1999年Jay-Z推出了专辑《Vol. 3: Life and Times of S. Carter》,销量十分惊人,并拥有多首热门金曲。他曾在1999年专辑《Vol.3 … Life and Times of S.Carter(S.Carter的生活与时代)》的“S.Carter”中称自己为“太阳般的顶尖男人(the man on top like the sun)”。但是我们不得不承认,麦克风后面的他确实有着令众人为之倾倒的个人魅力。
by John Bush
After the crossover success of 1998's
Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life
(complete with highly publicized samples from Annie), Jay-Z returned to the streets on his fourth proper album overall, 1999's Vol. 3: Life and Times of S. Carter. A set of hard-hitting tracks with some of the best rhymes of Jay-Z's career, the album is much more invigorating than its predecessor, and almost as consistently entertaining as his best album,
In My Lifetime, Vol. 1
. As good as his rapping has become, the production here plays a large part as well. Befitting his superstar status, Jay-Z boasts the cream of hip-hop producers:
Timbaland
(four tracks total),
DJ Premier
,
Swizz Beatz
, and
Rockwilder
.
DJ Premier
's "So Ghetto,"
Timbaland
's "Snoopy Track" (with
Juvenile
), and
DJ Clue
's "Pop 4 Roc" are innovative tracks that push the rhymes along but never intrude too much on Jay-Z's own flow. If this album doesn't quite make it up to Jay-Z's best, though, it's the fault of a few overblown productions, like "Dope Man" and "Things That U Do" (with
Mariah Carey
).