Jay-Z

Shawn Corey Carter started recording in the late 1980s under the wing of Jaz-O, then co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records in 1994 when the industry wouldn't sign him. Reasonable Doubt arrived in 1996, followed by In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 the next year — both critically acclaimed, both rooted in the rags-to-riches narrative he'd spend decades refining. Thirteen albums later, including The Blueprint, The Black Album, American Gangster, and 4:44, he holds 14 number-one albums on the Billboard 200, third-most in history, and topped the Hot 100 four times with "Empire State of Mind," "Heartbreaker," "Crazy…