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Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z Went from Street Corner to Corner Office Paperback – January 1, 2012

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,238 ratings
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"I'm not a businessman-I'm a business, man."
--Jay-Z

Some people think Jay-Z is just another rapper. Others see him as just another celebrity/mega-star. The reality is, no matter what you think Jay-Z is, he first and foremost a business. And as much as Martha Stewart or Oprah, he has turned himself into a lifestyle.

You can wake up to the local radio station playing Jay-Z's latest hit, spritz yourself with his 9IX cologne, slip on a pair of his Rocawear jeans, lace up your Reebok S. Carter sneakers, catch a Nets basketball game in the afternoon, and grab dinner at The Spotted Pig before heading to an evening performance of the Jay-Z-backed Broadway musicalFela! and a nightcap at his 40/40 Club. He'll profit at every turn of your day.

But despite Jay-Z's success, there are still many Americans whose impressions of him are foggy, outdated, or downright incorrect. Surprisingly to many, he honed his business philosophy not at a fancy B school, but on the streets of Brooklyn, New York and beyond as a drug dealer in the 1980s.

Empire State of Mind tells the story behind Jay-Z's rise to the top as told by the people who lived it with him- from classmates at Brooklyn's George Westinghouse High School; to the childhood friend who got him into the drug trade; to the DJ who convinced him to stop dealing and focus on music. This book explains just how Jay-Z propelled himself from the bleak streets of Brooklyn to the heights of the business world.

Zack O'Malley Greenburg draws on his one-on-one interviews with hip-hop luminaries such as DJ Clark Kent, Questlove of The Roots, Damon Dash, Fred "Fab 5 Freddy" Brathwaite, MC Serch; NBA stars Jamal Crawford and Sebastian Telfair; and recording industry executives including Craig Kallman, CEO of Atlantic Records.
He also includes new information on Jay-Z's various business dealings, such as:

* The feature movie about Jay-Z and his first basketball team that was filmed by Fab 5 Freddy in 2003 but never released.
* The Jay-Z branded Jeep that was scrapped just before going into production.
* The real story behind his association with Armand de Brignac champagne.
* The financial ramifications of his marriage to Beyonce.

Jay-Z's tale is compelling not just because of his celebrity, but because it embodies the rags-to-riches American dream and is a model for any entrepreneur looking to build a commercial empire.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    260 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Portfolio
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 2012
  5. Dimensions
    5 x 1 x 7.75 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1591845408
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1591845409
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Zack O'Malley Greenburg is a Forbes staff writer and author of the Jay-Z biography Empire State of Mind. He's currently working on his second book, Michael Jackson, Inc, for Simon & Schuster. In the meantime, he continues to write The Beat Report at Forbes, where he's covered finance and music since 2005, profiling the likes of Bon Jovi, Justin Bieber, Richard Branson and 50 Cent. Zack's stories have taken him from Omaha to Sierra Leone; he has also written for the Washington Post, McSweeney's, Vibe and Sports Illustrated. He has appeared as a guest lecturer at Yale, Georgetown and Harvard, and as an expert source for BBC, CBS, MTV, E! and CNN.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Portfolio; Updated edition (January 1, 2012)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 260 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1591845408
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1591845409
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 1 x 7.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,238 ratings

About the author

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Zack O'Malley Greenburg

Zack O'Malley Greenburg

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Zack O'Malley Greenburg has spent the past decade covering the business of media & entertainment at Forbes, shifting to Substack in 2021 (find his work at zogblog.com). He’s authored four books; his latest, A-List Angels, was published in 2020 by Little, Brown. Previously, he penned 3 Kings, Michael Jackson, Inc. and the Jay-Z biography Empire State of Mind. Zack has also written for the New York Times, Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Vibe, Vanity Fair, Sports Illustrated, McSweeney's and the Library of Congress; he's been a source for BBC, NPR, and 60 Minutes, and a speaker at SXSW, CES, TEDx, Princeton and Harvard.

