HE'S A BUSINESS MAN.............

KINGDOM COME

"I found I still had things to say and there weren't enough big records in this genre of music. There needs to be event records in hip-hop, and I’ve got one."

In preparation of his much anticipated album, Kingdom Come, LIFE magazine was granted exclusive access to Jigga during the Paris and Milan stops on his world tour. (The new issue of LIFE appears in newspapers nationwide Friday, November 3rd)."I listen to the song 'Victory' on Puff's No Way Out album," Jay-Z tells LIFE of his preshow routine. "When Notorious B.I.G. comes in on the first verse, it feels like Rocky to me. When I'm onstage, I'm thinking, Is this going to be the town where they don't know the music? But even in Poland, they knew my lyrics," Jay-Z tells LIFE. "I don't feel like I'm living in a bubble. I still feel like a man of the people," says Jay-Z, in a Mercedes in Paris, where his show sold out. "Give me great food and wine, and I’m good," he says. "I'm a cheap date."

Jay-Z willed his way out of the mean streets of Brooklyn's infamous Marcy Avenue projects to become a megastar, selling 37 million albums worldwide, earning four Grammys, and landing one famous girlfriend, Beyonce Knowles. He became a part owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team, and CEO and president of the hip-hop hit-maker Def Jam Recordings, where he coached Kanye West to stardom. (spotted @ cakeandicecream)

"I used to wear rubber bands [on my wrist] all the time when I was young. When you're hustling, that's where you put your money. It's my sign to myself that I'm back in the rap game."