Everyone’s heard of him, but what do you know about Jay Z?

And were you aware he was a car nut?

Ok, to be fair, every hip hop star likes to bling out the garage.

‘Shawn Carter’ grew up in a housing project in Brooklyn, New York. Deserted by his father in his early teens, Jay Z made his way selling crack cocaine, rubbing shoulders with other future hip hop greats, like Busta Rhymes and Notorious B.I.G. 

His rapping talent was recognized at an early age and his mother bought him a beat box, thinking it might help. In a rap battle, he later went up against LL Cool J amongst many others and beating him, but still failed to land a record label, even as his contemporaries went from strength to strength around him.

But this temporary setback proved to be his making when in 1995, he started his own record label, Roc-A-Della Records. This single act of defiance proved also one of empowerment, meaning all the proceeds of his creative endeavours flowed back to him and not just to a corporation. He also had no one else to answer to and could make his own creative choices with no execs to impress, other than the ones he hired.

Obviously, one of the prerequisites for success in the rap world is coming up from the streets and making a go of it, telling recognisable stories from having lived the life. And what a success he made of it, becoming one of the highest paid artists America has ever seen; a billionaire goliath who doesn’t seem capable of putting a foot wrong.

He now not only raps, but produces, owns a clothing label and offloaded his share in a basketball team so that his nascent talent agency ‘Roc Nation Sports’ could legally represent basketball players. He has also been known to own a fair few nice rides.

In 2010, his fair wife Beyonce bought him a 253mph 16.4litre Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport as a birthday present. He also ownstwo Ferrari F430 Spiders, a Pagani Zonda Roadster, three Mercedes Benz -S Class, Mercedes SLC and a kitted-out Brabus Mercedes Van runaround for the family, that will set you back more than the cost of the average house.

But there’s more:

A Rolls Royce Phantom, a Bentley Azure, Jaguar XJ, Porsche 911, a Range Rover, Several Lexus, a rough and ready Jeep, a Maybach 62S the extraordinary $8 million Maybach Exelero Concept. This is a German built 700 horsepower V12 biturbo, with a top speed of 218mph. A limo that gives super car performance, extraordinary because there is in fact only one of them in existence.

Oh and briefly, a Maybach 57, which was destroyed in the name of Otis Reading and the bones auctioned off for charity.

He’s also, believe it or not, an Ambassador for the General Motor Company, and as such, launched a Special Edition Yukon Denali -in Jay-Z blue (what else?). What other petrolhead can say that?