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JAY-Z will celebrate his 40th birthday in style on Friday (04Dec09) – with a U.S. number one single, the queen of the Grammy nominations as his wife and a reputation as one of the key cultural figures in the world.

The rapper, who scored a third week at number one with New York anthem Empire State of Mind on Thursday (03Dec09), is now one of the coolest 40-somethings on the planet and, as he celebrates his birthday with his stunning wife Beyonce, WENN would like to wish him the very best. WENN trawled through the archives and dug out 12 fascinating facts about Shawn Carter:

- Born to Gloria Carter and Adnes Reeves on 4 December, 1969, Jay-Z is the youngest of four children. – He went to the same high school as the late Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes.

- He began his music career as part of a local New York rap group called Original Flavor; he joined the crew with his childhood friend Jaz-O. – He claims to be able to count the number of women he has slept with on one hand. – Jay-Z wed his longtime love Beyonce on 4 April, 2008 in New York.

- He became the first non-athlete to have his own line of sneakers when he launched the S. Carter Collection in partnership with Reebok in 2005. – While serving as president of Def Jam from 2004 to 2007, Jay-Z successfully launched the careers of Rihanna, Ne-Yo, Kanye West and Young Jeezy. His four proteges have all gone on to earn multiple Grammy nominations; the only one who’s yet to win the prestigious prize is Jeezy.

- He became part-owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team in 2005 after paying a whopping $4.5 million (£2.81 million) for his share. He plans to move the NBA team from their current home in East Rutherford, New Jersey, to his native Brooklyn, New York by 2011.

- Jay-Z partnered with Budweiser in 2006 to serve as a brand director and oversee their TV and print campaigns.

- Jay-Z holds the record for the most number one albums in Billboard 200 chart history with 11. He surpassed Elvis Presley’s tally of 10 when The Blueprint 3 hit the top of the countdown in September (09). The only other artists who can boast the same accolade are the Beatles, who also have 11.

- Jay-Z has been nominated for an impressive 35 Grammy Awards in his career to date and has claimed eight. He has five Grammy nods for the January (10) awards.

- He is one of the big name producers behind new Broadway musical Fela!, joining forces with Hollywood couple Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith. The musical celebrates the work of late Nigerian star Fela Kuti.

Barack Obama is rumored to be introducing Kanye West at a performance at a Chicago festival in a bid to appeal to hip hop fans. Apparently, Obama has a slot free in his schedule to appear at the three-day Lollapalooza festival and is expected to make a brief appearance onstage. The politician recently told U.S. TV show What’s In It For Us, “I’ve met with Kanye. And I’ve talked to other artists about how potentially to bridge that gap. I think the potential for them to deliver a message of extraordinary power that gets people thinking is massive.” The Lollapalooza festival takes place in Chicago, Illinois’ Grant Park from August 1-3rd.

Kanye has published photos of himself on http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com/ to prove that he updates and writes his own blogs. Marcus Troy, a fellow blogger has recently accused Yeezy of employing a ghostwriter for his site. West captioned the photograph above with: “I don’t know who the hell this is… but I covered his name and face so he wouldn’t get the publicity he was obviously lookin’ for.”

This is hilarious, Cmon Marcus. I guess I have to say it again, “If they hate, then let them hate, and watch the money pile up!” I will always respect ”Academic Honesty”- If you say its you…its you! FLAT OUT!!!!!

This year’s Democratic National Convention should be more entertaining than most as Obama has grabbed a few hip-hop entertainers for the show. Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, and Wyclef Jean will be performing at this years event.

Obama has been heavily supported by Hollywood and is using some of the star power for entertainment. I almost feel compelled to throw in one of those jokes about changes at the White House when there is a black President, but I will refrain.

In response to reports of him attending Anger Management, Kanye has responded on his blog: He says:

Do yall remember when people said my fiance was pregnant????  What happened to that rumor????? I guess after we broke up it was just forgot about????  I’m just using that as an example of how people make up stuff and everybody runs with it. I had my own family asking me about that. Now the media is saying I’m going to anger management something or ‘nother. I have never had any conversations about anger management. If anything, I need anger enhancement!! lol! I get off the plane in Hawaii today and the world is saying my management team said blah blah blah…  SIIIIIIGGGHHHH!  I told the media you can’t make up lies about me because I have a media outlet myself. Oh and sidebar I don’t know if everyone has realized this yet but I don’t do interviews if there’s anything I wanna say I’ll say right here on my own blog.

Pretty smooth that he is able to respond so quickly, but Anger Enhancement for Kanye? Probably not the best response, but you have to totally respect his energy and willingness to fight back.

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