Jay-Z - In My Lifetime Vol. 1 poll

i would rank it like
Where I'm From
Streets Is Watching
You Must Love Me
Rap Game/Crack Game
Intro: A Million and One Questions/Rhyme No More
Face Off
Friend or Foe '98
The City Is Mine
Who You Wit II
Imaginary Player
Real Niggaz
Lucky Me
(Always Be My) Sunshine
I Know What Girls Like

the better half of this album > the better half of any other Jay album

If this record didn't have I Know What Girls Like and Sunshine, it would be dope as fuck. As is, I just never want to listen to it. Rap Game/crack game

i always forget this album. i like "i know what girls like"!

well you would

but prob voting "where i'm from" pending another listen

xp why me particularly? i like the beat.

this album is awesome

ha cos you are poss the biggest kim stan on ilx

and quite right too.

not enough that i've been moved to d/l her latest mixtape though :/

Voted for "Who You Wit", which I'm pretty sure is the first Jay-Z song I heard.

yeah...i knew him "Ain't No" and "I'll Be" before that but "Who You Wit" was definitely the first song that made me go "wait who is this guy anyway, this is really dope"

'imaginary player' then 'where im from'

cant believe u think 'imaginary player' is in the lesser half of the album

like 30 or 40 grand cocksucker

i love "Imaginary Player" but like...i love all the songs i put above it more, those are all great too, y'know?

i wonder if the "Imaginary Player Part 2" that was on early tracklists of Vol 2 ever surfaced

I might have heard "I'll Be" first. I definitely never heard anything from RD until the Blueprint era. For a long time I thought Vol. 1 was his first album.

If this record didn't have I Know What Girls Like and Sunshine, it would be dope as fuck.

― if there is a King Kenny, apparently he is huge into slapstick. (a hoy hoy), Tuesday, February 1, 2011 9:34 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Those are my two fave tracks on it :(

whiney wtf

you don't dig the hard as fuck 90s NYC shit on this record?

whiney wtf

― some dude, Tuesday, February 1, 2011 10:17 AM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i'm a sucker for Kraftwerk and Sly Fox samples.

Lol at this review:

In an earlier age, when the likes of Public Enemy and Gang Starr ruled the roost, Jay-Z would have garnered the same kind of serious attention and respect as, say, the Fresh Prince. But in the devalued hip-hop universe of the late 1990s--where political activism is irrelevant, and entrepreneurial mediocrities like Puff Daddy and Master P hold sway--it's tempting to hail him as a conquering hero. Tempting, but mistaken. For one thing, he lacks the pipes to be considered among the truly great MCs (Chuck D, Guru, Ice Cube, Method Man). For another, his rhymes--both structurally and in terms of subject-matter--are way too simplistic. Rather than draw any conclusions from his world, or postulate any form of action, Jay simply calls 'em like he sees 'em--a post-Biggie dialectic of thinly-veiled threats ("Friend or Foe '98", "Face Off") and dreary self-aggrandisment ("I Know What Girls Like", "City Is Mine"). Hang on, didn't this used to be known as whack? --Andrew McGuire

"whack"

was there an old ILM thread where that review was discussed? i feel like the sentiment of Guru having great 'pipes' was clowned a bit

Think Streets is Watchin, Friend or Foe 98, or City is Mine for me...

xpost lol I dunno just found it on amazon

Yep you are right!

Jay-Z album poll - Vols. 1-3

i was just absentmindedly beatboxing "Streets Is Watching" and James started dancing

"whack"

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Wednesday, August 13, 2008 2:07 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

haha

Lol I was just about to post that.

Stay consistent Whiney!

sunshine is dope imo

but not liking the rest of the album is whacky

[sic]

1 "Intro: A Million and One Questions/Rhyme No More"

jay over the aaliyah flip might be in opo jay rap tbh

"while i'm lookin at my roll... ice, spinning on my sleeve" <-- this is one of my favorite rap lines every because jay enunciates this in a way that makes it feel like the word "spinning" is actually spinning, if that makes sense -- it's very bizarre to me in the best way

i haven't actually heard this or any of the Volumes in like three years, and they're all in storage atm.

i think vol 2 was my fav at the time, but my tastes are quite diff atm

vols 1-3 are all dope

when do we start ranking jay-z albums because

tbh guys there are other threads for that, for once i'd like to just talk about Vol. 1 and not all his other records

Vol 2
Black Album
Vol 3
Blueprint
Reasonable Doubt
Vol 1
Dynasty: Roc
American Gangster
Blueprint 2
Kingdom Come
Blueprint 3

hmmm...interesting

and i'll basically fuck with all those albums except the last one tbh

one thing i learned today: literally every jay-z song on youtube has a bunch of retarded illuminati stuff in the comments section

i kind of meant to start a thread about that

haha i just did it for you: rank Jay-Z albums itt

like Vibe Q&As straight up ask people if they're in the illuminati now

and they have to give them real answers instead of "Why would you waste my fucking time with retarded bullshit like that"

i probably underrated "Friend Or Foe 98" upthread, sometimes i like it better than the original "Friend Or Foe"

POLL: What day is it?

"Where you can't put your vest away and say you'll wear it tomorrow
Cause the day after we'll be saying, damn I was just with him yesterday"

No but for real the answer is Where I'm From

no seriously what do you all think is so bad about "i know what girls like"? it's a banger, i love that mechanical beat. kim is amazing on it and jay-z is funny. I MIGHT VOTE FOR IT.

I voted for it & my name is Lex too. Jigga knows what Lexs like!

"I Know What Girls Like" just sticks out like a sore thumb, feels like Jay trying to adapt to the jiggy Bad Boy sound that was so huge in '97 and failing, and taking backseat to his guests, whereas on most of the other songs he's the focus and sounds totally comfortable in his own skin.

plus "I Know What Boys Like" is a great song and it's just an annoying interpolation of it

oh haha this is another of those cases where i don't know the original song. who is that by?

The Waitresses.

also the singer from the Waitresses died just a few months before the Jay song came out so at the time i was all offended like ugh how tacky

this waitresses song is not what i was expecting

it makes me like "i know what girls like" MORE

More than you did, or more than the Waitresses?

both

that song is fierce, fuiud

jay-z threads escalate:

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Observer/Pix/pictures/2008/07/19/thewire-rex460.jpg

There's a Girl Talk song with Jay and Waitress song mashed together. Fun times.

The "A Million and One" remix is also nasty.

for some reason i've ended up listening to this album more than any of the others over the last few years. its patchy but the best moments are amazing.

i'm voting for imaginary player because its the pithiest diss track of all time,but where i'm from is a close second.

The "A Million and One" remix is also nasty.

― rihanna rennavated my dick (rennavate), Saturday, February 5, 2011 2:37 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

I presume renna is talking about the DJ Premier Remix in which case OTM. `

Debating between Where I'm From, A Million and One, Streets is Watching and Who You Wit.

Lucky Me is Lil Wayne's favourite track by Jay. I'm not saying this is relevant, but it's amusing, at any rate.

that is kind of interesting/weird. not a bad song but totally in the lesser half of the album and kind of saccharine, pales in comparison to the other downtempo song being "You Must Love Me."

Yeah. I mean, he quotes it in Mr. Carter, and apparently has the verse tatted somewhere.

wayne is a drug addict with horrible taste in music

Right. Anyway, I don't think Jay has ever topped 'Regrets' when it comes to downtempo songs. Unless we're counting Excuse Me Miss.

i meant downtempo both musically and in terms of tone, in which category to me his best shit is "This Can't Be Life" and "You Must Love Me" and "Regrets" and "Song Cry"

"Soon You'll Understand" imo

oh shit, forgot about that one too.

is Jay's MTV Spring Break '98 performance on YouTube? i remember that being heavy on Vol. 1 stuff and it was in that period after Biggie's death when he was all dramatic about wearing a bulletproof vest during concerts.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

ugh wtf

Lol what

Some jiggy era nostalgists in this b

lol! i don't feel quite so alone now.

Ugh, is this some rampant Diddy fandom running backwards? Worst song on here.

lol wtf

the hatred for it is severely out of proportion - it's a really really fun party joint and everyone's pretty good on it.

i totally voted for it

doesn't matter -- it's on a fucking album with "Where I'm From" and "Streets Is Watching" and "Million And One Questions"

hahahahaha this is high retardery!

"where i'm from" is incredible and prob my co-#1 here, "streets is watching" also amazing, "a million and one questions" was never really in the running?

"the city is mine" is my #3

Tbh, I haven't heard the song in years, but I remember Jay and Kim sounding great but Diddy way awful.

Jay is OK on it whereas on most other songs on the album he's dropping quotables left and right and sounding larger than life

I saw Vol 1 on vinyl at a local record store today and I almost bought it.

most other songs on the album don't have that amazing mechanical beat

Most other songs on the album have way better beats.

"where i'm from" maybe, the rest...nah

Tbh, I can't really stand that beat.

("I Know What Girls Like", not "Where I'm From")

I would be surprised at this poll result, but this is the same board that ranked Into the Unknown as the best Bad REligion album, so.....

playin this now....even tho it's kinda overproduced and a lazy as hell interpolation I really still dig "The City is Mine". idk, reminds me of a time I went to South Beach.

I mean it's no stain on the hardcore stuff on this album but for pop-hip hop it works.

the verses on "city is mine" actually sound pretty cold if you remove them from the context of the chorus

oh yea they're totally dope

i like the chorus to that song too. no probs w that track

its def better than the song that finished number 1 in this poll thru inexplicable lex magic

yeah i have no problem w/ the cheesy chorus i'm just saying the verses don't even sound very pop rap (especially by 97 standards)

bizarre results. great album.

"where i'm from" obv

^^^^ apparently that tune is included in the WTT tour setlist

yeah i love that a non-single from his least popular album is still such a concert staple

it helps that the beat was such a huge thing. there used to be a youtube interview w/ ddot explaining how he made it but its since been removed

that would prob be in my pox all-time favorite beats

does jay even sound good rapping that anymore?

lol these results are insane. was just listening to this album in the car and was ambushed by unexpected emotion during "you must love me." would have voted "streets is watching." all the songs about women on this are gross or terrible or both like all jay-z girl songs.

like they're gross but also faintly implausible to me

jay-z in life and in his music reads to me as a person who has nothing but contempt for women, and when he raps about enjoying having sex with them he always sounds like a robot trying to approximate lust

maybe not like a robot but like he's imitating other men's sexual bravado or something

that all sounds very negative, but i love this album

never quite understood the "underrated" love for this album, the intro is classic obviously but otherwise I don't mess with the beats (either on the street or smoother stuff) and Jay's rapping is nowhere near as on-point as his other prime work. like every post-RD/pre-BP album over this easy, this feels like a transitional work where he hadn't quite figured things out.

omg horseshoe driving around bmore bumping vol. 1, you are the best

The first place song in this poll might be the single dumbest ilm poll result

Yep.

I don't really understand how anyone could listen to this album and not go with one of the first 9 picks in some dude's ranking:

Where I'm From
Streets Is Watching
You Must Love Me
Rap Game/Crack Game
Intro: A Million and One Questions/Rhyme No More
Face Off
Friend or Foe '98
The City Is Mine
Who You Wit II

And of those "Where I'm From" just feels so monumental, one of the absolute best tracks he ever did.

yeah, I really don't fuck w/ the overdone poppier numbers on this one, save "The City is Mine", but the hard stuff is ace.

he did "Where I'm From" when I saw him on the WTT tour, was sweet.

The thing about the rawer material is I feel like it's a million times improved on Vol. 3 (although they're pretty distinct, just a general comparison.) was converted to that one through a friend in college who insisted it was his best work and wasn't huge on The Black Album. clearly the original challenger of the official Jay-Z canon

I like Vol 3 a lot too but prefer Vol 2 of the trilogy.

Vol. 2's cool but besides "MCH" the Swizz beats don't really hit and I don't fuck with "Hard Knock Life" like that tbh

the closing stretch of 3 is incredible

"If I Should Die" is a great beat imo

weird results itt

when the #1 only has 4 votes the results are pretty meaningless as far as measuring consensus anyway so w/e

Looked up on Spotify and noticed the current JAY Z stylization retroactively applies, very sad

can't blame spotify for that. if you spell an artist more than one way, it kinda completely messes up the system. (though if they want to hire me to explain to them how to fix this and other quirks of digital music librarying, i will happily do it.)

"City Is Mine" cover notable as the last time he used the umlaut

http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-512207-1375783889-2117.jpeg

20 years old today.

Just caught Jay on the 4:44 tour last night. only played Where I'm From from this alb.

more o's than you know exist

The Intro is a killer fuckin bump in my car rn

MOTHERFUCKERS CAN'T RHYME NO MORE
BOUT CRIME NO MORE

I sometimes forget how fuckin amazing he used to be