Yet another inevitable new Jay-Z album: MAGNA CARTA HOLY GRAIL out july 4 on samsung galaxy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B--ZARCwSIE&feature=player_embedded

During game five of the NBA Finals, Jay-Z aired a commercial announcing that on July 4, he'll release a new album. It's called Magna Carta Holy Grail, and if the commercial's cameos are to be believed, it'll feature collaborations from Pharrell, Timbaland, Swizz Beatz, and Rick Rubin. Check out the commercial below.

The album will be released via an app on Samsung Galaxy phones. The app will be available via Google Play on June 24.

hope it's a concept album about aliens placing secret artifacts to give us clues about our true genesis

@DVSblast

My entire album if i was Jay would be bout being in the illuminati & fulla made up secrets. "WE LOOOVE ORANGE JUICE CUZ ITS EVIL"

proud of ilm that this thread wasn't started for a good 12 hours after it was announced

we need a Rolling New Jay-Z Albums Into The Shitbin Thread

i'd rather jay spent his efforts convincing his wife to get around to releasing mrs. carta or w/e instead.

we need a Rolling New Jay-Z Albums Into The Shitbin Thread

― ramona & yeezus (some dude), Monday, June 17, 2013 3:36 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol

How about that Rick Rubin sleeping on a couch (I mean concentrating) in that Samsung ad.

you lazy for this one Rick

Samsung paid $5 apiece for the albums, according to a person familiar with the matter. It wasn’t immediately clear if Nielsen SoundScan will count Samsung’s purchases in its sales tallies.

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/06/16/samsung-to-give-away-1-million-copies-of-jay-zs-new-album/

i'd rather jay spent his efforts convincing his wife to get around to releasing mrs. carta or w/e instead.

this DOES make me vaguely hopeful b has a trick up her sleeve rather than the fiasco her campaign has so far been tbh

more like magna farta holey fail

^ gets it

It'll still get a 700-post thread and #40 in the year-end poll

lmao @ rick rubin

you lazy for this one Rick

― Number None, Monday, June 17, 2013 8:50 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

haaa

ok i get the generation gap with jay-z and kanye fans but what i don't get is how anyone whose introduction to jay-z was the black album or later actually rates him as a relevant legend. surely it's like kids who first heard of madonna via her '00s work, to them she's just this weird old lady who old people like.

title of this bothers me SO MUCH

is this silver age jay or bronze age jay i've lost track

i like the beats in the trailer

I'm sure it will be the best beats money can buy and the best rhymes smooth sailing can write

I wish he would transition into being the rap steely dan. In fact I wish he would rap "I'm the rap Steely Dan."

yes

Or maybe he could turn Steely Dan into a verb.

ok i get the generation gap with jay-z and kanye fans...

Given what comes next, not entirely sure that you do.

I do like the beats in the ad. Reminds me of that great bit in Fade to Black when Rubin gives him the Fugazi sample to rap over.

And another shout out for

you lazy for this one Rick
― Number None, Monday, June 17, 2013 4:50 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Amazing

we need a Rolling New Jay-Z Albums Into The Shitbin Thread

― ramona & yeezus (some dude), Monday, June 17, 2013 10:36 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah that was a pretty excellent comment

great work all around zinging a washed-up record producer and a 60-year-old rapper

with parkinsons

Michael Jay Fox

swizz beats in that ersatz-verité video just looks like "what should i be pretending to do right now?"

Or maybe he could turn Steely Dan into a verb.

― MarkoP, Monday, June 17, 2013 5:00 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i'm stealin like dan/play stadiums in japan

great work all around zinging a washed-up record producer and a 60-year-old rapper

― congratulations (n/a), Monday, June 17, 2013 10:18 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

seriously dudes—these guys obviously just wanted to lay low and craft a humble, personal album for a core group of fans, leave em alone

Jay-Z's Pink Moon.

i'm actually kind of excited about the inevitable new mellow nylon-string guitar jams record 60 year old jay will put out

haha xp

Does anyone even care?

i'll care when there's an album to listen to, at least a little

yeah i sort of can't not care at what my once-favorite rapper does next even if i fully expect it to be boring

it is not weird to just be thinking of the record itself as a kind of minor, passive catalyst for interesting, absorbing. state-of-the-union rap discussion, i think. like not watching zero dark thirty or django but appreciating that it dragged some writers into sharing their broader thoughts

