Jay-Z appreciation thread

[rick James]

I'm gunna post a good song off each of his albums to show my appreciation for imo the best rapper of all time. Brilliant lyricist, amazing wordplay and the most versatile flow of all time. the stuff he accomplishes with his mind is

Album: Reasonable Doubt (1996)
Song: Dead Presidents II

[youtube]487W_vBeGFQ[/youtube]

Album: In my lifetime Vol. 1 (1997 - and probably his weakest album)
Song: Sunshine feat. Foxy Brown

[youtube]TxUoySP9zqg[/youtube]

Album: Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life (1998)
Song: Hardknock Life

[youtube]ekomM8aobQo[/youtube]

Album: Vol. 3... Life and times of S. Carter (1999)
Song: Big Pimpin

[youtube]fk2wAW2NByE[/youtube]

Album: The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2000)
Song: I just wanna love you... give it to me feat. Pharrel (awesome clip too)

[youtube]N_10sWQbqEs[/youtube]

Album: The Blueprint (2001)
Song: Song Cry feat. Mary J Blige (live)

[youtube]3c51o07eSbc[/youtube]

Album: The Blueprint 2.0 (2002)
Song: La La La... Excuse me miss again

[youtube]oX379_JPlPs[/youtube]

Album: the Black Album (2003)
Song: 99 Problems

[youtube]UouMFyx65fo[/youtube]

AND.... Lucifer remix feat. The Game

[youtube]FLMee3WbkxM[/youtube]

And lastly...

Album: Kingdome Come (2006)
Song: Kingdome Come (bonus points for anyoen that can spot the sample used)

[youtube]RSOh-6-rxmE[/youtube]

 

[Val Venis]

Lost respect for you posting a song involving The Game..Shame

Other than that, a Legend of Hip-Hop...The Blueprint = 5/5

 

[rick James]

Lost respect for you posting a song involving The Game..Shame

Other than that, a Legend of Hip-Hop...The Blueprint = 5/5

Only posted that because it's the only version of Lucifer I could find on youtube

 

[johnnyhoward]

Haha, love the sample on the new single. Can't believe he made a comeback though, I've heard his new album is poor, I don't know if I can give it a go. The Black Album wasn't the worst way to retire; 3 years seems a short retirement when rock artists can take that long to come up with a new album.

Is there a clip for "Money Ain't a Thing"? That's probably a better song on Hard Knock Life, which wasn't that good an album overall.

But he'll go down as one of the legends of hip-hop for The Blueprint (I rank it up there with The Low End Theory) and Reasonable Doubt - classics.

 

[CrazyQ]

I thought you said Big was the best rapper?

 

[bigdadymac]

Kingdom Come has a lil bit of RJ init baby...Rj u def are a super freak!

 

[wce4premiership]

Jay z is pathetic compared to other rappers. The following are better:

2pac (Best ever full stop no returns...better times infinite plus 2 more then anyone else no matter what)

Eminem (Arguably the best lyricist in rap, amazing style changes and story telling abilities, he doesn't use a word just because it rhymes)

Eazy e (Pioneer of the real gangster scene)

Ice cube (same as above with better writing abilities)

Dr. Dre (Best producer rap/hip hop music in the industry)

50 Cent (as a whole business man, entrepueneur/rapper he has got it all, plus he has lived the hard life)

Bone Thugz (best flow ever)

DMX
Xzibit
Snoop
Geto Boys
B.I.G.
Ja rule
Young jeezy
Nas
Methodman
Redman
R. Kelly
T.I.


these guys are all better then jay z whose newest song is so crap it makes me cringe.

 

[Val Venis]

Jay z is pathetic compared to other rappers. The following are better:

2pac (Best ever full stop no returns...better times infinite plus 2 more then anyone else no matter what)

Eminem (Arguably the best lyricist in rap, amazing style changes and story telling abilities, he doesn't use a word just because it rhymes)

Eazy e (Pioneer of the real gangster scene)

Ice cube (same as above with better writing abilities)

Dr. Dre (Best producer rap/hip hop music in the industry)

50 Cent (as a whole business man, entrepueneur/rapper he has got it all, plus he has lived the hard life)

Bone Thugz (best flow ever)

DMX
Xzibit
Snoop
Geto Boys
B.I.G.
Ja rule
Young jeezy
Nas
Methodman
Redman
R. Kelly
T.I.


these guys are all better then jay z whose newest song is so crap it makes me cringe.

The fact that you put 50 Cent in that post makes you lose all credibility

 

[wce4premiership]

The fact that you put 50 Cent in that post makes you lose all credibility

50 cents get rich or die trying was great. His massacre album was pathetic i must admit but 50 is better then jay z.

 

[PHX]

Jay-Z is one of 2, maybe 3 American commercial rapper I can handle.

H.O.V.A. (Izzo) is probably the one I listen to most, actually according to my iTunes 99 Problems matches H.O.V.A in the playcount area.

 

[Val Venis]

Album: Kingdome Come (2006)
Song: Kingdome Come (bonus points for anyoen that can spot the sample used)

Sounds a bit like....


