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<table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" >
  <tr> 
    <td class="blog"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">by 
      Jason Birchmeier<br>
      Jay-Z reigned over the New York rap scene throughout the late '90s and early 
      2000s and steadily built up the Roc-a-Fella Records dynasty in the process. 
      The Brooklyn rapper made his splash debut in 1996 and cranked out album 
      after album and hit after hit throughout the decade and into the next. Jay-Z 
      became so successful that Roc-a-Fella, the record label he began with Damon 
      Dash, became a marketable brand itself, spawning a lucrative clothing line 
      (Roca Wear); a deep roster of talented rappers (Beanie Sigel, Cam'ron, M.O.P.) 
      and producers (Just Blaze, Kayne West); a number of arena-packing cross-country 
      tours; and even big-budget Hollywood films (Paid in Full, State Property). 
      While such success is amazing, Jay-Z's musical achievements outweigh the 
      commercial achievements of his franchise. Every one of his albums sold millions, 
      and his endless parade of singles made him omnipresent on urban radio and 
      video. Moreover, he retained a strongly devoted fan base -- not only the 
      suburban MTV crowd but also the street-level crowd as well -- and challenged 
      whatever rivals attempted to oust him from atop the rap industry, most notably 
      Nas. As a result of his unchecked power, Jay-Z and his Roc-a-Fella clique 
      greatly influenced the rap industry and established many of the trends pervaded 
      during the late '90s and early 2000s. He worked with only the hottest producers 
      of the moment (Clark Kent, DJ Premier, Teddy Riley, Trackmasters, Erick 
      Sermon, Timbaland, Swizz Beatz) and if they weren't hot at the time, they 
      surely would be afterward (Neptunes, Kayne West, Just Blaze). He similarly 
      collaborated with the hottest rappers in the industry, everyone from East 
      Coast rappers like the Notorious B.I.G. (&quot;Brooklyn's Finest&quot;), 
      Ja Rule (&quot;Can I Get A...&quot;), and DMX (&quot;Cash, Money, Hoes&quot;), 
      to the best rappers from the Dirty South (Ludacris, Missy Elliott) and the 
      West Coast (Snoop Dogg, Too Short). </font><font size="1">
      <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Born and raised in 
        the rough Marcy Projects of Brooklyn, NY, Jay-Z underwent some tough times 
        after his father left his mother before the young rapper was even a teen. 
        Without a man in the house, he became a self-supportive youth, turning 
        to the streets, where he soon made a name for himself as a fledging rapper. 
        Known as &quot;Jazzy&quot; in his neighborhood, he soon shortened his 
        nickname to Jay-Z and did all he could to break into the rap game. Of 
        course, as he vividly discusses in his lyrics, Jay-Z also became a street 
        hustler at this time, doing what needed to be done to make money. For 
        a while, he ran around with Jaz-O, aka Big Jaz, a small-time New York 
        rapper with a record deal but few sales. From Jaz he learned how to navigate 
        through the rap industry and what moves to make. He also participated 
        in a forgotten group called Original Flavor for a short time. Jay-Z subsequently 
        decided to make an untraditional decision and start his own label rather 
        than sign with an established label like Jaz had done. Together with friends 
        Damon Dash and Kareem &quot;Biggs&quot; Burke, he created Roc-a-Fella 
        Records, a risky strategy for cutting out the middleman and making money 
        for himself. Of course, he needed a quality distributor, and when he scored 
        a deal with Priority Records (and then later Def Jam), Jay-Z finally had 
        everything in place, including a debut album, Reasonable Doubt (1996).</font></p>
      <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Though Reasonable 
        Doubt only reached number 23 on Billboard's album chart, Jay-Z's debut 
        became an undisputed classic among fans, many of whom consider it his 
        crowning achievement. Led by the hit single &quot;Ain't No Nigga,&quot; 
        a duet featuring Foxy Brown, Reasonable Doubt slowly spread through New 
        York; some listeners were drawn in because of big names like DJ Premier 
        and the Notorious B.I.G., others by the gangsta motifs very much in style 
        at the time. By the end of its steady run, Reasonable Doubt generated 
        three more charting singles -- &quot;Can't Knock the Hustle,&quot; which 
        featured Mary J. Blige on the hook; &quot;Dead Presidents&quot;; and &quot;Feelin' 
        It&quot; -- and set the stage for Jay-Z's follow-up, In My Lifetime, Vol. 
