Reasonable Doubt has been heralded for its gritty realism, dense wordplay, and mellifluous musicality, as evidence of its greatness. Chest-puffing nods to the luxe life are woven together with stark drama and dark ruminations on the realities of his early life. It was, and is, a portrait of an artist on the cusp of success and fame; the songs were too good for any other outcome. JAY-Z’s journey to realizing Reasonable Doubt did not happen overnight. Far from it. It was an arduous journey marked by previously insurmountable uncertainties, unyielding gatekeepers, tenacious artistic ambition, and an enormous amount of sweat equity – a masterpiece wrought in rapier sharp flow and steeled in indefatigable hustle. But mostly, it revealed a young artist with a story to tell and the discipline to do so more effectively than almost any other in hip-hop’s illustrious history.

Shawn "JAY-Z" Carter is not just the first hip-hop artist to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but he is also a 23-time GRAMMY award-winner. With multiple businesses, accolades across the recording and film industries, recognition throughout the philanthropic community, Carter is a globally dominant force of popular culture.

Carter has sold over 100M albums worldwide, retains control of his own master rights to his music, founded preeminent entertainment company Roc Nation, curates the successful “Made In America” festival, and acquired luxury spirits brands Armand De Brignac and D'usse. In 2013, Carter launched Roc Nation Sports, whose roster includes Robinson Cano, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Kyrie Irving, Kevin De Bruyne, Marcus Rashford, Romelu Lukaku, CC Sabathia, and Todd Gurley. In March 2015, Carter became a co-owner of the global streaming service Tidal, a subscription-based music, podcast and video streaming service, which is currently majority owned by Square, where Mr. Carter now serves on the board. Mr. Carter also serves as the Chief Visionary Officer of TPCO Holdings Corp.

In film and TV development, Carter has helped bring to light some of the most poignant stories of our time, including recent projects: Peabody award-winning Time: The Kalief Browder Story, Rest In Power: The Trayvon Martin Story, and the critically acclaimed award winning six-part Meek Mill documentary Free Meek.

In addition to his impact on the entertainment world, Carter continues to use his platform for social good including the work of his Shawn Carter Foundation and serving as Co-Founder of The REFORM Alliance.

DERRICK ADAMS
Derrick Adams is a Brooklyn, New York-based artist whose critically admired work spans painting, collage, sculpture, performance, video, and sound installations. His multidisciplinary practice engages the ways in which individuals’ ideals, aspirations, and personae become attached to specific objects, colors, textures, symbols, and ideologies. His work probes the influence of popular culture on the formation of self-image, and the relationship between man and monument as they coexist and embody one another. Adams is also deeply immersed in questions of how Black experiences intersect with art history, American iconography, and consumerism. Most notably in his Floater series, he portrays Black people at leisure, positing that respite itself is a political act when embraced by Black communities.

In formal terms, Adams’ practice is rooted in Deconstructivist philosophies related to the fragmentation and manipulation of structure and surface, and the marriage of complex and improbable forms. His tendency to layer, hybridize, and collage not only images and materials, but also different types of sensory experiences, link the artist to an estimable lineage of pioneers ranging from Hannah Höch and Henri Matisse, to William H. Johnson and Romare Bearden.

Adams received his MFA from Columbia University and BFA from Pratt Institute and has been the subject of a number of solo exhibitions at institutions such as the Cleveland Art Museum and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art among others.