It is beyond a reasonable doubt that Jay-Z has had one of the most enduring and successful rap careers. At 49, the man outlived many of his peers, sold over 100MM records globally, and has led business ventures like Tidal, Rocawear and RocNation, proving he is a business, man.

But this was built over decades, and it follows a traditional product lifecycle curve. Check-it.

When Jay-Z launched Reasonable Doubt in 1996, he was far from a stand-out lyricist. His lyrics were in sync with the mafioso standards and norms of the time, and his flow didn’t push boundaries. The album has sold 1.5MM units, which is impressive - but that’s over a 20 year period. It didn’t go platinum until 2002, remaining one of the lowest performing albums.

It wasn’t until his third album, Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life that Mr. Carter saw real commercial success. Vol. 2... became Jay-Z's first album to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200, selling over 350,000 copies in its first week. By his third album he had figured out how to leverage hip-hop talent like Foxy Brown, DMX, Ja Rule and how to use a recognizable sample to broaden his appeal.

Often times marketers expect a new product or brand to come out the gate as a star. Some do, but most don’t. In fact most new brands follow a similar trajectory as Jay-Z. They have an -

1. Introductory phase

2. Growth phase

3. Maturity phase (this is where you can extend into other markets/products)

4. Decline

It is important to continue investing and rapidly optimizing after your introduction and to remain resilient in the face of a middling year one. When in doubt, just think about Mr. Carter and what would’ve happened if he had given up after Reasonable Doubt. Instead of being deterred, he released a new album every year.

There is a lot that can be learned from Mr. Carter, and a lot that is rife for commentary - like how the Nas sample in Dead Presidents II led to years of beef (ironic because of Nas’ prolific sampling), so you will likely seem me return to Jay in future posts.