        1 (1997).</font></p>
      <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Much more commercially 
        successful than its predecessor, In My Lifetime peaked at number three 
        on the Billboard album chart, quite a substantial improvement over the 
        modest units Reasonable Doubt had sold. The album boasted numerous marketable 
        contributors such as Puff Daddy and Teddy Riley, which no doubt helped 
        sales, yet Jay-Z's decision to move in a more accessible direction for 
        much of the album, trading gangsta rap for pop-rap, increased his audience 
        twofold. Singles such as &quot;Sunshine&quot; and &quot;The City Is Mine&quot; 
        confirmed this move toward pop-rap, both songs featuring radio-ready pop 
        hooks and little of the grim introspection that had characterized Reasonable 
        Doubt. In My Lifetime still had some dramatic moments, such as &quot;Streets 
        Is Watching&quot; and &quot;Rap Game/Crack Game,&quot; yet these moments 
        were few and greatly eclipsed by the pop-rap.</font></p>
      <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Jay-Z's next album, 
        Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life (1998), released a year after In My Lifetime, 
        furthered the shift from gangsta rap to pop-rap. Though Jay-Z himself 
        showed few signs of lightening up, particularly on brash songs like &quot;Cash, 
        Money, Hoes,&quot; his producers crafted infectious hooks and trend-setting 
        beats. Thus, songs like &quot;Can I Get A...&quot; and &quot;Hard Knock 
        Life (Ghetto Anthem)&quot; sounded both distinct and unforgettable, garnering 
        enormous amounts of airplay. Again, as he had done on In My Lifetime, 
        Jay-Z exchanged the autobiographical slant of his debut for a sampler 
        platter of radio-ready singles; and again, he reached more listeners than 
        ever, topping the album chart and generating a remarkable six singles: 
        the three aforementioned songs as well as &quot;Jigga What?,&quot; &quot;It's 
        Alright,&quot; and &quot;Money Ain't a Thang.&quot;</font></p>
      <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Like clockwork, Jay-Z 
        returned a year later with another album, Vol. 3: Life and Times of S. 
        Carter (1999), which sold a staggering number of units and generated multiple 
        singles. Here Jay-Z collaborated with yet more big names (nearly one guest 
        vocalist/rapper on every song, not to mention the roll call of in-demand 
        producers) and his most overblown work yet resulted. Jay-Z scaled back 
        a bit for Dynasty Roc la Familia (2000), his fifth album in as many years. 
        The album showcased mostly Roc-a-Fella's in-house rappers: Beanie Sigel, 
        Memphis Bleek, and Amil. Jay-Z also began working with several new producers: 
        the Neptunes, Kayne West, and Just Blaze. The Neptunes-produced &quot;I 
        Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)&quot; became a particularly huge hit 
        single this go round.</font></p>
      <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Jay-Z's next album, 
        The Blueprint (2001), solidified his position atop the New York rap scene 
        upon its release in September. Prior to the album's release, the rapper 
        had caused a stir in New York following his headlining performance at 
        Hot 97's Summer Jam 2001, where he debuted the song &quot;Takeover.&quot; 
        The song features a harsh verse ridiculing Prodigy of Mobb Deep, and Jay-Z 
        accentuated his verbal assault (including the lines &quot;You's a ballerina/I 
        seen ya&quot;) by showcasing gigantic photos of an adolescent Prodigy 
        in a dance outfit. The version of &quot;Takeover&quot; that later appeared 
        on The Blueprint also included a verse dissing Nas as well as Prodigy. 
        As expected, the song ignited a sparring match with Nas, whom responded 
        with &quot;Ether.&quot; Jay-Z accordingly returned with a comeback, &quot;Super 
        Ugly,&quot; where he rapped over the beats to Nas' &quot;Get Ur Self A&quot; 
        on the first verse and Dr. Dre's &quot;Bad Intentions&quot; on the second. 
        The back-and-forth bout created massive publicity for both Jay-Z and Nas.</font></p>
      <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In addition to &quot;Takeover,&quot; 
        The Blueprint also featured &quot;Izzo (H.O.V.A.),&quot; one of the year's 
        biggest hit songs, and the album topped many year-end best-of charts. 
        For the most part, Jay-Z performs alone on all of the album's songs except 
        an Eminem collaboration, &quot;Renegade.&quot; The lack of guest rappers 
        made The Blueprint Jay-Z's most personal album since Reasonable Doubt. 
        Consequently, many began comparing the two, calling The Blueprint Jay-Z's 
        best album since Reasonable Doubt or even going so far as calling The 
        Blueprint his best album yet. Jay-Z capitalized on the album's lasting 
        success by issuing two versions of the single &quot;Girls, Girls, Girls&quot; 
        and also the song &quot;Jigga That N***a&quot; as yet another single. 
        Furthermore, he collaborated with the Roots for the Unplugged album (2001) 
        and with R. Kelly for Best of Both Worlds (2002). He then went on to record, 
        over the course of the year, 40 or so new tracks, 25 of which appeared 
        on his next record, the double album The Blueprint&sup2;: The Gift &amp; 
        the Curse (2002). Though billed as a sequel, Blueprint&sup2; was remarkably 
        different from its predecessor. Where the first volume had been personal, 
        considered, and focused, the second forsook those qualities and instead 
        offered an unapologetically sprawling double-disc extravaganza showcasing 
        remarkable scope. As usual, it spawned a stream of singles, led by his 
        2Pac cover &quot;'03 Bonnie &amp; Clyde.&quot; </font></p>
      </font></td>
  </tr>
</table>