A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government (for example the inhabitants of a sovereign state) irrespective of their ethnic make-up. In international relations, nation can refer to a country or sovereign state. The word nation can more specifically refer to people of North American Indians, such as the Cherokee Nation that prefer this term over the contested term tribe.

According to Joseph Stalin writing in 1913 in Marxism and the National Question: "a nation is not a racial or tribal, but a historically constituted community of people;" "a nation is not a casual or ephemeral conglomeration, but a stable community of people;" "a common language is one of the characteristic features of a nation;" "a nation is formed only as a result of lengthy and systematic intercourse, as a result of people living together generation after generation;" "a common territory is one of the characteristic features of a nation;" "a common economic life, economic cohesion, is one of the characteristic features of a nation;" "a common psychological make-up, which manifests itself in a common culture, is one of the characteristic features of a nation;" "A nation is a historically constituted, stable community of people, formed on the basis of a common language, territory, economic life, and psychological make-up manifested in a common culture." According to Stalin, this would exclude Jews as they have no common territory.

Rachel Roy (born January 15, 1974) is an American fashion designer, and philanthropist who was born and raised in California.

Roy was born on January 15, 1974 in California. She was raised with her brother Rajendra Roy, now the Chief Film Curator of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. She is of Vincentian descent and her mother is Dutch and her father is Indian.

Rachel Roy grew up in California, and attended Seaside High School along the Monterey Peninsula in Northern California. She attended Columbia Union College and Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Maryland majoring in Liberal Arts. Roy graduated in 1996. After graduation, she moved to New York to continue her work in retail, as well as work as a stylist.

Roy has two daughters with Damon Dash, Ava born December 7, 1999 and Tallulah born May 14, 2008. She and Dash were married from 2005 to 2009.

Rachel's first job in fashion was at a Contempo Casuals clothing outlet in her hometown at age 14. After college, she came to New York City, where she worked as a stylist for magazines and music videos. She became an intern at the urban fashion line Rocawear, where she rose to become creative director of the women's and children's divisions and also met her future husband, Damon Dash. In 2005 she launched her own eponymous fashion collection.

Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2011.He has sold approximately 50 million albums worldwide, while receiving fourteen Grammy Awards for his musical work, and numerous additional nominations. He is consistently ranked as one of the greatest rappers of all-time. He was ranked #1 by MTV in their list of The Greatest MCs of All-Time in 2006. Two of his albums, Reasonable Doubt (1996) and The Blueprint (2001) are considered landmarks in the genre with both of them being ranked in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Blender included the former on their 500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die.

Jay-Z co-owns the 40/40 Club, is part-owner of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets and is also the creator of the line Rocawear. He is the former CEO of Def Jam Recordings, one of the three founders of Roc-A-Fella Records, and the founder of Roc Nation. As an artist, he holds the record for most number one albums by a solo artist on the Billboard 200 with eleven. Jay-Z also has had four number ones on the Billboard Hot 100, one as lead artist.