Tuesday, 23 November 2010

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Jay-Z: I shot my brother and sold crack on the streets

The rapper opens up about growing up in Brooklyn

Jay-Z is now happily married to Beyonce Knowles

Hip hop legend Jay-Z has revealed that he sold crack cocaine on the Brooklyn streets and shot his brother in the shoulder for stealing his ring.

The rapper, real name Shawn Corey Carter, was just 12 years old when he aimed a pistol at older silbing Eric.

‘I went to someone's crib, someone's house, and got a gun. Guns were everywhere,' recalls Jay-Z, 40.

‘There was no one to police us. We were out of control. You didn't have to go far to get one.'

Now a multi-millionaire and married to singer Beyonce Knowles, 29, Jay-Z says he was petrified about the consequences of his actions.

‘I thought my life was over,' he tells the Guardian.

‘I thought I'd go to jail for ever. It was terrible. I was a boy, a child. I was terrified.'

But crack addict Eric didn't press charges for the shooting and in hospital apologised to Jay-Z for what the drug had turned him into.

The musician, now a multi-millionaire, later wrote about the incident in his song You Must Love Me.

Esme Riley