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Hip Hop at 50: Holla If Ya Hear Me: JAY-Z

JAY-Z

The Mike Jordan of recording.

"JAY-Z has maintained authenticity with hip-hop purists while still achieving incomparable commercial and business success. Many have tried, but no one has come close to knocking him off his throne." More on rockhall.com...

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Books

All of our books pertaining to JAY-Z can be found here.

Decoded by Jay-Z
Call Number: ML420.J39 A3 2010
Jay-Z by Michael Eric Dyson
Call Number: ML420.J39 D97 2019
Empire State of Mind by Zack O'Malley Greenburg
Call Number: ML420.J39 G74 2011
Shake It up: Great American Writing on Rock and Pop from Elvis to Jay Z by Jonathan Lethem (Editor); Kevin Dettmar (Editor)
Call Number: ML3534 .S52 2017
Jay-Z by Dennis Abrams; Chuck D (Introduction by)
Call Number: ML420.J39 A62 2008

Audio

All of our audio by JAY-Z can be found here.

The Black Album by JAY-Z
Call Number: CD JAYZ BLAC 2003
The Blueprint 3 by JAY-Z
Call Number: CD JAYZ BLUE 2009
American Gangster: Acapella by JAY-Z
Call Number: CD JAYZ AMER 2007
Watch the Throne by JAY-Z, Kanye West, and others
Call Number: CD JAYZ WATC 2011

Spotify Playlist

Video

All of our videos pertaining to JAY-Z can be found here .

Jay-Z : Reasonable Doubt
Call Number: VID JAYZ REAS 2007
The Concert for New York City
Call Number: VID VAR CONC-NE 2002

Podcasts

Youtube

Archival Resources

Listed below are notable collections and items from the Rock Hall's Archives. You can find more by searching our catalog here.

Cleveland Scene Photographs
Series I: Artist and Subject Files, contains promotional and concert photographs for primarily national touring acts. A majority of the photographs are promotional, black-and-white 8" x 10" images sent out by the artist's record label.
Larry Magid Collection
Series II: Tour Productions, 1975-2014, contains documents relating to the promotion of various musical and Broadway shows, including contracts and financial papers. Some of the materials in this series are confidential and, therefore, are RESTRICTED. Redacted access copies of the confidential documents are available.
Ron Byrd Collection of Tour Itineraries
The Ron Byrd Collection of Tour Itineraries are for the 1999 Hard Knock Life Tour. The collection contains four itineraries, two for part one of the tour (February and March 1999) and the other two for part two of the tour (April and May 1999). The tour featured Jay-Z, DMX, Method Man, and Redman. The collection provides insight into the tour process for Jay-Z, DMX, Method Man, and Redman. The collection is arranged chronologically.

Rock's Backpages Articles

Free articles are available on Rock's Back Pages through the Free on RBP link. The articles below may require you to be on-site at the Library & Archives in order to read them.

The Jay-Z Interview
Amy Linden, Vibe, 2003
Jay-Z: Something For The Weekend, Sir?
Paul Elliott, Q, April 2000
The Life And Times Of Jay-Z: An Interview
Dan Gennoe, Flipside, 1999

Other Articles

Jay-Z: King of America - From Times Square skyscrapers to Coachella to the White House: How Jay-Z runs the game. by Mark Binelli
Publication Date: 2010
Jay-Z, The Coolest Mogul by Newsweek
Publication Date: 2006
The Reign of Jay-Z by A. Samuels
Publication Date: 2004

Influence & Legacy

JAY-Z was influenced by...

Curtis Mayfield
Queen Latifah
The Notorious B.I.G.

JAY-Z inspired artists like...

Kanye West
J Balvin
Kendrick Lamar

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame | Library & Archives
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