Jay-Z holds one of the strongest discographies in all of hip-hop. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who didn’t find Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint to be classics. The Black Album, In My Lifetime Vol. 1, and American Gangster further prove his incredible rapping pedigree.

However, despite this strong track record, none of these albums proved to be arduous for Hov to complete. Instead, one of the albums later in his career proved to be a lot harder to make than his classics.

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In a 2010 profile with Interview Magazine , Jay-Z candidly told writer Elvis Mitchell why rappers tend to fall off as they get older. Ultimately, it becomes a matter of fear. If they don’t make the same kind of record that gave an artist success, they fear losing their career.…