Breakdown of all Jay-Z's girlfriend's before age-gap Beyoncé relationship

Jay-Z has been hitting the headlines after he and Sean 'Diddy' Combs were accused of raping a 13-year-old in 2000.

The 55-year-old Roc Nation founder, who is married to Beyoncé, was named in a civil lawsuit on Sunday in which he was accused of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000 after the MTV Music Video Awards alongside fellow rapper Sean Diddy Combs, 55, while an unnamed female celebrity watched.

The producer has vehemently denied the allegations, sharing a statement on social media after he was named which read in part: "These allegations are so heinous in nature that I implore you to file a criminal complaint, not a civil one!! Whomever would commit such a crime against a minor should be locked away, would you not agree? These alleged victims would deserve real justice if that were the case.”

With Jay-Z in the news, there has been renewed interest in his love life. The Empire State of Mind rapper has been married to Beyoncé since 2008. However, they reportedly met around 1999-2000 when she was a teenager, with them starting to date around 2001 or 2002.

Before Beyoncé, he was linked to many women, including Blu Cantrell, Karrine Steffans, Charli Baltimore, Carmen Bryan and more. There were also rumours he dated late singer Aaliyah and Lil Kim.

Blu Cantrell (rumoured)

In 2001, it was rumoured that Jay-Z briefly dated Blu Cantrell, around the same time Beyoncé and the rapper reportedly started their relationship. When questioned about their rumoured relationship, Blu denied ever dating him but admitted to Wendy Williams that she "has a big crush on him."

"I really like him though. I don't care. I don't care who he's dating, I've always had a crush on him," she said. And when Wendy cheekily asked whether she'd 'make that play' if she bumped into him, Blu said: "I wouldn't turn it down, let's just put it that way."

Karrine Steffans

Karrine Steffans, known as “Superhead,” once discussed her supposed short fling with Jay-Z in 2000. The author and actress wrote a best-selling book called Confessions of a Video Vixen, in which she detailed her encounters with various stars. In 2016, she even wrote an essay claiming she 'had Beyoncé's husband'.

In the article, published on xoJane on, she wrote: “Over 15 years ago, I had Beyoncé’s husband. Yes, I was one of Jay Z’s Beckys back in the year 2000 for about three minutes, which is about as long it takes me to satisfy a man in the back of a Maybach while overlooking the beaches of Malibu.”

The actress, who made her debut at the age of 21 in Jay-Z's Hey Papi music video, said their fling was "pre-Yoncé". Karrine wrote: "This was pre-Yoncé, of course, but the fact is that a Becky is a Becky, and I was the Becky for many men, and they were all my salvation and my destitution. They were my reason and my rationale, my life and my death, and eventually, my fame and my infamy.”

She claimed they had "time alone" one night after shooting the music video. Karrine continued: "Chauffeured away from the set, down the winding road, and closer to the shoreline, Jay and I feasted on our attraction to one another — rabidly and quickly. After just a few minutes, I lifted my head from his lap, wiped my lips, and knew we’d made a mistake.”

Charli Baltimore

Musician Charli Baltimore was another rumoured girlfriend of music mogul Jay-Z. He was linked to her in the late 90s to 2000. However, not much is known about their so-called relationship. She did once shut down rumours that he allegedly stabbed another man because of her.

"Let's be realistic," Charli previously said in an interview on Vlad TV. "Do you really think that these men with great careers are running around stabbing people over me? That sounds insane."

Carmen Bryan

Jay-Z was involved with singer Carmen Bryan between 1995 and 2000, culminating with her falling pregnant at the age of 26, but she sadly suffered a miscarriage. At the time of their romance, Carmen was also dating his rival Nas - with Carmen and Nas sharing a daughter.

Carmen admitted the affair to her then-partner Nas after Memphis Bleek and Jay-Z's track, Is That Your Chick, was released. Nas phoned her to ask her if the song was about her, with Carmen writing in her memoir: "Nas, it’s true...The rumours are true. I have been seeing Jay-Z."

She told him that she and Jay-Z were having an affair for five years after they met as friends and began a romantic relationship a year later. Speaking to VLAD TV in 2017, she revealed she fell pregnant but later miscarried. "I believe I was three months, it was the first trimester. It wasn't anything crazy, it wasn't planned. It wasn't like 'Oh we are going to have this baby'," she said. Carmen added that she only told Jay-Z about the pregnancy after she miscarried.

Carmen also previously claimed Jay-Z 'can be very insecure'. She said: "He has a little bit of a low self-esteem in certain areas. He's sensitive... We all have sensitivities. We all have things about us that we don't necessarily want the public to know about."

Foxy Brown

The musician was once rumoured to be linked with another young songstress, teenage rapper Foxy Brown, now 46. Foxy hit the music scene in 1994 aged just 15, after winning a talent contest in New York.

Soon after, in early 1996, Foxy’s vocals were featured on the song ‘Ain’t No N***a’ by Jay-Z, with Foxy singing lyrics including: Ain't no n***a like the one I got. Sleeps around but he gives me a lot. Friends'll tell me I should leave you alone.” Foxy spoke of her early days in the industry at the age of 15, sharing how Jay-Z was vital to her music career.

“Jay can tell you... he'll have to pick me up from school and take me to the studio,” she said in 2005, according to the Daily Mail. She added that she was “a monster at 15” for balancing taking school by correspondence while “knocking out” tracks.

Jay-Z’s rival rapper Nas fuelled rumours that he and Foxy were more than musical collaborators with his 2001 diss track, Ether, in which he rapped: “Foxy got you hot 'cause you kept your face in her p***. What you think, you getting girls now 'cause of your looks?” Nas' track came after Jay-Z got involved with his girlfriend Carmen Bryan from 1995-2000, culminating with her falling pregnant at the age of 26, but sadly suffering a miscarriage.

Meanwhile, a biography about Jay-Z claimed that Foxy had: “A sneer to her flow, a ballsiness to her stance and her lyrics oozing sex, money and designer name tags. Jay was so entranced he had to have her,” according to the Daily Mail.

Aaliyah (rumoured)

Jay-Z was also linked to late singer Aaliyah, who ended up dating his Roc-A-Fella business partner Damon 'Dame' Dash until her untimely death from a plane crash in 2001. It was reported at the time that he dated her for a brief period in 1999, when he was 29 and she was 20. However, there is no concrete proof the two dated.

"I guess Jay was also trying to get at her as well, and I didn't know," Damon claimed in an interview last year. "It never worked out for them but we were both tryin to get at her. Everyone was getting at Aaliyah." He went on to claim the rapper was 'obviously' bitter she didn't welcome his advances.

"Yeah, he felt a way," Dash said of the rapper. "He was sending her flowers. He was courting her."

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