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Actually I take my first choice back. It's got to be the Black Album. Pure fire. He was like a 1993 Jordan. Best NY rapper who ever lived.
That was more like the Wack Album. If you had to come up with 15 of Jay-Z's best songs, how many from the Wack Album would be on there?
1. Coming of Age (Reasonable Doubt)
2. Where I'm From (IML, Vol. 1)
3. Hard Knock Life (HKL, Vol. 2)
4. Brooklyn's Finest (Reasonable Doubt)
5. U Don't Know (Blueprint)
6. Feelin' It (Reasonable Doubt)
7. Friend or Foe (Reasonable Doubt)
8. Song Cry (Blueprint)
9. Girls, Girls, Girls (Blueprint)
10. Do It Again (LTSC, Vol. 3)
11. Empire State of Mind (Blueprint 3)
12. Show Me What You Got (Kingdom Come)
13. Dead Presidents II (Reasonable Doubt)
14. Can I Live (Reasonable Doubt)
15. Money, Cash, **** (HKL, Vol. 2)
I'm not even saying this would comprise Jay-Z's best work (or even my favorite Jay-Z songs). I'm just saying these are 15 songs that are unquestionably better than any song on the Wack Album. The best song on that album was the Public Service Announcement and that was less than three minutes. The song has the best chance of making a Jay-Z "Greatest Hits" album off the Wack Album is 99 Problems. And that song was just "okay."
Wow. I bet you already know sales don't make a great MC right ? Jay always had a crazy potential but, just like Eminem or Busta, he chose to appeal to the mainstream long time ago so he has never really explored all the directions and subjects he could have talked about. I think RD was a classic (I mean, Ready To Die/Infamous/Illmatic classic...timeless stuff), In My Lifetime the first had numerous classic tracks on it and Vol 2 was decent, but after that he fell off imo. He went in a direction where he had a vision, he wanted to build an empire and don't get me wrong I salute him for that. But after In My Lifetime Vol 2, as far as creating cohesive albums that I would buy, it was over for me. Blueprint had great songs tho, but I always thought it was kinda overrated, same with the Black Album, I used to love that album when I was 12/13, but now I don't think it was that great.
Wow. I bet you already know sales don't make a great MC right ? Jay always had a crazy potential but, just like Eminem or Busta, he chose to appeal to the mainstream long time ago so he has never really explored all the directions and subjects he could have talked about. I think RD was a classic (I mean, Ready To Die/Infamous/Illmatic classic...timeless stuff), In My Lifetime the first had numerous classic tracks on it and Vol 2 was decent, but after that he fell off imo. He went in a direction where he had a vision, he wanted to build an empire and don't get me wrong I salute him for that. But after In My Lifetime Vol 2, as far as creating cohesive albums that I would buy, it was over for me. Blueprint had great songs tho, but I always thought it was kinda overrated, same with the Black Album, I used to love that album when I was 12/13, but now I don't think it was that great.
This never really mattered to me. Did people want him to make 9 or 10 albums on the trials and tribulations of the hustler? He just would have become monotonous at that point. That's pretty much the same way people thought of Common before he started flowing over some Kanye beats and started talking more about chicks ("She said she want whatever she like, but you gotta bring a friend, and we can have one helluva night...").
I take Hov for what he offers. He's demonstrated so many different types of flows. Just compare his early days with Jaz-O and the song "Hate" off the BP3 ("My hustle, So Russell. I stretch work. Yoga. You know I got it down, dog. Al Roker. I used to knock pounds off, so you know ain't nuthin for me to knock nouns off."). Who else is flowing like that? And he's been able to stay hot for sooooo long. And I think that's ultimately what he wanted. A lot of people can fall off and retain a cult following (i.e., Camp Lo, Tribe, etc.), but very few can legitimately stay hot for 17 years. That's the difference between Jay-Z and everybody else.
That was more like the Wack Album. If you had to come up with 15 of Jay-Z's best songs, how many from the Wack Album would be on there?
