Translation Advertising in New York

JAY-Z is a Grammy-winning rapper, a club owner, a clothier, a fledgling hotelier, the part-owner of a basketball team and the former president of a record label. Now, he gets to add adman to his résumé.

Jay-Z — real name, Shawn Carter — is joining forces with another African-American entrepreneur, Steve Stoute, to open Translation Advertising in New York, an agency that will help marketers reach multicultural consumers.

The new agency will be part of Translation Consultation and Brand Imaging, which has worked for mainstream advertisers like General Motors, Hewlett-Packard, McDonald’sand Reebok.

Translation Advertising expects to announce its first clients soon, said Mr. Stoute, who sold Translation Consultation last October for an estimated $10 million to $15 million to the Interpublic Group of Companies in New York.