Later this year, Jay-Z will celebrate the 22nd anniversary of his fourth album Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter. The 15-track body of work is highlighted by records like “Big Pimpin” with UGK, “Do It Again (Put Ya Hands Up)” with Amil and Beanie Sigel, and “Jigga My N****.”
During a recent episode of the New Rory & Mal podcast, The Alchemist and former Roc-A-Fella Records A&R Kyambo “Hip-Hop” Joshua, who were guests on the show, reflected on Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter while Joshua revealed what one of Jay-Z’s inspirations was for the album.
Joshua noted that the closing song on Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter, which packages “Hova Song (Outro),” “Jigga My N****,” and “Girl’s Best Friend,” was inspired by the outro track on Dr. Dre’s 1992 album, The Chronic.
“I remember with The Chronic, ‘B*tchs Ain’t Sh*t was on the album and it wasn’t on the credits,” Joshua said. “I remember a n**** playing it in school and I’m like, ‘I can hear it, but I can never find it!’ They were like, ‘Nah, you just gotta let the album play.’”
Rory stepped in and added, “When y’all put Vol. 3 out, I remember the next day in school everyone was like, ‘Yo, did you let that outro rock? There’s three more records!’” Joshua replied straightforwardly, saying, “I did it strictly because of that, because of The Chronic.”
Jay and Dre have worked together on a number of occasions with the latter appearing on “Watch Me” from Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter. Jay-Z was also responsible for Dre’s verse on his popular record, “Still D.R.E.” Most recently, Jay’s Roc Nation imprint was responsible for recruiting Dre, along with Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar, as performers for the Super Bowl LVI halftime show in February 2022.
You can watch the episode of New Rory & Mal with The Alchemist and Kyambo “Hip-Hop” Joshua above.