60 Songs That Explain the '90s

“Hard Knock Life”—JAY-Z

Rob looks at JAY-Z’s career backwards this week before reaching the rap legend’s 90’s pop crossover hit, “Hard Knock Life.” Along the way, Rob highlights the masterclass that is Funkmaster Flex premiering Kanye West and JAY-Z’a “Otis” on Hot 97 and much more. Later, the Ringer’s Wosny Lambre joins the show to discuss what JAY-Z’s rise to power in New York in the 90s, the importance of Hot 97 to New York rap, and JAY-Z the hyper-capitalist.
Host: Rob Harvilla
Guest: Wosny Lambre
Producers: Jonathan Kermah and Justin Sayles
Additional Production Support: Chloe Clark
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First came '60 Songs That Explain the '90s.' (We did that.) Then came '60 Songs That Explain the '90s: The 2000s.' (We're doing that now—and yes, that's the actual name.) But whether you want to jump back to the Clinton years or join us as we reboot our old iPods, you can find all of the collected works of Rob Harvilla below. Come back each Wednesday for a new episode.