In 2000, the rapper had one more ace in the pocket - the full-length Dynasty Roc La Familia, which was much contributed by his protégés.
Dre and Timbaland produced this epic thing, full of sincere stories from Jay-Z's hard times, while singles Big Pimpin and Do It Again (Put Ya Hands Up) became big hits. Being faithful to the one-year-one-record tradition, Jay-Z issued Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life saw light and brought the first Grammy award to the rapper. Besides the hardcore tracks, the work featured pop rap - such things, as Sunshine and The City Is Mine showed that Jay-Z is not serious and brutal all the time and exposed him to a wider auditory. 1, fortified the success of the Reasonable Doubt. In 1997, the autobiographic disc In My Lifetime, Vol. along with the theme of gangster life made the whole New York talk about Jay-Z. Having found a reputable distributor Priority Records (which later would become Def Jam, headed by Jay-Z himself), the artist recorded his debut album Reasonable Doubt in 1996. Jay-Z was the member of the hip-hop command Original Flavor for a short time, but then instead of signing to a major recording company, he decided to start his own label Roc-a-Fella Records. The colleague told to the fresher some of his experience about show business and advised what to do in order to become prominent in rap circles. Once, when Jay-Z was wondering around the streets, he accidentally ran across a rapper with small fame called Big Jaz, or Jay-O. He started rapping being a teenager, and in the neighborhood, people called him Jazzy, or Jay-Z.
So the boy soon became independent and learned how to take care of himself. His father left the family when Sean was just a kid, and they were constantly short of money. Dre (featuring Truth Hurts), and "I Did It My Way," which balances the trad-pop singalong of "Hard Knock Life" with the digital drumrolls of "The Takeover.Sean Corey Carter, professionally famous as Jay-Z, was born and brought up in Brooklyn, New York. Good choices for highlights include the Neptunes' bounce track "Excuse Me Miss," the horn-driven blast of "The Watcher 2" produced by Dr. 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. The discs are split into "The Gift" and "The Curse," though there's no concept in view, just a loose collection of tracks ranging from unapologetically sexed-up party joints to theatrical epics and even taking in a Dirty South feature for Outkast's Big Boi. No one else in hip-hop possesses enough power of personality to carry a 110-minute double album, and if Jay-Z can't quite manage it either, he certainly delivers some solid material in the process. The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse is a radically different record, with the most respected rapper in the business trying on a range of styles, collaborating with a lot of guests (from Rakim to Lenny Kravitz to Scarface to Beyoncé Knowles), and working with an army of producers (Neptunes, Dr. Jay-Z kept The Blueprint incredibly tight, focusing on a single sound and letting nothing interfere with some of the best raps of his career. See More Your browser does not support the audio element. Dre (featuring Truth Hurts), and "I Did It My Way," which balances the trad-pop singalong of "Hard Knock Life" with the digital drumrolls of "The Takeover."