VINYL FORMAT. For years Shawn Carter has been the best rapper and the most popular, a man who can strut the player lifestyle with one track and become the eloquent hip-hop everyman with the next, an artist for whom modesty is often a sin, and yet, one who still sounds sincere when he's discussing his humble origins or his recurring doubts. As he has in the past, Jay-Z balances the boasting with extensive meditations on his life and his career. -All Music Guide