Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter by Jay-Z

Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter, Jay-Z's fourth studio album, dropped on Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam on December 28, 1999, sneaking in just before the calendar flipped. USA Today's Steve Jones heard it as a return to the street-level sound of his 1996 debut, Reasonable Doubt, but the production roster is anything but narrow: Swizz Beatz, Timbaland, DJ Premier, Rockwilder, DJ Clue and Irv Gotti all take turns behind the boards.

The guest list runs just as wide, from Amil, Beanie Sigel and Memphis Bleek to Mariah Carey, Juvenile, Dr. Dre and UGK, and Jay-Z holds the center with the dense wordplay and swagger that are his stock in trade, all the way to the lavish roll of "Big Pimpin'". The critics liked it, it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 462,000 copies sold in its first week, and it has since gone triple platinum. The Dynasty: Roc La Familia came next.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.