Jay-Z Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life RIAA Multi-Platinum Award Presented to Charles Strouse.

RIAA multi-platinum sales award for Jay-Z’s Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life, presented to Charles Strouse, the composer of the song that gave the album its title. Platinum cassette and compact disc mounted in a frame with the holographic RIAA certification plaque and reproductions of the original album cover, the plaque reading “presented to Charles Strouse to commemorate RIAA certified multi-platinum sales of more than 4,000,000 copies of the Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam Recordings, Inc. cassette and CD Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life.” The album’s title single was built on the children’s chorus of “It’s the Hard-Knock Life” from Strouse and Martin Charnin’s Annie; Jay-Z recalled hearing an instrumental version played by a DJ while on tour: “It immediately brought me back to my childhood and that feeling. I knew right then and there that I had to make that record, and people would relate to the struggle and the aspiration in it, as well.” Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life became Jay-Z’s first number-one album and won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album in 1999. From the collection of Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award–winning composer Charles Strouse and his wife, choreographer Barbara Siman. Over his 50-year career, Charles Strouse wrote the music for such iconic musical theater hits as Bye Bye Birdie, Applause, and Annie, as well as the theme song for the classic sitcom All in the Family (“Those Were the Days”). His partnership with Martin Charnin on Annie produced one of Broadway’s most successful scores ever, with “Tomorrow” and other songs from the production becoming enduring American musical standards admired by generations. His reach knew no genre or generation — from a number-one Billboard hit in 1958 to Jay-Z’s Grammy-winning sampling of “It’s the Hard-Knock Life” four decades later — and his honors include three Tony Awards and induction into both the Songwriters and Theater Halls of Fame. Minor wear to the frame; the reproduced album covers within the frame are beginning to curl and lift. The composer’s own copy of the award marking the song’s passage from Broadway to hip-hop.