30 hours to pre-cover:
Magna Carta Holy Grail Tracklist:
01. Picasso Baby
02. Heaven
03. Versus
04. Tom Ford
05. Beach Is Better
06. FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt
07. Oceans (feat. Frank Ocean)
08. F.U.T.W.
09. Part II (On The Run) (feat. Beyoncé)
10. BBC (feat. Nas, Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Pharrell, Timbaland, and Swizz Beats)
11. La Familia
12. Jay-Z Blue
13. Nickles & Dimes
14. Holy Grail (feat. Justin Timberlake)
15. Open Letter

http://consequenceofsound.net/2013/07/rick-rubin-was-not-involved-in-jay-zs-magna-carta-holy-grail/

09. Part II (On The Run) (feat. Beyoncé)

lol is this implying "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" Part II? my excitement is so stoked!

been loling at "Oceans (feat. Frank Ocean)" for days

with just a tracklist, i think you could pump out a fairly credible review of this already

one cool aspect of this whole cell-phone-company-corporate-synergy-record-release-rollout-smashup thing is

what does F.U.T.W. stand for

Nasses (feat. Nas)

FUCK UP THE WORLD

also BIG BLACK COCK

Gunplay feat. Gunplay is the obvious antecedent here

FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt = ain't feelin the mashed text, surprised he didn't just call that one F.W.M.Y.K.I.G.I....why not go full on Fear of a Black Hat at this point

Beach is Better

Than what?

Picasso Baby

This about Paolo?

it's about a ugly ass baby

i would be really happy to never see the phrase "la familia" in hip hop again. also in pizza for that matter.

pizza does rule, tho

ok wait

Tom Ford

lol

woah, just heard this. my review of this is going to be live on pitchfork thursday morning.

can't really say much but "BBC" is going to change the sound of rap music for the next ten years.

lol

how much says its an interpolation of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1w85qMqIjs

nope. this track is basically swizz/timbo/kanye coming together to produce the most out-there classic beat of all time. greatest producers of all time and the two greatest rappers of all time. this makes all the somber black and white rick rubin couch swizz blank expression ads before yo gotti youtubes over the last week worth it.

part of me wonders if we were meant to mash the titles of tracks 2 - 4 together

"tom ford" despite the goofy title is a pretty amazing conceptual track that's built around samples from a single man, sort of reminds me of jay on "this can't be life" in its hard realism but describing a very different lifestyle.

mark richardson is going to hate me for this.

Tom by Ford

The Magna Carta was the first piece of legislation in the history of the world to limit the powers of monarchy, a document forced on the King of England by a breakaway crew of feudal lords. After ducking and dodging the slings and arrows of the rap game for two decades, is the King of Rap finally signaling that he has voluntarily agreed to limitations on his lyrical prowess and majestic musical power, an end to his autocratic yet graceful rule over the Land of Hip-hop? With this, his twelfth album, King Carter appears finally ready to hang up the mic and retire to his Windsor Castle in the hills of Marcy with the still-vital Queen B and a steamer trunk of Tom Ford suits. Jay is leaving the game in the hands of his handpicked retainers, the Warders of His Majesty’s Rap Palace, a team that includes iPhone Generation luminaries such as Wale, Mark Ronson and, the most potent of all, J. Cole, the Lancelot to Jay's Arthur-- but Jigga What Jigga Who, perhaps out of a sense of noble obligation, wants a final chance to address the Roc Nation.

After a slightly treacly introductory ode to his recently-born daughter, the album opens with a trenchant meditation on fame and the stark realities of crashing through the glass ceiling. Quoting longtime friend Michael Stipe, Jay intones as if reciting a prayer, "That's me in the corner / That's me in the spotlight / Losing my religion"-- true, Jay has gone from the corner to the spotlight but the question still lingers, what is the "religion" that he's "losing"? Jay might spit heretical rhymes over this Kanye-helmed banger, which recalls Yeezy's anthemic "Jesus Walks," but he seems genuinely pained by the questions that pain all of us when he asks, "Getting ghost in the Ghost / Can you see me? / Can you see me?" Does the fame and the tinted glass of his luxury cars put him in the spotlight or render him invisible?

