Hell, Jay even raps about it on "Hard Knock Life," saying “I gave you prophecy on my first joint, and y'all lamed out/Didn't really appreciate it 'til the second one came out.” (although I'd argue that no one appreciated it until even later than the second one.) BIG)." All I'm saying is that despite all the critical love now, it wasn't that big back in the day. I act like I'm crapping on it, and I'm not, it is a solid disc with some great tracks like "22 Twos" or "Can I Live" or "Dead Presidents II" or "Brooklyn's Finest (feat. Wikipedia says it remains the lowest charting album of Jay's career. The album took six years to get to platinum status (and that was after all the later albums made him popular). But if you recall, he was not that big at the time. The album did OK, reaching up to #23 on the Billboard 200, and has since been lauded as a great album. But in the mid-90's, he was featured on a Big Daddy Kane track, and then with a few other rappers who I've never heard of (Big L and Mic Geronimo), before he finally created his own label (the now huge Roc-A-Fella Records) and released his debut, Reasonable Doubt. In one track from the Black Album, "December 4th," his mom talks about how he was always banging on the kitchen table and making rhythms, until he started free-styling and making a name for himself around the neighborhood. He claims in his lyrics to have sold crack and shot his brother when he was a kid. When do you actually remember Jay-Z for the first time? He was just Shawn Carter, born in Brooklyn and raised in Bed-Stuy.
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