Beyoncé has said she first met Jay-Z when she was about 18, and most reputable timelines place their first meeting around 1999–2000, likely at an MTV Spring Break event in Cancún, Mexico. She added that they stayed friends for about a year and a half before they actually started dating, which would put the start of their romance around 2001.

So while there isn’t a single exact public “date,” the widely accepted answer to “when did Beyoncé meet Jay‑Z” is: circa 1999–2000, when she was 18 and before they began dating in 2001.

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