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, to paint a tantalizing portrait of a very private mogul. Greenburg also reveals 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.