Switching gears in the Phantom on the the tour de force "BBC," a stunning 10-minute Bohemian Rapsody that sees reigning heavyweight beatmeisters Swizz Beats, Timberland and Kanye West teaming up to create a genre-defying coral reef of prickly free jazz clarinets and refreshing sea water synths, Jay sums up another of the album's themes with a lyrical performance worthy of F. Scott Fitzgerald: "Used to have tools like Black and Decker / Now I fly Airbus double decker." The question is, how does a man make the journey from Marcy playgrounds to the 8th arrondissement, while still remaining true to his personal vision? But once again, the questions seem to hang in the air, unanswered.

A+

He seems to be in the memoir-writing phase of his robber barron trajectory:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFdFLdh8new

pharrell's laugh

dylannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

yeah seriously that post

prickly free jazz clarinets and refreshing sea water synths

thakig u

so good

can you just pre-write all pitchfork reviews from now on

jesus god this smells like teen spirit usage

Requesting a fake lyric .jpg from dylannn

http://hiphop-n-more.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/somewhereinamerica-lyrics.jpg

i had to google to check if the "somewhereinamerica" lyrics were real, so i don't think it's worth the trouble.

SHOUT OUT TO OLD JEWS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_d5Tp65s_o

No samples from A Single Man :-(

i guess it's supposed to sound frantic and improvised, picturing jay just going off in the booth but i really really can't get into that non sequitur lyrical thing

hands down got the best flow
sound i'm so special
soundbwoy burial
this my wayne perry flow
yall don't know nothin bout wayne perry though
district of columbia
guns on your tumblr

the references and images could be interesting. but he doesn't seem interested in engaging with the meaning of them, or he's trying to highlight their significance placed alongside unrelated things. instead of writing something around those references or expanding on a single image or reference, it's just... i'm not feeling it.

God, that gives me hope for the new album. It's classic HOV. Start with a boast and back it up with a dense, killer verse.

(Breakdown: "Sound boy" is an inexperienced rapper or DJ, Jay-Z says his flow will bury lesser rappers. This is also a shoutout to the Smif-N-Wessun song "Sound Bwoy Burriel."

Since he's talking about killing, he brings up infamous-in certain circles- DC gangster/killer Wayne Perry. This both alludes to the way he's "killing" other rappers and backs up his flow as smooth because Perry's nickname was "Silk."

The tumblr line is just awesome and I can't wait to hear Jigga say this out loud. Also, the play on words with the characters line is choice).

http://www.mstarz.com/articles/15510/20130701/jay-z-new-album-tom-ford-beach-is-better-latest-magna-carta-holy-grail-lyrics-sheets-leaked-online.htm

I'm toward the back half of the album at this point. The first half was entirely uninteresting. Beats are better towards the end. Still dumb on the whole, though.

lol xp

i guess it doesn't really need to be said that jay pretty much sucks on this (standouts are fuckwithmeuknowigotit but you don't want rick ross outshining you do you and bbc which also has nas for ten seconds and oceans and those are still marred by that dumb free association rapping [we ride in lambos / camo / soldiers in vietnam / hanoi / rocks all day for my trappin niggas / day into night / nightmares / when fiends come fiendin / for new kicks / jordan 3s and givenchy / play sport all up on my neck / r.i.p. to harvey milk / twinkie defense 'cause know i got cream / cash rules / shaolin to marcy / sex and candy / girls poppin mollies in my maybach / i'm on the highway all day / dayyy-o banana boat / belafonte calypso flow -- there's my fake jay-z lyrics, okay?] but less so and grocery bag punchlines).
sort of interesting as a showcase for bigname producers (and mike dean).

