Man Crush #408: Jay Z

He’s a Carter. Well, one of them anyway. Rolling Stone regularly refers to him as The Greatest while Vanity Fair calls him “smart, talented and wildly successful” and producer and friend Rick Rubin told the iconic masthead he’s “the coolest guy in the room".

Born and raised in NYC, Jay Z went to school with The Notorious BIG and Busta Rhymes and started out on his own label, dropping his first album at 26. He doesn’t write his raps down. Instead, they’re all up top.

With 21 Grammys and counting to his name, he’s worked with Mary J Blige, Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake, NAS and more. He had a hand in Def Jam Recordings, battled LL Cool J and watched the throne with Kanye West. He gave us 99 Problems and Dirt Off Your Shoulder, and our own personal please-play, Heartbreaker, with the one, the only Mariah Carey.

Here’s a little something-something from the man whose rhymes we play on repeat. Our fave? The Destiny's Child shot.