Chronologically, ... Diddy ... was the second star to fall into alignment for Jay-Z. Now, things musically began to take shape in Daddy�s House...

Jay-Z explains, �When I saw the movie, I was thinking, �Maybe I should do it, maybe I should do it.� Puff had called me and he�s always like, �Let me do an album, like executive produce the album.� And I�m like, �I�m an executive my damn self. Stop talking to me like that.�� The room giggles again.

�I believe in Karma and all that �everything happens for a reason [stuff],�� he continues. �So, he called me like, �You gotta come to the studio. I never call you to come to the studio. You gotta come to the studio.��

After finally meeting with Diddy, Jay-Z said he was also introduced to a cornucopia of beats that his Uptown counterpart and his former production team The Hit Men had crafted years ago. Oddly, Diddy didn�t even know that Jay-Z was contemplating an album, nor did he realize that he was about to lay the foundation for American Gangster�s rich 70�s soundscape.

�I go to the studio and he�s playing all these tracks. And it hit, the [70�s] time period. But, he didn�t know about it [the album]. I�m like, �What are you doing with all these tracks?� He�s like, �I just don�t have anybody to give them to.� I was like, �Let me get those and it really set the [tone for the album],�� Jay admits.

Diddy and friends would go on to produce �Roc Boys,� �Pray,� �No Hook,� among other joints. With a solid groundwork, both sonically and thematically, Jay quickly pulled in others.

�[Diddy�s tracks] pretty much set the foundation and [other producers] had to produce into the sound that was already there,� he said. ...