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Please Don't Hate On 07.15.09: Jay-Z 411mania.com

14.07.09

Since Jay-Z's major label debut in the fall of 1996, he has been a heavy player in the hip hop industry. After the death of the Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z seemed to assume the mantle of best rapper in New York City, which people often associate with best rapper alive due to NYC's influence over the genre. At one point, Roc-A-Fella records boasted the best up and coming hip hop roster in the genre: with Dame Dash as the public figure, Kareem "Biggs" Burke as the silent partner, and Shawn Carter the focus of the label's music production, they were a dynasty, even assuming that moniker in the process. Arguably the years 1999-2003 would serve to be Jay-Z's peak, with the release of 3 near classic (or in the case of The Blueprint, classic) albums, a disc that began as a solo project that instead exposed the world to Just Blaze, Kanye West, and Freeway ( The Dynasty: Roc La Familia ), a collaboration album with R. Kelly (aptly titled The Best of Both Worlds ) and an MTV Unplugged performance,

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