Jay-Z and Beyoncé Named to Time 100 ‘Most Influential’ List, Reach Billionaire Status

(Photo courtesy of Mark Seliger for TIME)

Power couple Jay-Z and Beyoncé have recently been making lots of headlines lately, and now the rapper is gracing the cover of Time.  Both he and wife Beyoncé have been named by the magazine as two of the world’s most influential people.
The annual feature lists 100 of the world’s most prominent figures, in no particular order, who have made the biggest global impact over the past year.  The issue, which includes Jay-Z on one of seven covers, also provides brief profiles that capture the essence of each qualifier.
Jay-Z proves “American Dream is alive and well”
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg praises Jay-Z  in the profile piece he wrote on the rapper, saying he is a “kid from a tough neighborhood who grows up in public housing, overcomes lots of bad influences on the street, never lets go of his dream, makes it to the top — and then keeps going, pursuing new outlets for his creativity and ambition.”
Bloomberg goes on to write that the rapper is an “artist-entrepreneur who stands at the center of culture and commerce in 21st century America” and claims he “embodies so much of what makes New York New York.”
“No one can hold an audience” like Beyoncé
The rapper’s popstar wife Beyoncé also joins him on this year’s list.  Her three-paragraph feature was penned by Baz Luhrmann, director of The Great Gatsby, who worked with the singer on  a cover of Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black”  featured on the movie’s soundtrack.
“When all the work is done, she can step onto a stage and draw every single person in the audience into an intimate experience. No one has that voice, no one moves the way she moves, no one can hold an audience the way she does,” he writes, adding, “She and Jay-Z are the royal couple of culture, and she is the queen bee.”
Music’s first billionaire couple
The latest issue of the magazine hit newsstands at the same time news reports named the duo as the first couple in music to reach billionaire status.
According to the International Business Times, the celebrity couple crossed this milestone in large part because of the sales from Beyonce’s Mrs. Carter Show World Tour, her $50 million Pepsi endorsement deal and her recent collaboration with H&M.
Meanwhile, Jay-Z stands as the no. 2 on Forbes 2013′ list of hip-hop richest men.  The rapper’s many projects, including his newly-founded sports agency, Roc Nation Sports, have raked in millions for the power couple.
Bloomberg writes, “In nearly everything he’s tried, he’s found success. (He even put a ring on Beyoncé.)”
article by Lilly Workneh via thegrio.com