What Really Happened Between Jay-Z And His Brother?

Jay-Z is undoubtedly one of the most important names in hip-hop history, with Billboard ranking him the second best rapper of all time in 2015, behind only the Notorious B.I.G. The career of Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, is impressive. He is the artist with the most Grammy nominations ever, and Jay-Z's business acumen has made him a billionaire, as Forbes reported in 2019. The journey has not been easy, though. 

Jay-Z was raised in the Marcy Projects of Brooklyn, one of the country's most dangerous places at the time, according to CBS News. After his father left the family when Jay-Z was 11, his mother, Gloria Carter, took on the job of raising her children as a single parent. Despite being a good student, Jay-Z dropped out of school and became involved in crime.

The crack epidemic that ravished his community was an integral part of his identity — both because he was selling it to make a living, and because it became the main theme of his early songs, he told CBS News. It was everywhere and disrupting everyone's lives. Early on, Jay-Z's brother's crack addiction led to a rift that could've ended both of their lives. 

The crack epidemic that devastated cities across the U.S. in the 1980s had a profound effect on Jay-Z and his family. When he was selling the drug, Jay-Z was shot at from close range three times, according to CBS News. Luckily, he was never hit. He wasn't the only Carter dealing with the epidemic's consequences, either. His older brother, Eric, developed a crack addiction that consumed most of his time and resources. At the time, Jay-Z failed to see he was contributing to Eric's problem. "You just think people are buying your service, and it's so normal, you just think you're coming of age," he told The Guardian in 2010. "It's everywhere."

But things took a dark turn between the brothers in 1982, when Eric stole a ring from Jay-Z. Then 12, Jay-Z shot Eric in the shoulder, he told The Guardian. Jay-Z acted impulsively, but quickly realized the gravity of what he'd done. "I thought my life was over. I thought I'd go to jail for ever," he said. Eric didn't press charges, though. Instead, he apologized for taking Jay-Z's jewelry. "It was terrible. I was a boy, a child," he added. Jay-Z addressed the incident in the 1997 song "You Must Love Me," rapping that "I just closed / My young eyes and squeezed / What a sound / Opened my eyes just in time / To see ya stumbling to the ground."

Jay-Z and his family have moved past the 1982 shooting incident. At least that's how Eric Carter's son, Nahziah Carter, sees it. The basketball player rose to prominence in college basketball circles for his high-flying dunking abilities with the Washington Huskies, according to The Seattle Times. Nahziah told Bleacher Report in 2017 that he and his siblings know Jay-Z shot their father, but he doesn't think it affected the bond between the brothers. "My father tells me some great stories from when they were growing up, and so does my grandma," he said, "but they don't really talk about that one too much." 

Clearly, the story isn't a popular one in the household. "My dad did something and they fought, but we don't talk about it," he said. In fact, Nahziah and his siblings are so far removed from the drug-plagued reality in which their father and uncle grew up that the shooting sounds like a mythical story. "Honestly, we usually laugh about it. I don't know why, but we find it kind of funny," Nahziah said. "I mean, Jay-Z shot our dad. That's pretty crazy."

The altercation and its aftermath had lasting effects on Jay-Z, according to Jake Brown's 2005 biography "Jay-Z and the Roc-A-Fella Dynasty." The rapper said, "Since that incident, I've never lost it like that ... That's the one thing to this day I regret."