Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter has had quite a career thus far. Since debuting in 1996 with hip-hop classic Reasonable Doubt, he has sold over 50 million records worldwide. He’s parlayed his musical success into lucrative businesses in the realms of fashion, cuisine and advertising (for more, check out my new Jay-Z book, which hits stores next week). Last year he earned $63 million, tops among hip-hop artists for the third time in four years.

While rumors about the official street date of the oft-delayed, highly-anticipated Watch the Throne album have been circulating on the internet the past couple of months, a source close to Jay-Z and Kanye West says the album has a release month: July.

The source tells XXLMag.com exclusively that Hov and Yeezy, the latter who resides in Paris these days, are both in New York for the next couple of weeks putting the final touches on the set in hopes of releasing it next month.

Earlier today, Jay-Z held a press conference in New York City, New York with his Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation and United Way to announce that he will be playing two solo shows on February 6th and 7th at NYC’s Carnegie Hall.

The rumours about Beyonce & Jay-Z's visit to the Lenox Hill Hospital have been circulating the internet since the birth of Blue Ivy Carter, however a rep for the hospital, Frank Danza, is clarifying some of them.

First, that the couple payed 1.3 million for the entire floor of the maternity ward: