Jay-Z shot his brother when he was 12

Jay-Z thought he would end up in jail "forever" after shooting his crackhead brother when he was just 12-years-old.

The music mogul was never charged over the shooting because his brother did not press charges, instead he apologised for being a druggie from his hospital bed.

Jay-Z, who grew up in a very violent public housing estate in Brooklyn, popped a cap in his brother for stealing a ring to feed his habit.

"I thought my life was over. I thought I'd go to jail forever. It was terrible. I was a boy, a child. I was terrified," he told the UK's Guardian newspaper.

He has since turned the incident into the song "You Must Love Me", in which he raps: "Saw the devil in your eyes/high off more than weed/confused/I just closed my young eyes and squeezed".

The notoriously private rapper has thrown the doors to his life wide open in his new book Decoded, which follows his life via part autobiography, part interviews with family and friends.

Photo: Getty/Getty Images Entertainment/Astrid Stawiarz