Jay-Z then touched mainstream in 1996 with the single "Dead Presidents" b/w its enormously successful b-side, "Ain't No Nigga," featuring Foxy Brown. Later that year his solo debut, Reasonable Doubt, came out; featuring cameos by SWV and Notorious B.I.G., the album soon went gold and spawned the Top 40 single "Can't Knock the Hustle," with Mary J. Blige.
In 1997 Jay-Z returned with Vol. 1 In My Lifetime, featuring production work by Sean "Puffy" Combs and appearances by Babyface, Foxy Brown and Lil Kim. Jay-Z has since released the The Streets Is Watching soundtrack album and 1998's platinum-selling Vol. 2 Hard Knock Life, which catapulted Jay popward with the Annie-sampled "Hard Knock Life." The album featured cameos by DMX, Foxy, the Lox, Jermaine Dupri and Timbaland.
Jay-Z's fourth full-length, Vol. 3 -- Life and Times of S. Carter, was released in late 1999 to favorable reviews.
The following year The Dynasty: Roc La Familia 2000, another US chart-topper, was originally planned as a supergroup collaboration with fellow Roc-A-Fella rappers Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek and Amil. The album also featured guest appearances from R.Kelly, Snoop Dogg, Scarface and Lil' Mo.
Jay-Z's remarkable roll continued with 2001's The Blueprint, releasing on September 11, 2001 (the day of the US terrorist attacks in New York and Washington) and selling 427,000 in its first week (which is pretty good, considering the tragedies that took place in that week) and is another stellar piece work, putting him out front as the current leader of the genre. Featuring the smash hits "Izzo", and "Girls, Girls, Girls", this album received a five-mic rating in The Source magazine. Then in December he was sentenced to three years probation for stabbing record producer Lance "Un" Rivera at a New York nightclub two years previously.
Then in late 2002, The Blueprint 2:The Gift And The Curse released, featuring a stack of guest artists, from Dr.Dre to Lenny Kravitz. Features the chart smash, "03 Bonnie & Clyde" (featuring Beyonce Knowles of Destiny's Child), which samples the 2Pac classic "Me & My Girlfriend".
And then in November 2003, Jay-Z released The Black Album, which he claimed to be his final album, since he was announcing his "retirement". Three years later though, that proved to be wrong as he made a comeback album, appropriately titled Kingdom Come. The following later, Jay-Z returned with another post-retirement album, American Gangster, this one inspired by the concurrent film of the same name.
Sound Files (MP3)
Blue Magic (f/Pharrell) - from the album American Gangster
Show Me What You Got - from the album Kingdom Come
Lost One (f/Chrisette Michelle) - from the album Kingdom Come
Encore [Remix] (f/Linkin Park)
The Storm [Remix] (f/Lenny Kravitz)
*99 Problems - from the album The Black Album
Dirt Off Your Shoulder - from the album The Black Album
*Change Clothes (f/Pharrell) - from the album The Black Album
La La La (Excuse Me Again) - from the Bad Boys II soundtrack
'03 Bonnie and Clyde (f/Beyonce) - from the album The Blueprint 2: The Gift And The Curse
*Excuse Me Miss (f/Pharrell) - from the album The Blueprint 2: The Gift And The Curse
The Watcher 2 (f/Dr.Dre, Truth Hurts & Rakim) - from the album The Blueprint 2: The Gift And The Curse
Izzo - from the album The Blueprint
Girls, Girls, Girls (f/Q-Tip, Biz Markie & Slick Rick) - from the album The Blueprint
Girls, Girls, Girls (Remix) - from the album The Blueprint
Song Cry - from the album The Blueprint
Blueprint (Momma Loves Me) - from the album The Blueprint
Lyrical Exercise - from the album The Blueprint
Take You Home With Me (f/R.Kelly) - from the album The Best Of Both Worlds
I Just Wanna Love U (f/The Neptunes) - from the album The Dynasty
Big Pimpin' (f/UGK) - from the album Vol.3...Life & Times Of S. Carter
Hard Knock Life - from the album Hard Knock Life: Vol.2
Money Ain't A Thang (f/Jermaine Dupri) - from the album Hard Knock Life: Vol.2
Can I Get A...(f/Ja Rule & Amil) - from the album Hard Knock Life: Vol.2
Can't Knock The Hustle (f/Mary J.Blige) - from the album Reasonable Doubt
Politics As Usual - from the album Reasonable Doubt
Dead Presidents II - from the album Reasonable Doubt
Ain't No N***a (f/Foxy Brown) - from the album Reasonable Doubt
D'Evils - from the album Reasonable Doubt
Brooklyn's Finest (f/Notorious BIG) - from the album Reasonable Doubt
NB: MP3s with a * next to it indicates that it is located on another server. Reason being is because these MP3s exceed 5 MB and Geocities (the web host for this site) will not accept MP3s over 5 MB. These MP3s are located under the server Angelfire. So in order to download MP3s that are under this server, you must left click once on the name of the MP3 that you want to download, which will take you onto a different page (because it is on a different server, and Geocities do not allow direct links to files located on other servers) and then either left click (if you want to download the MP3 but do not want to save it) or right click, then "Save Target As..." (if you want to the save the MP3) on the name of the MP3 that you want to listen to. Easy as...
