Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, whose lyrical genius and business savvy have been hip-hop's gold standard for more than a decade, showed no signs of slowing down in 2012. Off the heels of his wildly popular international tour for his 12th No. 1 album, 2011's Watch the Throne, Jay-Z teamed up with Budweiser to create the Made in America music festival in Philadelphia, which is the subject of an upcoming documentary directed by Ron Howard. Jay-Z also inked a deal with the Procter & Gamble Co. to invest in and promote its Duracell Powermat wireless battery charger. And after successfully brokering a deal to bring the New Jersey Nets to his hometown, Brooklyn, N.Y., he's gearing up for the arena's official September 2012 opening with an epic welcome party: an already sold-out eight-day concert bonanza. His nonprofit organization, the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation, continues to help underprivileged students with college tuition. And Jay-Z and his wife, Beyoncé, will support President Barack Obama's re-election campaign by hosting a celebrity fundraiser in his honor. We're certain, though, that Jay-Z counts the birth of his daughter, Blue Ivy, as his biggest accomplishment of 2012. 

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