Nearly 15 years into his career, Jay-Z has decided it's time to look back, releasing this hits collection right on the heels of his memoir, Decoded. But where Decoded attempts to dig deep, this album barely scratches the surface of Hova's output — partly because most of his great songs aren't hits. But Jay is the most mercurial of the rap titans, and each track here offers fresh rhyme schemes and different personae: from bootstrapping hustler ("Hard Knock Life [Ghetto Anthem]") to "the new Sinatra" ("Empire State of Mind"). What's been consistent through all these years is the virtuosic skill and the unflappable attitude.

Rolling Stone's Dream Tracklist for the Sequel to Hits Collection Volume One

“He Will Break Your Heart”

A lightly swinging Latin-influenced, almost cha-cha groove and close harmonies decorated Jerry Butler's early soul hit "He Will Break Your Heart," delivering a stately warning that his rival would never love his girl like he did. The melody came to Butler as he was driving on the highway from Atlantic City, New Jersey, to Philadelphia with Curtis Mayfield, and as Butler told Rolling Stone, "I just sang the melody and Curtis put the chords to it." The song's premise, Butler added, "was something that I'd lived ...The lyric was an experience rather than a revelation. Whereas music is usually a revelation."