With the release of his stellar 1996 Gold debut "Reasonable Doubt," Jay-Z was soon to become a household name driven by the smash singles "Can't Knock The Hustle," "Feelin' It" and the Gold single "Ain't No N*gga" (featuring Foxy Brown). Although "Reasonable Doubt" has been heralded as a certified classic by fans and critics alike, the humble Brooklyn MC is very quick to place his successful debut in its proper perspective. "I view the first album as like an introduction," he explains. "Not to take away from it in any way, but it wasn't too detailed. Whereas, with 'In My Lifetime Vol. 1,' I really took it there."

The hot leadoff single "Sunshine" pairs Jay-Z, a.k.a. Jhigga, with his longtime Hip-Hop female counterpart Foxy Brown, as well as an unlikely appearance by R&B superstar Babyface. Jay-Z, along with the industry's hottest figures, such as Puff Daddy (now P. Diddy) and Lil' Kim ("I Know What Girls Like"), Too $hort ("Real N*****"), Blackstreet featuring Teddy Riley ("The City Is Mine"), Trackmasterz ("Face Off"), DJ Premier ("Million & One Questions" and "Rhyme No Mo") and a host of others, combined their talents to do their thing and enhance Jay-Z's second coming.

In 2003, Jay-Z announced work on his eighth studio album The Black Album at the opening of the 40/40 Club. He worked with several producers including and Kanye West, Timbaland and Eminem. Notable songs on the album included "What More Can I Say", "Dirt Off Your Shoulder", "Change Clothes", and "99 Problems". The Black Album has sold more than 3 million copies in the U.S. Jay-Z collaborated with R. Kelly and released a collaborative studio album, The Best of Both Worlds.

On January 23, 2010, Jay-Z released a track, "Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)", with Rihanna, and U2's Bono and The Edge, as well as performing it at the Hope For Haiti Now telethon.

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In June 2010, Eminem and Jay-Z announced they would perform together in a pair of concerts in Detroit and New York. The event was dubbed The Home & Home Tour. The first two concerts rapidly sold out, prompting the scheduling of an additional show at each venue.

In December 2013, it was announced that Jay-Z had received nine nominations at the 2014 Grammy Awards, more than any other artist. Jay-Z appeared on his wife Beyoncé's self-titled fifth studio album, Beyoncé, with a feature on the song "Drunk in Love". They performed this song together at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards opening. The song and its accompanying album would later win three Grammy Awards including Best R&B Performance at the 2015 ceremony. That same year Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

In 2022, his first feature was a collaboration with fellow rapper Pusha T, "Neck & Wrist" featuring Pharrell Williams from Pusha T's album, It's Almost Dry. His feature was succeeded by a four-minute guest appearance on DJ Khaled's album title track, "God Did".  He also was awarded the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live), as a producer for the Super Bowl LVI halftime show.

His discography includes thirteen solo studio albums, four collaboration albums, one live album, one compilation album, one soundtrack album, two extended plays, one hundred and fifteen singles (including forty-five as a featured artist), nine promotional singles and eighty-two music videos.