[3][1] An upcoming producer at the time, West sold the song's beat to rappers Cam'ron and Ghostface Killah before it was ultimately used by Jay-Z.

[1] On the track, Jay-Z raps about his life story, including his past as a drug dealer.

He also discusses his not guilty plea for allegedly assaulting record executive Lance Rivera in 1999.

[13] The music video was filmed in Los Angeles on a street made to look like New York City, and features cameos from Damon Dash[14] and Kanye West.

[5] On October 31, 2001, a copyright lawsuit was filed against Jay-Z by Demme Ulloa, who claimed that she was not paid for her contribution to "Izzo".

Ulloa asserted that it was her singing "H to the izzo/V to the izzay", though she didn't receive any money for her contribution and was not credited in the liner notes of The Blueprint.