1. Coming of Age (Reasonable Doubt)
2. Where I'm From (IML, Vol. 1)
3. Hard Knock Life (HKL, Vol. 2)
4. Brooklyn's Finest (Reasonable Doubt)
5. U Don't Know (Blueprint)
6. Feelin' It (Reasonable Doubt)
7. Friend or Foe (Reasonable Doubt)
8. Song Cry (Blueprint)
9. Girls, Girls, Girls (Blueprint)
10. Do It Again (LTSC, Vol. 3)
11. Empire State of Mind (Blueprint 3)
12. Show Me What You Got (Kingdom Come)
13. Dead Presidents II (Reasonable Doubt)
14. Can I Live (Reasonable Doubt)
15. Money, Cash, **** (HKL, Vol. 2)
I'm not even saying this would comprise Jay-Z's best work (or even my favorite Jay-Z songs). I'm just saying these are 15 songs that are unquestionably better than any song on the Wack Album. The best song on that album was the Public Service Announcement and that was less than three minutes. The song has the best chance of making a Jay-Z "Greatest Hits" album off the Wack Album is 99 Problems. And that song was just "okay."
My fifteen songs:
1. Dead Presidents I (No album)
2. What More can I Say? (Black Album)
3. PSA (Black Album)
4. Can't Knock the Hustle (RD)
5. Where I'm From (Vol. 1)
6. My First Song (Black Album)
7. You Must Love Me (Vol. 1)
8. All I Need (Blueprint)
9. U Don't Know (Blueprint)
10. 03' Bonnie and Clyde (Blueprint 2). Y'all can hate on this one, but Jay was on point and Kanye really made those spanish guitars into an extraordinary beat. Probably my favorite mainstream single of his.
11. Fallin (American Gangster)
12. Allure (Black Album)
13 Brooklyn Go Hard (Notorious soundtrack)
14. Meet the Parents (Blueprint 2)
15. Intro (Dynasty La Roc)
To me Jay has no prime. He's been consistently great for almost two decades.
My fifteen songs:
1. Dead Presidents I (No album)
2. What More can I Say? (Black Album)
3. PSA (Black Album)
4. Can't Knock the Hustle (RD)
5. Where I'm From (Vol. 1)
6. My First Song (Black Album)
7. You Must Love Me (Vol. 1)
8. All I Need (Blueprint)
9. U Don't Know (Blueprint)
10. 03' Bonnie and Clyde (Blueprint 2). Y'all can hate on this one, but Jay was on point and Kanye really made those spanish guitars into an extraordinary beat. Probably my favorite mainstream single of his.
11. Fallin (American Gangster)
12. Allure (Black Album)
13 Brooklyn Go Hard (Notorious soundtrack)
14. Meet the Parents (Blueprint 2)
15. Intro (Dynasty La Roc)
To me Jay has no prime. He's been consistently great for almost two decades.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion. Though I think you'd be hardpressed to get anyone to take Brooklyn's Finest or Hard Knock Life off a list for any song on the Wack Album. How can you not put any song with Biggie and Hov on it on your list??? That's sacrilege in Brooklyn.
The one song on your list I do like is the Intro from the Dynasty ("So I move with biscuits, stop the hearts of those acting too suspcicious, this is food for thought, you do the dishes."). It wouldn't make my Top 15 list though.
If I had to choose any song from the Dynasty, it would be Squeeze First.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion. Though I think you'd be hardpressed to get anyone to take Brooklyn's Finest or Hard Knock Life off a list for any song on the Wack Album. How can you not put any song with Biggie and Hov on it on your list??? That's sacrilege in Brooklyn.
The one song on your list I do like is the Intro from the Dynasty ("So I move with biscuits, stop the hearts of those acting too suspcicious, this is food for thought, you do the dishes."). It wouldn't make my Top 15 list though.
If I had to choose any song from the Dynasty, it would be Squeeze First.
Brooklyn's Finest is a great song, but I would say Big outshined Jay-Z on that one. Jay came back hard though on I Love the Dough. That was probably my favorite Jay-Z collaboration even over Is That Your Chick.
Brooklyn's Finest is a great song, but I would say Big outshined Jay-Z on that one. Jay came back hard though on I Love the Dough. That was probably my favorite Jay-Z collaboration even over Is That Your Chick.
Big would outshine anyone though. That's like Jordan '93 joining the Miami Heat and saying, "Man, Lebron's really not that good."
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