakes in a range of companies including ad firm Translation and nightspot 40/40 Club. Jay-Z also profited from memoir Decoded, which debuted in November (my business-focused biography, Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z Went From Street Corner To Corner Office, followed four months later).

Aside from her music-related earnings, Beyoncé keeps cashing in on clothing line Dereon and endorsement deals with L’Oreal, DirecTV,General Mills and others. She also dismissed her father, Matthew Knowles, from his role as her manager; speculation has swirled around the possibility that she’ll name Jay-Z as his replacement.

Both Jay-Z and Beyoncé saw a dip in earnings this year—the pair took home $63 million and $87 million in 2010, respectively—largely because both are between album cycles. But Jay-Z is close to releasing a long-anticipated collaboration album, Watch the Throne, with Kanye West. Beyoncé’s fourth solo effort, 4, is on the way, too. The simple title was reportedly selected by her fans and is also a nod to her April 4 wedding anniversary with Jay-Z.

Touring is a crucial source of income for most artists, and neither member of music’s royal couple did much of it this year. While Jay-Z grossed $32 million on 32 shows over the past 12 months, he pulled in $65 million on twice as many shows over the prior year, while Beyoncé grossed $86 million on 93 dates during the same period (and didn’t tour at all over the past year). Expect the pair to hit the road again once they release their new albums.

In the meantime, they’ll both have to settle for earning less than an artist who was two years old when Jay-Z released his first album—Justin Bieber took home $53 million this year.

This story was originally published on Forbes.com by Zack O’Malley Greenburg. For more on Jay-Z and Beyoncé, be sure to check out Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z Went From Street Corner to Corner Office, which includes an entire chapter on the business behind entertainment’s royal couple.