JAY Z SAY'S HE SHOT HIS BROTHER WHEN HE WAS 12!

Jay-Z is revealing one of his deepest secrets - he shot his brother when he was 12.
The 40-year-old superstar rapper opened up about the ordeal that has haunted him since childhood, growing up in Brooklyn's Marcy projects.

The millionaire founder of Roc-A-Fella Records recalled to the Guardian of London how he blasted his drug-addicted sibling over a stolen ring.

"I thought my life was over. I thought I'd go to jail forever," he said of the shooting.

Jay-Z's memoir "Decoded," set to hit bookstores next week, reveals details of his rags-to-rap-royalty ride, but this is the first time he's publicly addressed his darkest moment.

"It was terrible. I was a boy, a child. I was terrified," he told the newspaper's Weekend magazine.

His brother survived the shooting, refused to press charges and apologized for his addiction when Jay-Z went to visit him in the hospital, he said.

The 10-time Grammy winner and part owner of the New Jersey Nets said he once hinted at the violent confrontation in his music. In his song, "You Must Love me," he rapped, "Saw the devil in your eyes, high off more than weed, confused, I just closed my young eyes and squeezed."

He also spoke of growing up in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where "guns were everywhere" and he was forced to dodge bullets at least three times. "It's like there was some rogue angel watching over us," he said.