Which of course comes from your namesake

 

[Bourky23]

50 Cent (as a whole business man, entrepueneur/rapper he has got it all, plus he has lived the hard life).

no he hasn't he is the biggest wanna be gangsta i have ever seen in my life... yeah he got shot, but hay just about every rapper has, 50 is a cry baby snitch who gets others to do his dirty work, the only decent actual gangsta rapper goin around at the moment is The Game

 

[Bourky23]

and the games musik is 10 times better than fiddy's as well

 

[dansi]

Why should I be embarrassed?

A rapper and a lawyer, Yungun looks at contemporary British perceptions of hip hop culture

Like many British people I’m essentially quite reserved. I have a regular office job and although I work in a friendly atmosphere I like to keep my personal life and my working life at a comfortable distance.

I repeatedly find myself a reluctant spokesperson for hip hop culture in Britain

Every now and then, however, a colleague will catch wind of my ‘extra-curricular’ activities and probe me on an area of popular culture with which they are unfamiliar. Thus, I repeatedly find myself a reluctant spokesperson for hip hop culture in Britain. This reluctance, I am almost ashamed to say, stems from embarrassment.

COLLEAGUE: What’s this I hear about you being a DJ in your spare time?!
ME: Well, I’m not a DJ actually but I do make music.
COLLEAGUE: Really? What kind of music?
ME: hip hop.
COLLEAGUE: No way? Seriously? What do you do then?
ME: I do the lyrics. I write songs, perform them, release records. I’m an MC, a rapper.
COLLEAGUE: Wow! What, like 50 Cent? Where’s all your bitches then?! Where’s your chain?! You’re not a gangsta! Are you from ‘Da Hood’ then, eh?! Ha ha!

Should I force him to take me seriously by listing the far-away countries I’ve toured in, the accolades I’ve received from critics and the radio stations I’ve appeared on? Should I try to show that there’s more to hip hop than these tired stereotypes? Should I explain that actually what I do is more similar to artists like Mos Def, Talib Kweli and others labeled as ‘conscious’ rappers? Or should I just accept that the only other rapper he’s heard of is Eminem, offer a half-hearted laugh and go about my business? But the most burning question of all is: why do I feel so embarrassed?

Although it amounts to little more than innocent curiosity or harmless office banter, this awkward exchange tells us something about the common perception of hip hop in 2007. My colleague’s reaction is entirely predictable.

I was born in 1980 into a middle-class family in an affluent area of North London. The son of a black Nigerian man and a white English woman, I received an expensive private education and went on to study law at a red-brick university before starting working life as a trainee solicitor in a city law firm.

rap’s influence has long extended far beyond the black ghettos of America

It would be an understatement to say that this is not an average background for a rapper. But rap’s influence has long extended far beyond the black ghettos of America where it began some thirty years ago.

Anybody who grew up in London as teenager in the 1990s could only have missed the rapid surge in the popularity of hip hop music by hiding under a rock. It should come as no surprise, then, that a man of my age should be a fan. So is it really that strange that I like making hip hop music? My colleague’s reaction suggests that, for some reason, it is.

Perhaps that reason has something to do with the public image of hip hop. The successful modern rap star is often marketed as young, black and dangerous. To be described as ‘ghetto’ is to be hailed as authentic. John McWhorter has convincingly argued that ‘the nastiest rap sells best’, and indeed, every time we turn on a television we are presented with the familiar hip hop stereotypes: aggressive scowls and macho posturing.

Much has been made of the inappropriateness of ‘thug’ rappers as role models, the glorification of violence, misogyny and homophobia and the resulting self-perpetuated alienation of black people from mainstream society. To pursue an education and work a nine-to-five job has become uncool compared to the seductive glamour of a life of crime.

Everybody sang along with 50 Cent when he proclaimed 'I’m a mother****ing P.I.M.P.', but if his initials of choice were G.P. or Q.C, it’s unlikely he would have dominated the charts like he did. So perhaps it is understandable that the ‘thug’ image springs to mind when we hear the words ‘hip hop’.

a nine-to-five job has become uncool compared to the seductive glamour of a life of crime

But this is an oversimplified view. It does not take into account the huge commercial success and cultural influence of artists who have never sought to market themselves as ‘thugs’, such as the Black Eyed Peas, Will Smith, Outkast and more recently Kanye West.

And while 50 Cent’s story of being shot nine times formed part of his marketing campaign, rap mogul Sean ‘P Diddy’ Combs went as far as changing his name in order to distance himself from the negative attention surrounding his legal battles over gun charges.

Rap’s biggest star, Shawn ‘Jay-Z’ Carter, has origins that may at first cast him as another poor role model, but it is his unparalleled business savvy that has made him the hero of millions of young fans and the darling of corporate America, with leading brands such as Hewlett-Packard, Budweiser and Coca-Cola falling over themselves to be associated with him.

Violence can no longer compete with the all-conquering lure of materialism as the dominating theme in rap music. A glance at popular hip hop based shows Cribs and Pimp My Ride instantly demonstrates that it is money, not violence, that rules the rap world.

