Jay-Z

There's no doubt about it, today's students listen to an average of 2.5 hours of music every day.

Guess what they are listening to? Hip-hop is mainstream, continually topping Billboard's Hot 100 charts.

These Hi-Lo biographies engage striving readers from the very beginning with blinged-out covers, stunning four-color photographs, modern and graphic page design, and high-interest informational text. Biographies highlight the unique characteristics of each mega-rapper, including childhood struggles, personal style, rivalries, giving back, and more.

Each 48-page ebook includes a timeline and glossary, with vocabulary words highlighted throughout.

Shawn Corey Carter was born in 1969 and raised in Brooklyn's tough Marcy housing projects.

The J and Z trains ran by Marcy, so his friends called him Jay-Z.

Hearing rap for the first time "e;... was like watching some kind of combat, but he was alone in the center.

All he had were his eyes, taking in everything, and the words inside him.

I was dazzled."e;