Jay-Z has helped a cultural movement born amid the ashes of the South Bronx flourish in the fertile fields of the American mainstream.
With his aid, hip-hop's has gone all the way to the White House--Barrack Obama referenced Jay-Z's "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" at a press conference in early 2008 and reportedly called Jay-Z early in his first presidential campaign to ask "what's going on in America".
One of the main reasons for this success is Jay-Z's ability to build and leverage his personal brand. 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 colone, slip on a pair of his Rocawear jeans, lace up your Reebok S. Carter sneakers, catch a Nets bastketball game in the afternoon, and grab dinner at The Spotted Pig (Jay-Z owns a stake in both) before leading to an evening performance of the Jay-Z backed Broadway musical Fela! and a nightcap at his 40/40 Club.
And he says in one of his songs, "I'm not a businessman,--I'm a business, man."