Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter is awaiting two criminal trials, one for possession of a firearm and one for assault, and is one of the most dissed rappers of the time, living a period of contrasts with many colleagues, including Nas, Prodigy, Jadakiss and Fat Joe. The entire album is recorded in the span of two weeks, nine tracks are recorded in two days. The music is made by the new team of producers recently recruited by Jay-Z and used on his previous album, consisting of Just Blaze, Kanye West and Bink. Eminem is the only guest on the entire project.
