Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life is released

Why it matters

Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life came out on Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam on September 29, 1998. It is Jay-Z's third studio album. The title track, built around a sample of "It's the Hard Knock Life" from the 1982 film Annie, was the lead single and the song that made Jay a national pop star. The 9th Wonder beat on "Hard Knock Life" had been on a producer demo from Mark the 45 King for months before Jay heard it; the moment Jay heard the Annie sample over the drums, he knew. The album sold five million copies in the United States. It won the 1999 Grammy for Best Rap Album. It is the album where Jay-Z stops being a respected New York lyricist and becomes a national commercial force. The crossover hook (a child's chorus on the title track), the Memphis Bleek and Beanie Sigel features that introduced the rest of the Roc-A-Fella roster, the radio-ready singles ("Money Ain't a Thang" with Jermaine Dupri). Vol. 2 is the album that made Jay-Z's career into a long-haul commercial enterprise rather than a critically beloved New York one. You can date the start of the next decade of Jay's commercial position to this album. He never went smaller after this.