By the end of its steady run, Reasonable Doubt generated three more charting singles - "Can't Knock the Hustle," "Dead Presidents," and "Feelin' It" - and set the stage for the follow-up, In My Lifetime, Vol. Led by the hit single "Ain't No Nigga," 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, still others by Jay-Z himself. Though Reasonable Doubt reached only number 23 on the Billboard 200 chart, Jay-Z's debut eventually became recognized as an undisputed classic among fans, many of whom consider it his crowning achievement. Once he found a reputable distributor, Priority Records (and later Def Jam), Jay-Z finally had everything in place, including a debut album, Reasonable Doubt (1996). Together with friends Damon Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke, he created Roc-a-Fella Records. Jay-Z subsequently decided to make an untraditional decision and start his own label rather than sign with an established one as Jaz had done. He also participated in the group Original Flavor for a short time.
From Jaz he learned how to navigate the rap industry and what moves to make. For a while, he ran around with rapper Jaz-O, aka Big Jaz. As he vividly discusses in his lyrics, Jay-Z also became a street hustler around this time, doing what needed to be done to make money. Known as "Jazzy" in his neighborhood, he soon shortened his nickname to Jay-Z and did all he could to break into the rap game. In addition to rapping, Jay-Z has also served as a label head (Roc-A-Fella/Roc Nation/Def Jam), team owner (NBA's Brooklyn Nets), real-estate mogul, and fashion designer.īorn in 1969 and raised in the rough Marcy Projects of Brooklyn, New York, Jay-Z was raised by his mother and turned to the streets, where he made a name for himself as a fledging rapper and drug dealer. He also contributed the song "What It Feels Like" to the soundtrack of the Oscar-nominated 2021 drama Judas and The Black Messiah. In addition to his solo work, Jay-Z also found mainstream crossover success with pop, R&B, and rock artists, notably collaborating with protege Rihanna on their Grammy-winning "Umbrella" (2008) alternative metal outfit Linkin Park on 2004's genre mash-up Collision Course Alicia Keys on New York City's unofficial anthem, the chart-topping "Empire State of Mind" (2011) frequent foil Kanye West on Watch the Throne (2012) and wife Beyoncé on numerous hit singles, international tours, and the joint album Everything Is Love (2018).
After debuting in the late '90s with Reasonable Doubt and In My Lifetime, Vol 1, he began a chart run that notched over a dozen number one albums spread over two decades, including the multi-platinum, Grammy-winning Vol. I think it's amazing this thread has gone this long without the usual "all rap sucks" brigade chiming in.From the projects to the throne, New York rapper, producer, and entrepreneur Jay-Z embodied the quintessential rags-to-riches dream, becoming one of the most successful MCs of his generation while creating an empire that made him one of the richest artists of the era. I'm not that keen on a lot of his recent output, but he's probably up there for me as one of the best. From his balance of lyrics(which I know have dumbed down over the years) and his credibility (as a musician and a business man) he is the "best ever". To consistently put out music that people like for 16 years, its never been done before in hip hop. He is the only person to stay in the limelight this deep into his life. But why i feel Jay Z is picked #1, is cause of what he did to the game. Again this is a very subjective matter, like who is the best rock band of all time, or whats the best video game. But when it comes to rappers, not just the MC, as a rapper Jay Z is the best. "I think when it comes to MC's, yeah theres a lot of people who are above Jay Z. I think those kind of lists are pretty stupid anyway.
" said: " By the way, even though I think Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint are great albums (the Black Album not so much), how is Jay-Z number one on every list? I see Nas and Rakim top these greatest MC lists far more often.