At his first job, Zack played the title role in the 1992 film Lorenzo's Oil; he started his writing career at age 14 as video game reviewer for Boys’ Life. Zack graduated Yale in 2007 with an American Studies degree and joined Forbes, where he penned over 1,000 stories, including more than a dozen covers on subjects from Katy Perry to Richard Branson. His work spanned everything from hedge fund schemes to Wu-Tang Clan's secret album, pioneering Forbes’ hip-hop coverage and helping launch the 30 Under 30 franchise along the way. He lives in New York with his wife and cats.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
1,238 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Mr. Soler215
5.0 out of 5 stars 5 stars for Jay Z, but I’m biased
Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2023
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed reading this book, but that’s really because I’m a big Jay Z fan- so reading about the rise of how Roc Nation came into being, and how it all started from someone who had nothing, I found the book educational on a topic that I’m interested about in the first place.

The book is partly biography and partly business dealings. It chronicles all of his business ventures and how it coincided with his album releases and his public life. It even discussed how he came to negotiate his way out of his first contract he had when he released Reasonable Doubt; something I never knew. I also even learned some other things that i never knew about- the whole Rucker Park scenario where Jay tried his hand at putting together a basketball team before he dropped the Blueprint (or somewhere around that time anyway).

All in all, interesting book. I wanted more. I want a Jay Z biography.
One person found this helpful
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L Power
5.0 out of 5 stars Dedication and attention to details unmatched
Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2019
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Zack is a great writer period.

Going through this book I wish someone could write like that about me.

The time and dedication given on this book keeps coming on through and through. I highly appreciate the work and the journalistic skills, professional approach that's put into it.

I wish when you finally met Jay Z he would have at least shown to be a bigger person by acknowledging your effort to capture a part of his life in this book,but instead he laughs, what a coward.

Thank you Zack for the book and what you shared was really inspiring and meaningful to apply in different spaces of ones entrepreneurial
ventures.
10 people found this helpful
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Neon
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read even for a layperson
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2011
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I didn't know much about Jay-Z before I read this book. Once I started reading, though, I couldn't put it down. Greenburg paints such a thorough picture of Jay-Z without once interviewing him, and I would guess that these multiple perspectives provide a better picture of the man than the man himself could (or would want to, it seems). I came away suddenly inspired to start listening - really actually LISTENING, not just passively hearing - Jay-Z's music, because now I realize it has a legitimate and meaningful context. I would imagine that for someone who is already a big fan, this book would be even more engrossing. Jay-Z has had a powerful impact on the hip-hop industry, and he is poised to become a music and business legend.

That said, I should point out that what ultimately made this book enjoyable was how well-written it was, with a touch of humor here and there (in well-placed quotes from Greenburg's sources) and a persistently neutral tone. Should we like Jay-Z? Maybe not. Should we respect him? Well, how can you avoid it? When you finally put the book down, how can you not want to be just a little bit more like him?
21 people found this helpful
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Edward S. Brown
4.0 out of 5 stars Art Reflecting Reality
Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2011
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Greenburg's "Empire State of Mind" is a good expose' on rapper/entrepreneur Jay-Z. Reportedly, Greenburg interviewed confidantes of Jay-Z as well as reviewed public documents chronicling Jay-Z's meteoric rise within the entertainment industry. Although Greenburg provided an excellent biographical account for neophytes of Jay-Z's success, Greenburg fell short in answering critical questions. Namely, what societal need did Jay-Z feed to become successful? And what relevance did drug dealing have for Jay-Z's iconic status in the music industry? If Greenburg had answered these two questions, he would have captured what Jay-Z, the Notorious B.I.G., and 50 Cent knew about the American creed and brand marketing.

Rapper Tupac Shakur consistently talked about learning "The Game," but few authors have addressed what learning the game really meant to the aforementioned entertainers. Jay-Z, Biggie, and 50 Cent learned that peddling lyrics and CDs to a niche market was no different than selling drugs to an addicted market. The rugged individualism of the American creed cheers for the underdog. More importantly, Reality TV ushered in the need for authenticity within entertainers. Art had to reflect true reality. The likes of charismatic figures that played gangsters from James Cagney to Marlon Brando made audiences sympathetic to the underworld. Audiences rooted for the bad guy not only to escape legal authorities, but to win. Real life drug dealers could rap about their exploits and keep audiences riveted by their lyrics, beats, and bravado. Jay-Z, Biggie, and 50 Cent realized that if they could capture American society's love affair with the underworld, they could legally sell their experiences of street life without selling the drugs. These rappers were into the drug trade for the money, not the lifestyle. They now sell rap music for the money and the lifestyle.

