Jay-z Only Aimed As High As Gold Record

Jay-Z never thought he'd achieve more than a Gold record at the start of his career.

The '99 Problems' hitmaker has released a new video in which he talks about his early motivation, and how he only aimed as high as selling 500,000 units of his debut album, 'Reasonable Doubt', released in 1996.

In the video, for clothing brand Rocawear, he says: ''Wherever you grow up, it's your root, and I'm a kid from the Marcy Projects in Brooklyn.

''My goal was to have one gold album, and that was it.''

Jay-Z - the biggest rapper in the world - has since gone on to achieve far more than this, selling approximately 50 million albums around the world and becoming a record company executive, mentor to artists such as Rihanna and having his own clothing line, Rocawear, and bar, 40/40 Club.

In the video he adds: ''Then it became - I want to show that artists can ascend to the executive ranks.

''I don't know if you're ever done; it's almost like climbing a mountain.

''You see another mountain, then you go to the next one and the next one.''