Song: Hard Knock Life
Artist: Jay-Z
Album: Vol 2...Hard Knock Life
Record Company: Roc-A-Fella Records
Date of Publication: September 29th, 1998
Catalogue #: 558902
In this song by Jay-Z, he samples the music from the Broadway Musical Annie to create a commercially successful and comical song about life in the ghetto. This song was ranked number 11 on VH1's 100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs, and after listening to the music you can see how this song represents a crossover into the mainstream. The innocence of the female orphans singing the chorus in the song creates a distinct contrast between the gangster lyrics of Jay-Z. This song is significant because it expands the influences on hip-hop to broadway musicals, and it softens the tone of gangster hip-hop to allow it to enter the mainstream.
Listen to "Hard Knock Life" by Jay-Z: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxtn6-XQupM
Listen to "Hard Knock Life" from Annie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR80EEsWauU
Photo Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a1/Jay-z-vol-2-hard-knock-life.jpg
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