If ever there were a reasonable doubt that Jay-Z didn’t have the chops to thrive in hip-hop, his modern mogul status proves otherwise. He rose from a tough childhood in Brooklyn’s Marcy Projects to earn over 20 Grammys and sell over 100 million albums, all the while perfecting the frank New York flow established by predecessors like the Notorious B.I.G. Jay-Z’s debut album, 1996’s Reasonable Doubt, established his hustler attitude. He went on to amass further hits like “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” (from 1998’s Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life) and “Big Pimpin’” (from 1999’s Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter), proving his acumen for the charts. Jay-Z crafted his initial farewell statement on 2003’s The Black Album—with production from the soon-to-break-out Kanye West—but couldn’t stay away. He returned in 2006 with Kingdom Come and followed it with heavy output , including 2017’s lauded 4:44. In between those projects, he grew his empire, helming Roc-A-Fella Records and spearheading various film, clothing, sports management, and production deals. He’s a business, man.
The nine-and-a-half-minute track is on the soundtrack for Samuel’s film The Book of Clarence
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