ugh @ the Tom Ford youtube

feels like a victory lap from a Nascar driver that finished in 23rd place

labels really like this "promo video where the artist talks about the 'creative process'" idea right now

respect to dylann's fake jay-z lyrics, marcy/sex&candy forever

labels really like this "promo video where the artist talks about the 'creative process'" idea right now

m4yer h4wth0rne's people were pitching a few of these types of videos to run before the songs he talks about even dropped... like, dude, NOBODY cares about m4yer h4wth0rne that much

never as long as I live will I forget J saying "duality"

more people care about m4yer h4wth0re than about another certain band presently being asked to consider making some promo videos where they talk about their "creative process." I really don't get this but I bet said certain band will be a team player and do it anyway

jay-z's interview for this musta been "well I looked around at what was in the room w/ me and just went from there"

feel like it could convincingly be accessorised in the style of one of those renaissance portraits, jay posed next to a globe, hand atop a stack of books, reasonable doubt leaning up against it

something of shitty douglas coupland novels in the functionary parachuting of topical terms & trends into these songs, tumblr, miley cyrus, planking

dylannn's "dayyy-o banana boat / belafonte calypso flow -- there's my fake jay-z lyrics, okay?" is eerily prescient:

I'm just trying to finAnnotated common ground
'fore Mr. Belafonte come and chop a nigga down
Mr. Day O, major fail

woah

this album is so very dreary and empty, i genuinely have no idea how anyone can be impressed by it, especially in the light of y'know jay-z's career

has anyone been impressed by it? doesn't seem like it

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2013/jul/04/jay-z-magna-carta-first-listen

the rap internet that lost it over J. Cole last month seems to like it

admittedly I haven't heard anything but the one track upthread but the 'positive' comments I've seen in casual-rap reviewers like USA Today and shit mirror the "B+"-praise they gave Blueprint 3 when it was released.

I don't have one of the Samsung-eligible phones to d/l, is it posted somewhere? might as well take my one cursory listen to the whole thing.

i've been streaming it on here: http://fistintheair.com/2013/07/03/jay-z-magna-carta-holy-grail-album-stream/

cool thanks. might as well get this over with.

this synth whistle sound every single bar on picasso baby is like a thousand times more abrasive than anything on yeezus

i wonder if jay can even hear it

my main problem with Jay-Z now is that he's turned into the friend from your old block that came into money and now owns all this expensive art and shit he doesn't even properly understand and he's trying to talk to you about it but you can't engage him in a convo on it because he only gives a shit about it on some superficial level.

really intrigued by how bland this is but I am feeling the beyonce number

yeah she shoulda saved that for her album

the best stuff here is single, melodic, non-halting jay verses couched in as much anything-else/nas/timbo as possible. so many terrible hooks though, inc the Justin one -this sorta early 2000s pitched up zombies sample vibe throughout.

did I just hear NO... MORE ... WIRE HANGERS! in the middle of jay z blue? hi 5 @ jay if so

this has some of the worst verses I've ever heard

I mean did he actually say "takin' food outta my little monster's mouth/drive me gaga"? Did I mishear this?

Yes he said that. Unfortunately.

"Versus" and "Beach Is Better" should be full songs, fuck you Jay.

my main problem with Jay-Z now is that he's turned into the friend from your old block that came into money and now owns all this expensive art and shit he doesn't even properly understand and he's trying to talk to you about it but you can't engage him in a convo on it because he only gives a shit about it on some superficial level.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvVdHFyY2-0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvVdHFyY2-0

Great review Lex. Gives first-listens a good name and means you can never again claim that you don't do funny.

didn't even notice the first time that was who wrote it, lol.

yes good review tho

This is so boring. Every time a song ends I want to get back to Kendrick's GKMC.

Awful verses aside, I like the sound of this.

Lex, I really enjoyed your piece, though eventually I'll make myself listen to the album anyway.

Ok "Picasso Baby" is fucking horrendous

"turkey bacon/smell the aroma"

From standin in Whole Food shoppin
To throwin some of the flyest 'Cues New York has ever seen....

not really feeling FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt, not even Rosay's verse.

"Hov just landed in Rome, niggas/All hail Caesar's home, niggas"

*smh*

"I'm on the ocean/I'm in Heaven/Yachting/Oceans 11"

COME THE FUCK ON

ok after the line about getting confetti on his furs, I'm done. Lex OTM.

