Maps of Music

Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter (1999)

Where the lyrics of Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter take you, and where it was really made.

The album marked a return to the street-oriented sound of Jay-Z's 1996 debut, Reasonable Doubt, yet it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.

Key places

Quad Studios, New York City (1999)

Recording site MSR Studios — Quad Studios in New York City is listed as a recording location for this album. The point marks the studio building's position. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter: fourth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z
• Released December 28, 1999 by Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings
• Described by USA Today critic Steve Jones as a return to the street-oriented sound of the 1996 debut Reasonable Doubt
• Guest performers: Amil, Beanie Sigel, Mariah Carey, Juvenile, Memphis Bleek, Dr. Dre and UGK
• Production by Swizz Beatz, Timbaland, K-Rob, DJ Clue, Rockwilder, DJ Premier and Irv Gotti, among others
• Debuted at number one on the Billboard 200
• Sold 462,000 copies in its first week

Background

• First-week sales were thirty percent higher than those of the previous album, Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life (1998)
• Credits list Darrell Branch as producer and Fingaz on keyboards
• Artwork credited to Drawing Board for art direction and Kyledidthis for design
• Photography credited to Jonathan Mannion
• Dr. Dre is credited with performing and mixing
• Album appears on lists of number-one albums of 2000 in the U.S. and number-one R&B albums of 2000 in the U.S.

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

• Rolling Stone critic Kris Ex wrote that Jay-Z has become a better architect of songs and called the album his strongest to date, with catchy hooks, heavy beats and lyrics driven by a hustler's vigilance
• The Washington Post critic Richard Harrington found the record full of reputation-building swagger, a catalogue of lyrical skill and an autobiographical outlook
• Entertainment Weekly critic Anthony DeCurtis said the album reconnects with Jay-Z's urban audience, with flair
• USA Today critic Steve Jones was especially impressed by the lyrics and flow, finding both razor-sharp as ever
• The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau argued that Jay-Z had too much at stake commercially to abandon the now-a-rapper, now-a-thug reality game with his audience, but credited him with rugged, expansive vigor
• Village Voice critic Miles Marshall Lewis called Jay-Z the best MC in hip hop and the album the quintessential 2000-model hip hop album
• Los Angeles Times critic Soren Baker was less impressed, writing that the record lacks the biting humor and spectacular wordplay of the earlier albums

Reappraisal

• The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004) by Jon Caramanica said the album took the combination of style and substance of Vol. 2 to its apotheosis
• Caramanica praised the album's flow, shifting cadences and rhyme patterns, and noted that nearly every track was sonically unique
• AllMusic's John Bush wrote in a retrospective review that two overwrought productions keep the album from being among Jay-Z's best

Records

• Debuted at number one on the Billboard 200
• Sold 462,000 copies in its first week
• Certified triple platinum by the RIAA on February 14, 2001
• Sales reached 3,093,000 copies by 2009, according to Nielsen SoundScan
• Ranked number 13 on Robert Christgau's Dean's List for the 1999 Pazz & Jop poll

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Christgau ranked the album number 13 on his Dean's List for The Village Voice's 1999 Pazz & Jop poll.
• The album's first-week sales were thirty percent higher than those of Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life.
• Dr. Dre appears as a performer and is credited for mixing.
• Soren Baker's Los Angeles Times review was among the few that found the album lacking.
• AllMusic's retrospective review singled out two productions, Dope Man and Things That U Do, as overwrought.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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