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«I can't base what I'm gon' be off what everybody isn't» from So Ambitious, Blueprint 3

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Planned to be the last album

In 2003 Jay-Z proclaimed his retirement with the last album "The Black Album" and set on a tour together with the most popular hip-hop artists. This was one of the biggest tours of that year with Snoop Dog, Missy Elliot, Busta Rhymes, 50 Cents, Sean Paul and others. 50 cents announced in advance that it would be a great spectacle and warned about large scale of the event. From the very start it was planned to be not just an ordinary concert, but something more than that.

"The Black Album" was the eighth Jay-Z's album created within the studio. It was released on the 14th of November in 2003. A number of famous producers collaborated with Jay-Z then: the Neptunes duo with Chad Hugo and Pharrel Williams, hip-hop producer Just Blaze, Kanye Omari West, Eminem, Timbaland, David Marvin Blake known as DJ Quik, Patrick Douthit with the nick-name 9th Wonder and record producer Rick Rubin, the person who entered the number of the most influential people of the world according to Time's list. The album contained a street single "What more can I say", single of commercial type "Change Clothes", "Dirt off Your Shoulder", "99 Problems".

"What more can I say" was the first track of the album, which was presented to the public first by the radio-station Hot 97. There is a Russel Crowe's sampled monologue in the intro from the Gladiator and sampled MFSB's song of 1973 "Something for Nothing". Notorious B.I.G. was featured on it.