Greenburg missed this concept because he wanted to record Jay-Z's success as a business case study as opposed to delving into the psyche of what really makes Jay-Z tick.

Overall, "Empire State of Mind" is a good book for inspiration and the basic tenets of business. Greenburg would do well by contracting with Jay-Z to develop a joint venture where true hard-hitting questions about Jay-Z could be answered. Although "Empire State of Mind" is recommended reading, it leaves other questions to be answered.

Edward Brown
Core Edge Image & Charisma Institute
13 people found this helpful
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NoahE
5.0 out of 5 stars Really interesting for the business-minded and hip hop fans
Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2011
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I would highly recommend this book to anyone that is interested in business, the music industry, and obviously Jay-Z. It is a great read!

As both a business man and hip hop fan, I found this book to be really interesting, informative and well written. This book provides many business lessons to entrepreneurs. For example, failure is often part of the road to success, confidence in negotiations, importance of managing your brand (e.g. as never a failure), thinking a step ahead, diversification, and emotional detachment from business partners. The author's explanation of Jay-Z's story demonstrates how difficult times can help teach us valuable lessons that ultimately bring us success. There is a lot of interesting information about Jay-Z's background that I was completely unaware of even as a Jay-Z fan.
6 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Maverickkatz
5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the read !!!
Reviewed in India on January 6, 2019
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Really Good !!!
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Silvia
5.0 out of 5 stars OH MY GOD!
Reviewed in Italy on April 10, 2017
Verified Purchase
A must have!
Love Jay Z, love Rap and the business I ADORED the book.
I would definately suggest it to every jigga fan.
2 people found this helpful
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Dennis
5.0 out of 5 stars sehr interessant
Reviewed in Germany on September 12, 2014
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Gut durchzulesen, ist zwar keine autorisierte Veröffentlichung aber sehr interessant und auch verständlich geschrieben. Eine Empfehlung für jeden Jay Z Fan.
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Andrew Lynch
5.0 out of 5 stars A rare insight into the world of a hip-hop giant
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 10, 2014
Verified Purchase
There's no getting around it - Jay-Z is a business titan with a net worth greater than anyone on Dragons Den. This book details how he did it - his transition from drug dealer to internationally known rapper to entrepreneur.

The author shows Jay-Z's business acumen in all its glory: his eye for opportunity and his insistence on ownership at every turn should be a lesson to everyone.

This is a great book, particularly in conjunction with The 50th Law by Robert Greene. That book tells you how someone could do what Jay-Z did. This book lays everything out, step by step. I loved it.
2 people found this helpful
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Patrick
2.0 out of 5 stars Not a well organized book with a lot of blank space
Reviewed in Canada on April 15, 2014
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I wanted to like this book but a lot of thing are missing. I am not yet done with my reading but have read almost 25% of it in two hours. This book does not have a lot of words even if it has over 250 pages. A lot of gap appears in the sequential of the story. Two decades are covered in the first 25%. And, a huge problem is that we move from one part of Jay Z to another without any logical order. For example, some paragraph are in 2003 and the next one can come back in 1998. Also, friends of Jay Z are not well described. We have a short idea of who is everybody but we do not know any details about how they become closer. Some people have few lines more but the rest is very dry. In fact, Beyonce is introduced during the description of a basketball match... weird... she is his wife now and I were expected to know how to get to know each other... but like I say, I am not done with the book yet and since the book is not in chronological order, I suppose that I will get this information later on. For all these reasons, I am not really hook to this book and I am really glad that I have not paid more than 12$ because it does not worth more in my opinion. Too bad.
One person found this helpful
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