Please tell me that isn't a real lyric man

does not relate to or improve my feeling for this album but without reservation I love

MY LADY IS /
MY MERC-ED-E-IZ

Great review Lex. Gives first-listens a good name and means you can never again claim that you don't do funny.

i didn't mean to be funny :(

I mean did he actually say "takin' food outta my little monster's mouth/drive me gaga"? Did I mishear this?

i can't believe i MISSED THIS LINE, opportunity to point and laugh gone

"verses" needs more lyrics but it's nice

Ooh rhyming ladies with Mercedes, jigga's still pushing the envelope

yeah but what schlump is saying is it's even worse than that, he stretches the word out unnecessarily to rhyme with "lady is"

i love all the tracks where he leaves unnecessarily long gaps between cadences as if to minimize the number of words he has to use per phrase

"Stylized crap"

man how will Scott Boras ever recover from that Jay-Z zing

how will we recover from that Jay Z diss?

so: no kanye anywhere on this puppy

"14. "Jay-Z Blue"
Oof. Jay-Z really rhymed "Pampers" with "Hamptons." He's talking all "fuck joint custody" and needing a joint, there are Biggie grunts and "Mommie Dearest" quotes, which is... terrifying and uncomfortable. Weren't we all happy a few minutes ago? What the hell just happened? I feel like I'm watching my parents fight. Is this my fault? Did I do something wrong? I'm just going to go hide under the covers and pretend I'm asleep. That being said, the most brutal and honest line on the album might be "Father never taught me how to be a father." This is a song that will improve with time, but is simply too much for one listen."

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/1569221/jay-z-magna-carta-holy-grail-track-by-track-review

my least favorite hue

i feel like he should have just released the recordings of himself monologuing on the song concepts instead of actually recording them, thrown a beat under it if he wanted.

Shawn and Rick Talk Duality

i hope dmx threatens to strangle him for the aaliyah reference on that

it's really kind of jarring how halfway through the album there's "Crown" with this really Yeezus-sounding beat from one of Kanye's producers.

that beat is actually from a 16 year old who isn't a kanye producer
i thought that the most yeezus sounding beat was the mike will one

point is Travis Scott and Mike Dean have production credits also, w/e. it is crazy that someone who wasn't born when Reasonable Doubt dropped has a beat on a Jay-Z album now, though.

it's a cool story... beat is kinda wack tho

yeah...i think it gives lie to the idea that Jay 'wasn't ready' for a Yeezus-type album and that it would've sounded good if he tried to make one.

point is Travis Scott and Mike Dean have production credits also, w/e. it is crazy that someone who wasn't born when Reasonable Doubt dropped has a beat on a Jay-Z album now, though.

― amandabama murderpussy (some dude), Saturday, July 6, 2013 10:15 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

from what i hear, Travis Scott doesn't have an actual production credit although "someone" may have added his credit on wikipedia

what'd u learn abt on wikipedia today

lol yeah i guess the album credits for this will continue to morph online until the actual CD is in people's hands like with Yeezus. still though, TS is at least on the song as a vocalist, it's fair to say the track 'came from' Kanye's camp to begin with.

is travis scott actually part of the kanye camp or is he just attempting to zelig his way into every major rapper's good graces

it's confusing to keep track of put apparently his is signed to Grand Hustle as a rapper and signed to G.O.O.D. as a producer

The samsung 160kbps mp3s are nearly unlistenable. No wonder you'll talking about the lyrics.

I'm rooting for Jay Z. He seems like a nice humble underdog type.

this is not a good record at all

nice that he liked 'bad girls' as much as i did tho

THAT'S the flow he was biting. i kept thinking ross but that's def it

Here is a sample from the current reviews on Rate Your Music where the current user rating is 2.6.

Actual Track Listing:
1. Holy Hell This Sucks (feat. Justin I-Don't-Suck-Timberlake)
2. Picasso Would Be Disappointed Baby
3. Tom Ford Would Also be Disappointed
4. FuckWithMeYouKnowIDisappoint (feat. Rick Ross)
5. Oceans (feat. Frank I-Don't-Suck-Ocean)
6. F.U.T.W.Y.T.O.T.D (Fantastic, U Totally Wasted Your Time on This Disappointment)
7. Somewhere in America Millions are Crying Because This Was Bad
8. Crown Me The King of Disappointment
9. More Like Hell
10. Yeezus Versus Magna Carta Holy Grail (Spoiler: Yeezus Wins)
11. Part II (Is This Over Yet?) (feat. End-This-Album-Already-Beyonce)
12. Beach is Better than This Album (and I Hate Beaches)
13. BBC (I Can't Think of Anything Clever, This Album is Still Bad)
14. Jay-Z is Blue Because He Knew This Was Bad
15. Jay-Z's Familia Thinks This Is Bad
16. Nickel and a Dime is What This Album is Worth

