Hetold Vibe , "I could make records as long as I have the desire to really dig deep and challenge myself to do it. I can do it for as long as I want. Already in the public eye in with a chart-topping duet with R. Selling nearly a half million albums in less than a week, The Blueprint was universally praised by critics and loved by fans.
The first track on the album, "Takeover, " was a searing attack on New York rapper Nas Nas would reply with his own track, "Ether, " attacking Jay-Z in the following weeks , a five-minute narrative over a blistering, thumping sample of the Doors' "Five to One.
There are 12 other songs on The Blueprint — and they're all stunning, to the point where the album almost seems flawless. In the months that followed, the battle with Nas heated up. Among concerns that the battle could result in tragedy as was the case with the Notorious B. Performing the track "Takeover, " he referred to the act of the battle as "the truest essence of hip-hop, " but one whose place was solely in recorded material.
Jay-Z was the first hip-hop artist to record an MTV Unplugged session, and Jay-Z's material translated to the format surprisingly well. Dre, Lenny Kravitz, and Beyonce Knowles, followed within a year. The release was generally thought to be unfocused and too long; many reviewers agreed that if Jay-Z had edited the album down to a single disc, it would've been another classic.
All Music Guide reviewer John Bush observed: "It's clear Jay-Z's in control even here, and though his raps can't compete with the concentrated burst on The Blueprint , there's at least as many great tracks on tap, if only listeners have enough time to find them.
Jay-Z began talking about retiring from the stage even before releasing The Blueprint 2. He told reporters that his next album, the follow-up to The Blueprint 2 , would be his final official release. The original concept for the release was to make a prequel to Reasonable Doubt , with no guest stars and a different producer for each track.
What resulted was The Black Album. Though somewhat removed from the original concept, Jay-Z often and rightfully referred to the release as his most introspective album. From the track "December 4th" Jay-Z's birthday , featuring spoken word interludes from his mother, to the bittersweet closing track "My First Song, " Jay-Z used this turn in the studio to make an album that was at times hilarious and heartbreaking, and above all, honest.
I have to step outside my comfort zone. That's just part of being alive. A feature film, Fade to Black , arrived in theaters in late The documentary, shot during the recording of The Black Album and at Jay-Z's "farewell" show at Madison Square Garden, received a positive review from the Chicago Tribune: "Whether a legend was born or retired that night at the Garden remains to be seen, but even on film, it was one killer show. His retirement was short-lived; Jay-Z soon collaborated with R.
Kelly on a second album and embarked on an ill-fated tour with the controversial R…B star. Kelly was asked to leave the tour soon after it started; Jay-Z continued the tour with guest stars, billing the tour "Jay-Z and Friends". Jay-Z and Kelly traded lawsuits, each contending the other was to blame for sabotaging the tour.
Proving that again that he will never truly retire, at the end of Jay-Z accepted the position of president of Universal Music Group's Def Jam Recordings label, a position previously held by Lyor Cohen and Antonio "L. According to Entertainment Weekly , it marked the first time a still-popular artist controlled a major label. Speaking to the New York Times , record executive Steve Stoute praised the decision to appoint Jay-Z president: "His opinion of music and his point of view on marketing is absolutely spot-on.
I don't know who wouldn't want to work for him. Although the record only reached No. Blige , and "Brooklyn's Finest," a collaboration with Notorious B. Reasonable Doubt established Jay-Z as an emerging star in hip-hop. Two years later, Jay-Z achieved even broader success with the album Vol.
Hard Knock Life. The title track, which famously sampled its chorus from the Broadway musical Annie , became Jay-Z's most popular single to date. He scored a Grammy win for Vol. During those years, the rapper released a slew of No. Jay-Z's most acclaimed album of this period was The Blueprint , which would later pop up on several music critics' lists of the best albums of the decade.
In , Jay-Z shocked the hip-hop world by releasing The Black Album and announcing that it would be his last solo record before retirement. Asked to explain his sudden exit from rap, Jay-Z said that he once derived inspiration from trying to outshine other great MCs, but had simply gotten bored due to a lack of competition.
I love that. But it ain't hot. In , Jay-Z ended his retirement from making music, releasing the new album Kingdom Come.
He soon released two more albums: American Gangster in and Blueprint 3 in This trio of albums marked a significant departure from Jay-Z's earlier sound, incorporating stronger rock and soul influences in their production and offering lyrics that tackled such mature subjects as the response to Hurricane Katrina, Barack Obama 's election and the perils of fame and fortune.
Jay-Z noted he was trying to adapt his music to befit his own middle age. The effort earned a mixed reception from critics but otherwise fared well with fans, going on to top the Billboard and achieve double-platinum status. During his hiatus from rapping, Jay-Z turned his attention to the business side of music, becoming president of Def Jam Recordings. As president of Def Jam, Jay-Z signed such popular acts as Rihanna and Ne-Yo, and helped West's transition from producer to a best-selling recording artist.
But his reign at the venerable hip-hop label wasn't all smooth sailing; Jay-Z resigned as Def Jam's president in , complaining about the company's resistance to change from ineffectual business models. Carter : Ironically, Jay ended up in trouble with the law around the time of the release of this extended metaphor comparing his musical rise to a high-profile criminal trial.
