This album was a guaranteed multi-platinum seller, and I think that's great because this album was a little bit harder than Vol. 2. Therefore, Jay-Z was eventually able to get a mainstream audience with pop-appeal (but still good) songs like "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)" and "Can I Get A…". However, once he had them, he he went back to some harder hip-hop on this album with cuts like "So Ghetto" and "Come and Get Me." Production-wise, Timbaland had already proven himself and then some with Aaliyah and Ginuwine. Tracks like "Snoopy Track" and "Big Pimpin'" on this album then established he could conquer rap the same way that he did R&B. It was simply foreshadowing that Vol. 3 was the first number one album of the new millennium because Jay-Z would run rap for the next decade, even with a 3-year break from '03-'06.
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