To all onlookers Shawn "Jay Z" Carter is on top of the world. He's a platinum selling artist, he's dating the lovely Beyonce Knowles, and he's the president of a major record label. But for years he's been living with a secret that's been haunting him - the fact that his mother is a lesbian. And according to industry insiders, he's paranoid that the secret will come out.

MediaTakeOut.com spoke with a person close to Jay-Z who tells of the lengths that Jay Z has gone to protect his secret. According to the insider, Jay Z has been frantically hiding his mother's gay lifestyle for years. The insider tells us that Jay Z, "has paid a lot of people to keep quiet about it", saying, "and if Jay knew that I were telling you this, I'd be blacklisted from the music industry." The insider explained, "the last thing that Jay Z wants is for someone like Cam'ron to find out and talk about his mother on a diss record."

And the fear of having his mother's secret life exposed has led him to make some startling business decisions. MediaTakeOut.com spoke exclusively to one of the hottest young female rappers, Lucy Diamonds (Lucy Diamond's myspace page). Lucy claims that the Def Jam president didn't sign her to a record contract because he thought that she was a lesbian. Lucy explained, "Jay-Z doesn't want anything bi-sexual or gay to be affiliated with him because he doesn't want it to bring attention to his mother." Ironically, Lucy Diamonds is straight.

But Jay Z isn't the only rap superstar to have a gay mother. Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson's late mother was an open lesbian.

Representatives for Jay Z were not available to comment.

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