Carter : The one-minute intro to this song shines brightest, as Jay makes clear just how comfortable he is with handling and using his gun. The song samples the theme music from its titular TV series, but Jay neglects to name-drop another Brooklyn-born hardass: the Honorable Judge Judy.
Jay examines that repetition, mulling over the influence of his own criminal activities on the nephews who look up to him. Yet this hot-and-heavy track evokes a lazy, lovemaking vacay in a remote location, thanks to lustful songwriting, funky bass strings, and sleepy brass. Jay singles out his ego, separating himself from the persona that led him to shoot his own brother as a young teen, or cheat on his wife.
Dre, who recorded the original track, along for the ride. The electric guitar-powered beat during the second half would sound at home on Vol. He returned home to a mess. Also, Nas had tried to lynch an effigy of his former rival at Summer Jam before being blocked by Hot Kelly, of all people, to sing about innocence. Shawn Carter plays hype man for his better half on this standout from Everything Is Love.
He goes at it for less than four minutes, but I could listen to Hov spit over this beat for hours. Here, he opens up about a close friend and fellow hustler who snitched once he got snagged by police. Jay is a ghetto griot here, sharing a story about how a group of tenacious kids with big aspirations and limited options find themselves in the coke game. Ball till your days is up. The song ends in a place of peace, acceptance, and forgiveness. Jay, Beans, and Bleek indulge their love for hot wheels over a thumping beat, saluting the road warriors and auto aficionados who know the real party goes down at the let out.
DJ Toomp provides a stirring, cinematic backdrop — these two really should work together again. But music matchmaker DJ Khaled paired them up proper, allowing Hendrix to lay down an inescapable hook and Hov to spit cloth talk of only the highest thread count. And this final song on the collaborative album is a neat, bow-wrapped resolution that leaves the past in the past.
Over a crescendoing organ riff, the two rap legends grumble about the misfortunes that come along with being filthy rich. These horn flourishes and xylophone taps are the perfect sound-bed for a retelling of how a kid from Marcy Projects massively succeeded against all odds. Jay is nervous, unsure, maybe even neurotic — a type of vulnerability previously unseen, a tip of the transparency iceberg that was to come.
Blue Ivy is gonna be. The Marcy lyricists narrate scenarios that prove in the streets, wolves can take on many different forms. While Kanye rotates women and extols the merits of birth-control pills, Jay gives all glory to Gloria Carter, his mom. But the track is heavy-handed in its execution, an approach that Jay reveals was intentional in his book, Decoded. The trio brings exactly that over this bouncy Rick Rock production — the best example of their gratifying synergy.
But as his storied career proves, he could never definitively say good-bye to music. Jay-Z preys on cultural stereotypes to describe his many women and — perhaps most shamefully — reveals himself to be a viewer of sophomoric comedy flick Deuce Bigalow.
Still, the chipmunked Tom Brock sample is undeniable. Simpson as a worst-case scenario. Jay pays it forward, urging listeners to strive for investment, ownership, and wealth that can be passed down to descendants. But producer B-Money helped make a solid first impression by hooking up an alluring clarinet melody that could charm a cobra.
Hov slithers about, lamenting the plummeting stock of rap lyricism. Jay had a pimp name and persona — Cashmere Jones — that he employs here, setting out to drop the slickest rhymes he could think of. Either way, this is another masterful pairing with the great Frank Ocean. His skill is undeniable here, as he raps about his need for money by any means, seemingly not yet percent sold on rap as a full-time hustle.
This Black Album adieu sounds like a tropical vacation, with dancing strings that Jay skips across in double-time. The spoken outro may or may not have inspired Kanye to rant at the end of The College Dropout.
But the way he puts his words together is so irresistible — at one point Jay mouths the sound of a money counter, hitting each syllable like a stone skipping across a lake. The bulk of the action takes place in their minds, building up with suspense and ending in reality — a promising musical career for Bleek. The couple even managed to keep the press away from their small wedding, which was held on April 4, , in New York City. They welcomed their first child, a daughter named Blue Ivy Carter, on January 7, Shortly after the birth of his daughter, Jay-Z released a song in her honor on his website.
In early June , posters were displayed in New York City and Los Angeles, as well as banner ads on the Internet promoting a Tidal-related project titled On June 18, the project was confirmed to be a new Jay-Z album, and a clip featuring a song titled "Adnis" was posted on Sprint's YouTube page. The album is the first in a planned series of music exclusives from the Sprint—Tidal partnership. For a short time, on July 2, the album was made available for free digital download in Tidal's site.
A physical edition was released on July 7, including three additional tracks. The album received widespread acclaim from critics, who praised its emotional and personal content. It debuted at number one on the U. Billboard , making it Jay-Z's 13th consecutive studio album to top the chart. The album spawned two singles, the title track "" and "Bam", as well as several music videos, directed by a variety of high-profile collaborators.
Ten days later, at their final London performance, the pair unveiled Everything Is Love, their much-awaited joint studio album, credited under the name The Carters. He also appeared on the song "Jail" on Kanye West 's album, Donda. See More of the 90's Artists Collection. Claim your bio by clicking the button above and let us know how we can work with you to update your digital bio.
The history of hip hop culture and music. Take the journey through the 's with Tupac, the Notorious B. Diddy, Ruff Ryders,. The Journey.
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