Jay Z Sold Crack When He Was Just a Teenager

Blue Ivy's childhood will be totally different from her father's childhood. Jay Z shared his life growing up in Brooklyn's Marcy Projects with his single mom and three siblings in the November issue of Vanity Fair.  He also revealed that he sold drugs to make ends meet, Us Weekly reported.

"We were living in a tough situation, but my mother managed; she juggled," Jay Z told the magazine. "Sometimes we'd pay the light bill, sometimes we paid the phone, sometimes the gas went off. We weren't starving -- we were eating, we were O.K. But it was things like you didn't want to be embarrassed when you went to school; you didn't want to have dirty sneakers or wear the same clothes over again."

The 43-year-old rapper said "crack was everywhere" and "inescapable" while growing up. "There wasn't any place you could go for isolation or a break. You go in the hallway; [there are] crackheads in the hallway. You look out in the puddles on the curbs -- crack vials are littered in the side of the curbs. You could smell it in the hallways, that putrid smell; I can't explain it, but it's still in my mind when I think about it."

Crack became a part of his life as he used it to make money but clarified that he never used drugs, he only sold it.

When asked if he was guilty about selling drugs, he answered "Not until later, when I realized the effects on the community. I started looking at the community on the whole, but in the beginning, no. I was thinking about surviving. I was thinking about improving my situation. I was thinking about buying clothes."

Jay Z also said his mother also knew what he was doing. "We never really had those conversations. We just pretty much ignored it," he explained. "But she knew. All the mothers knew. It sounds like 'How could you let your son . . . ' but I'm telling you, it was normal."

For more information about the interview, the November issue of Vanity Fair hits stands on October 3.