Maps of Music

Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life (1998)

Where the lyrics of Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life take you, and where it was really made.

Jay-Z said this would be his final album, then walked that statement back.

Key places

D&D Studios, recording site (1998)

Recording site D&D Studios — The album's recording sites list includes D&D Studios in New York City. The point marks the city-level location of the studio. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Sony Music Studios, recording site (1998)

Recording site Sony Music Studios — The album's recording sites list includes Sony Music Studios in New York City. The point marks the studio's location. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Manhattan Center Studio, recording site (1998)

Recording site Manhattan Center Studios — The album's recording sites list includes Manhattan Center Studio in New York City. The point marks the studio's location. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Quad Studios, recording site (1998)

Recording site MSR Studios — The album's recording sites list includes Quad Studios in New York City. The point marks the studio's location. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life: third studio album by American rapper Jay-Z
• Released 29 September 1998 by Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings
• Became his most commercially successful album, selling over 6 million copies in the United States
• Liner notes contain Jay-Z's own thoughts on various tracks

Background

• In a December 1998 Blues & Soul interview, Jay-Z described the album's lyrical themes
• He saw himself as the voice for many people who lack a microphone or cannot rap
• He aimed to tell the story of people who have been through what he went through
• He also aimed to speak to suburban listeners curious about that lifestyle
• He told MTV News the album would be his final one, but later walked that statement back

Recording

• Sources list D&D Studios, Sony Music Studios, Manhattan Center Studio and Quad Studios in New York City as recording sites
• Several tracks have a rougher sound than the glossier Bad Boy production on In My Lifetime, Vol. 1
• Swizz Beatz, the Ruff Ryders beatmaker, produced three of the tracks
• Stevie J produced 'Ride or Die'; apart from him, Bad Boy producers played no role
• Timbaland, Jermaine Dupri and Irv Gotti gave three of the singles a more pop-oriented sound
• This was the last Jay-Z album to feature his mentor Big Jaz

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early life

• Shawn Corey Carter, born December 4, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York City.
• Raised in Marcy Houses in Bedford–Stuyvesant; mother Gloria Carter raised him and his three older siblings after his father left when he was 11.
• Dropped out of Trenton Central High School during his sophomore year.
• Adopted the stage name Jay-Z in homage to his mentor Jaz-O.

Career

• Began recording in the late 1980s, contributing verses to Jaz-O's records.
• Co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records; debut album Reasonable Doubt (1996) was critically acclaimed.
• Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life (1998) became his most commercially successful album, certified 6× Platinum in the US.
• The Blueprint (2001) debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.
• Led Def Jam Recordings as president and CEO from 2004 to 2007.
• Founded Roc Nation in 2008 and later 4:44 (2017) and Everything Is Love with Beyoncé (2018).
• Has 25 Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Robert Christgau, writing for Playboy, called the album a progression from its predecessor, with more noticeable beats that would appeal to listeners beyond hip hop aesthetes
• Christgau praised the title track's audacious Annie sample and the production of Swizz Beatz
• Christgau later gave the album a three-star honorable mention in his Consumer Guide book
• The A.V. Club's Nathan Rabin called it an uneven if worthwhile album
• Rabin wrote that its best songs replace superthug gangsta bravado with a more nuanced understanding of the human emotions behind the gangsta facade
• Q called it the epitome of mainstream hip hop at the time

Reappraisal

• Rolling Stone ranked the album number 46 on its list of the 100 greatest albums from the 1990s

Records

• Debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, the first Jay-Z album to do so, with over 350,000 copies sold in its first week
• Spent a total of 5 consecutive weeks at number one
• Stayed at number one in its second week with 208,000 copies and in its third week with 186,000 copies
• Sold just under 174,000 copies in its fifth week and returned to number one
• Certified 5x Platinum by the RIAA in 2000
• Had sold 5,400,000 copies in the United States by 2013, Jay-Z's best-selling album as of 2013
• Won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards
• Jay-Z boycotted the ceremony over the Grammys not broadcasting the rap nominations

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Jay-Z said the Grammys kept overlooking major rap artists, and he boycotted the ceremony after winning the award for this album
• The album's first week sales were over 350,000 copies, Jay-Z's first album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200
• Christgau singled out the title track's sample as audacious and praised Swizz Beatz for taking influence from postminimalist composers such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass
• Jay-Z told MTV that if a rapper's record has a gun everybody knows about it, but a world tour goes unnoticed
• Jay-Z's Vol. 2 remains his best-selling album as of 2013

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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