So we could argue that, rather than leading young black people towards the margins of society, hip hop music is in fact encouraging them to align their goals with those of the white middle-classes: the so-called ‘American Dream’. Certainly, in my own experience, it is the most ‘ghetto’ of hip hop fans that have praised me the most for embarking on a career in the legal profession.

the stars of rap are among the most prominent icons of the black community

Moreover, although the ability of hip hop music to educate or empower young black people has often been treated with suspicion, the stars of rap are among the most prominent icons of the black community.

When black people were outraged at the lack of support for the sufferers of hurricane Katrina, the words of Kanye West (who said that George Bush ‘doesn’t care’ about black people) resonated the loudest. Through the megaphone of rap music, the voice of the black ‘ghetto’ seems to drown out that of the black middle class.

Perhaps black doctors, teachers, businesspeople and lawyers have felt an embarrassment similar to mine. Perhaps they struggle to relate to the image of blackness that entertainers have made most prominent and have sought to distance themselves from it.

But the danger of this approach is that in distancing themselves from the ‘rock-stars’ of the black community, they risk alienating themselves from the young people who are inevitably in awe of that glamour.

The worrying conclusion is that mainstream culture has become more comfortable with a distorted perception of blackness. It is difficult to tell whether this belies some form of institutionalised racism or whether it is simply the result of over-exposure to a single limited and essentially flawed perception of blackness.

I should not be embarrassed to proclaim in the same breath that I am both a young, black lawyer and also a hip hop artist. I should, rather, be proud that I am in the unique position to be able to challenge preconceptions of what either of those should be. The fact that I have encountered difficulty when displaying that pride is an embarrassment to us all.

SOURCE

 

[rick James]

Good article Diego, it makes a lot of good points. Thing with Jay is, if you're a casual listener you'll probably instantly write him off as being too commercially focused.

but when you listen to his lyrics, and realyl listen to all of his music, as an entire catalogue - you realise there's far more to him than simply rapping about "Money, cash, hoes" or that "Money ain't a thang" - and even casual listeners that appreciate Hiphop have to respect him for his wordplay and flow, there's simply no amount of internal Hiphop politics that can over ride the fact that Jay is simply sick on the microphone.

Err and to the guy claiming 50 cent is bigger than Jay-Z, I'm sorry, you are not worth a proper response son. Your opinion is garbage.

 

[rick James]

Sounds a bit like....
[youtube]EMzoBkaFxh4[/youtube]

Which of course comes from your namesake

[youtube]dGE0RNYAoJk[/youtube]

Woot Val for the win.

 

[bigdadymac]

Kingdom Come has a lil bit of RJ init baby...Rj u def are a super freak!

******** Val...Woot the Bigdady....

 

[rick James]

******** Val...Woot the Bigdady....

I take it back, indeed, Val, you are a bum.

 

[Homer Jnr]

He opens and finishes the opening track on the new Fall Out Boy album.

 

[rick James]

He opens and finishes the opening track on the new Fall Out Boy album.

yeah wtf is with that.

 

[johnnyhoward]

50 cents get rich or die trying was great. His massacre album was pathetic i must admit but 50 is better then jay z.

Never heard the Blueprint or Reasonable Doubt? Both albums are 10 times better than the best 50 could come up with (it wasn't a bad album, but everything else has been garbage...one album wonder).

Jay-Z is one of 2, maybe 3 American commercial rapper I can handle.

H.O.V.A. (Izzo) is probably the one I listen to most, actually according to my iTunes 99 Problems matches H.O.V.A in the playcount area.

"Izzo"? You couldn't have picked any better songs than Izzo? Of his commercial songs Hard Knock Life, I Just Wanna Love U and Jigga That fellow are better.

 

[rick James]

Only 50 cent song I REALLY though was awesome

[youtube]MuysVCJ7Ito[/youtube]

Like jadakiss said "I'm the only rapper with clout, you ain't get shot again so wahts' your new album about?"

 

[wce4premiership]

no he hasn't he is the biggest wanna be gangsta i have ever seen in my life... yeah he got shot, but hay just about every rapper has, 50 is a cry baby snitch who gets others to do his dirty work, the only decent actual gangsta rapper goin around at the moment is The Game

I like game heaps, way more then 50 but 50 as been more gangster over his life. Just because you dont like him doesn't mean he hasn't done things others haven't. His get rich or die trying was good but now he makes songs for the clubs, not what i like but he still sells so he is a smart man and knows how to get what he wants. Yes he is a snitch now (although he snitched to protect someone he loved) and not every rapper has been shot, had there mum killed and taken over a drug dealig business at 13 odd.

Game >> 50

50 >> Jay z

Jay z's good songs = hard knock life
encore/numb
body


his new songs are crap absolute crap.

 

[wce4premiership]

and the games musik is 10 times better than fiddy's as well

better then 50s new stuff yes easily.

 

[johnnyhoward]

Game >> 50

50 >> Jay z

Jay z's good songs = hard knock life
encore/numb
body

Well if you think those are Jay's best songs then you clearly don't understand or appreciate the man's best work. Also I never understood why an individual rapper would call themselves "The Game"...fine name for a group but not an individual.

BTW good work on posting that How to Rob clip rJ, great song.