Obvious, unsophisticated. Parodic derision demands greater finesse, should be pithier. C+

bein generous with that C+ imo

Disappointed By That Parody Tracklist (feat. Big Hat Club)

Yeah that review could be better but I quite liked Picasso Would Be Disappointed Baby and Jay-Z's Familia Thinks This Is Bad. That reviewer actually gave the album 2 stars which is more than I was expecting from their review.

Crown, Heaven, Versus and Part II would make a decent EP but the rest I don't really need to hear ever again. It's probably a slight improvement over The Blueprint III but not by much.

putting out a bat signal for ienjoyhotdogs

JT & FO do suck on those particular songs. Timberlake as blooze croaker and Ocean as grandiose divo don't work at all.

there were a few songs I almost came around to enjoy even with Jay-Z having the presence of a Speak 'n Spell. almost.

i like JT on "Heaven." Ocean is unbearable, though, he's almost at Drake levels of weird vowel sound affectations.

I dunno, I'd be more likely describe Timberlake's performance as poorly affected. With Ocean, it's more that his spot goes 180 degrees against his strength, which is restraint. Call Usher if you need someone to belt. (Not that Ursh could have saved that song.)

"Heaven" is definitely affected, but it's at least a respite from the shrill "Mirrors"/"Holy Grail" style. Ocean doesn't seem to be belting really, just doing a bunch of weird "showahhh" type pronunciations that register more as some kind of made up accent than as melisma.

suppose it was better than having Akon #smallvictories

Oh, sorry I thought you were talking about him on "Holy Grail" xp. I'm not even sure I noticed him on "Heaven".

Miley lyric suggests he's competing with Yeezus land-speed record for writing/recording.

Robinson Cano lyric too

I don't know if it's because I'm desperate to find things to like about this dud (Versus, the beat on Somewhereinamerica, um…) but I like Frank on Oceans - he suits the track's spooky grandiosity. Everything about the first track is reprehensible.

5.8

putting out a bat signal for ienjoyhotdogs

― 乒乓, Monday, July 8, 2013 12:26 AM (14 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

more like magna farta holey fail

― ienjoyhotdogs, Monday, June 17, 2013 6:23 PM (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

:D

lol, never change HipHopDX:

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/album-reviews/id.2108/title.jay-z-magna-carta-holy-grail

"most cohesive project since Blueprint 3" = real booming statement when there was only one other competitor for said title.

(and it's still RONG).

haha. well obviously i can't top that, but i wrote a review:
http://blogs.citypaper.com/noise/index.php/2013/07/album-review-magna-carta-holy-grail-by-jay-z/

Still, while “Oceans” is able to pull some deep thoughts out of a carefree day sailing on the same waters that carried slave ships from Africa, Jay-Z can’t help sounding like a dorky old rich guy, concluding the song with “I’m in heaven, yachting.”

lol, that line sounds like some mid-level executive's screen saver message circa 1994

And so now, a decade into an extremely lucrative fallow period, we have possibly decades more underwhelming Jay-Z albums to look forward to, and not a blue period in sight.

daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn

when I heard "I'm in Heaven, yachting", I imagined him passing by Michael McDonald and Christopher Cross's boats and waving stupidly.

Jay-Z creating the album equivalent of this would be horrifying though:

http://skytrace.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/picasso_old_man_playing_guitar.jpg

(i.e. Kanye)

Jay-Z post-comeback feels kinda like a Monkey's Paw wish

"The Old Guitarist" should be the next album title

"Just learned to play scales, nigga/I'm hip-hop's John Cale, nigga"

jay-z calling a song BBC keeps making me think of this:
http://www.balleralert.com/forum/topics/jayzs-dick-is-the-size-of-a

when I heard "I'm in Heaven, yachting", I imagined him passing by Michael McDonald and Christopher Cross's boats and waving stupidly.

