Guest List: JAY Z in the '90s

JAY Z was paying his dues years before his classic debut album, Reasonable Doubt, surfaced in 1996. After appearing on a few songs with his mentor Jaz in the mid- to late '80s, Jay scored a few notable features on Big Daddy Kane's "Show & Prove" and Big L's "Da Graveyard." Demand for a JAY Z verse increased once he began releasing his own LPs, but it wasn't until his blockbuster third album, Vol.2... Hard Knock Life, that the Brooklyn lyricist became a hot commodity. His momentum carried over the '00s where Hov's many scene-stealing appearances have become a big part of his story.