Jay-Z is hip hop's cash king. Forbes estimated the rapper took home $37 million last year. He is married to one of the most dynamic entertainers of our time in Beyonce. And is worth upwards of $450 million, so who's complaining? Certainly not Hov, but former close friends like Dame Dash, Jaz-O, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke, who some would argue helped make him the success he is today are no longer a part of the rapper's inner circle.
Kareem "Biggs" Burke and Dame Dash
Britain's The Sun wrote an article on Jay-Z's rise to the top of both the business and rap world. It pointed out the obvious; Hov is a beast when it comes to getting his cheddar. It also illustrated that he has no problem cutting ties with allies if it means advancing himself further.
When Jay-Z did the unthinkable in 2004 by accepting a position as President of Def Jam, taking Roc-A-Fella Records with him, he cut out his partners Burke and Dash.
"We were two different people. He was not the same person I had met. I would never expect him to wear a trench coat and shoes," Dash says in an excerpt from the book “Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z Went from the Street Corner to the Corner Office,” by Zack O’Malley Greenburg.
Since the Roc-A-Fella split things haven't gone well for either Burke or Dash. Burke was arrested on federal drug charges in October 2010. Meanwhile Dash, is currently deep in debt, owing the IRS $3 million.
Former Jay-Z protege Jaz-O says the rapper's drive to be the richest stems from his insecurites with women.
"He felt he needed money because he didn't feel like he was the most attractive guy to girls. I think he had a serious complex about his features," Jaz-O said. "His loyalty is to his money. I think in his case, to an extent, he became maniacal."
Jaz-O and Jay-Z
Friend Chenise Wilson says Jay was never really a ladies man coming up.
"There were girls around, but that wasn't his thing, being in girls' faces," she said. "He had his share but he wasn't the kind of guy with a whole lot of girls. Jay is a very particular guy."
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