Jay Z on the cover of Vanity Fair Mag, Opens up about his drug days

Hip hop mogul Jay Z, one of the richest men in the music industry, has admitted he got his business skills from drug dealing

He said selling crack cocaine on the streets of New York during the 1980s gave him the skills to succeed later in life.

'I know about budgets. I was a drug dealer,' said the 43 year old who is married to singer Beyonce. To be in a drug deal, you need to know what you can spend, what you need to re-up.'

Jay Z has never hidden his past as a drug dealer before he found fame and fortune as a music producer.

He told Vanity Fair he was part of the crack cocaine epidemic that blighted the streets of New York and was responsible for hundreds of deaths.

Jay Z said he now regrets being part of the drug problem but said at the time he was only thinking about the money.

'Not until later, when I realised the effects on the community,' he said. '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.'