Singer Jay-Z revealed that rap music overrates the violence and crime, but argued that it's necessary to make a point.

As a young man, Jay-Z, 36, claims to have been caught up in selling crack cocaine on the streets of New York. He was known as "Jazzy" in his neighborhood, a nickname he soon shortened to "Jay-Z" while in pursuit of a career in music.

Jay confessed it's important for rappers to exaggerate "life in the ghetto" because this is the only way the underclass can make its voice heard.

He says: "Of course, no one really lives like that every day: 50 Cent has Thanksgiving dinner with his family like everyone else, trust me.

"You have to look at the root of the problem. There's something real there. How are all these guns in these neighborhoods?

"How are all these drugs in these neighborhoods? It makes me sad that all this only becomes a problem when it reaches the suburbs."

Once almost unknown outside his hometown of southside Jamaica, Queens, 50 Cent is currently one of the most well-known and commercially successful rappers of the decade. Because the success of an artist in gangsta rap often depends on street credibility and reputation, Interscope Records has sold 50 Cent as the "real deal".

The rapper, who was the first to sign to Shady Records, was scouted before knowing Eminem. He is currently signed to record label Eminem's Shady Records and Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment.