The nobility is a social class distinguished by high hereditary or honorary rank that possesses privileges, or eminence, and certain rights not granted to members of other classes in a society. The privileges of the nobility often comprise substantial real advantages, including rights of access, that vary from country to country and era to era. Traditional membership in the nobility is highly regulated by monarchist governments, which grant the ranks and titles to members of the elite. However, the noble class is not a closed order, and throughout history, membership has been perpetually renewed.

Although recognition of a noble class is most common in monarchies, nobility has historically existed in some republics, such as the Dutch Provinces, Genoa, and Venice, and it remains part of the legal social structure of some non-hereditary regimes, such as San Marino and Vatican City. Special hereditary titles may distinguish nobles from non-nobles, although in many nations, the nobility is untitled, and in others, hereditary titles may not indicate membership in the noble class.

The German nobility (German: Adel) was the elite hereditary ruling class or aristocratic class from ca. 500 B.C. to the Holy Roman Empire and what is now Germany.

In Germany, nobility and titles pertaining to it were bestowed on a person by sovereigns, and then passed down through legitimate children. In a few cases, families which had been noble as far back as historical records document, their ancient nobility (Uradel) was recognised rather than conferred by a sovereign. Noble rank was usually granted by letters patent on men, whereas women could legally become members of the nobility by marrying a nobleman. Nobility was always inherited equally by all legitimate descendants in the male line of the original man who had been ennobled. German noble titles were also usually inherited by all male-line descendants, although occasionally they descended by male primogeniture, especially in Prussia. Noble families were almost always bearing a coat of arms. Blazoning an escutcheon was no privilege of nobility, also non-noble free families could bear coats of arms and non-noble crests are recorded since the 14th c.

Timothy Elpadaro Thedford (born September 19, 1976), better known by his stage name Jay Electronica, is an American hip hop recording artist and record producer, currently based in London, United Kingdom. Jay Electronica first gained significant attention after the release of the musical composition Act I: Eternal Sunshine (the pledge), made available on a MySpace page in 2007. It is fifteen continuous minutes of music, without drums, built from Jon Brion's soundtrack to the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. In late 2009 he released two songs, both produced by Just Blaze, "Exhibit A (Transformations)" and "Exhibit C" the latter of which won a Sucker Free Summit Award for Instant Classic. On November 12, 2010, it was announced Jay Electronica had become an official member of Jay-Z's Roc Nation record label.