Jay-Z managed to put his bitter feelings towards his estranged dad behind him after realizing the murder of his uncle pushed his dad to drink. The "99 Problems" singer's father, Adnis Reeves, walked out on the family when the star was just 11 years old, and the rapper later let out his anger at the abandonment in his track "Moment of Clarity" following his father's death in 2003.
But in his new book, "Decoded", the star admits that he only recently understood it was the slaying of his father's brother, Ray - whose killer was never brought to justice - which pushed him to lose his grip on his responsibilities. He writes, "My dad swore revenge and became obsessed with hunting down Uncle Ray's killer. The tragedy - compounded by the injustice - drove him crazy, sent him to the bottle, and ultimately became a factor in the unraveling of my parents' marriage."
"By the time he left, he'd already given me a lot of what I'd need to survive."