― Neanderthal, Monday, July 8, 2013 1:59 PM Bookmark

ha

I know some ppl didn't like "Otis" as much as I did but seems like the only time Jay has had any sense of fun & enthusiasm since "Roc boys"

i started your review earlier al, will finish it tonight and report back

I know some ppl didn't like "Otis" as much as I did but seems like the only time Jay has had any sense of fun & enthusiasm since "Roc boys"

― "If you like the Byrds, try Depeche Mode" (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, July 8, 2013 6:32 PM Bookmark

yeah, I said something to that effect somewhere at the time

"Otis" is ok, i warmed to it a little over time, but it still feels very slight to me (and not as fun as "Gotta Have It"). i think one of the strengths of Magna Carta is actually that he sounds like he's having fun on "Tom Ford," "Somewhere," "Versus," "BBC," etc.

yeah, agreed that "Otis" is a bit slight, it's really just a fun trifle, but the main problem with "Gotta Have It" is a couple roc alums jumping on a track with that title just makes me want to listen to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVPZ4iG8Rgo

I would love to see Jay-Z in a room full of musical instruments - but no computers or samplers - try to create music from scratch.

I may be ignorant - he may be a gifted keyboard or guitar player - but I suspect we would be left with a lot of grunting, boasting and product placement against dead air.
14 Hours Ago Reply|Like

true, that Beanie "Gotta Have It" is classic.

DP3!

I still haven't heard anything from this record, but I have this imaginary chorus from an imaginary title track that keeps going through my head:

Magna Carta Holy Grail
One false move and go to jail
If he hollers let him fail
Magna Carta Holy Grail

ok about 30 seconds into this and timberlake overemoting the line "AAAND WAAATCH YOOOO EAT IT!" made me lol already

did he say "vanilla wafers in the villa"? who would brag about vanilla wafers?

jesus jay stop saying "uh" between every fucking line

like the 2nd half beat on picasso baby

did he say "vanilla wafers in the villa"? who would brag about vanilla wafers?

― "If you like the Byrds, try Depeche Mode" (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, July 9, 2013 12:57 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

maybe it's one of those "still keep it a little bit ghetto even though I'm a high roller" kind of lines?

welp I'm definitely going in on this after I finish the Chris Schlarb stream basd on M@tt's posts

the tom ford beat reminds me of all these video game rap dudes that send me mp3s of concept albums based on like final fantasy and shit at work

i guess hurting, you're probably right

i didn't know that vanilla wafers had so much street cred

the tom ford beat reminds me of all these video game rap dudes that send me mp3s of concept albums based on like final fantasy and shit at work

― "If you like the Byrds, try Depeche Mode" (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, July 9, 2013 1:07 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

hahahahaha

i don't shoot arrows, i rock broadswords!

I hear a line like "Parades down Flatbush/Confetti in my fur", and suddenly 2009's broken promise of a Chris Brown assbeating makes more sense to me.

lol that yachting line is somehow worse in the delivery

I have to rmde just on general principle at "Oceans" featuring Frank Ocean

I mean, come on

"F*ckwithmeyouknowimrickross" featuring Rick Ross

jesus jay stop saying "uh" between every fucking line

― "If you like the Byrds, try Depeche Mode" (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, July 9, 2013 2:02 PM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the ways in which this record is good are far more interesting to me than the ways which it is bad, i think, those reasons being pretty easy to read, continuations of previous form, one-dimensionally-depressing to contemplate - his bland topicalism, his ruined, yeezed flow, &c&c&c. but it's really interesting to hear him on part ii rapping like he wants to, with propulsion, with UHs deployed collaterally, with momentum, in the right places rather than nervously like an awkward reflex. i was being sincere when i said i liked MY LADY IS / MY MER CE DE IS, it being kinda classically large & brash, to me; it reminds me of moments on the blueprint when he'd steamroll a nice beat & get lost in his verses without bending them to the curves of the track. he is really going for something on part ii, apparent even just in volume or fluency; there's a few lines towards the end which have a real kinda popping, balanced, patient biggie flow to them - push yr motherfuckin wig back/i did that - this kinda jazzily timed quick melodic thing he used to do really well. i haven't listened back to a bunch of the other shit on this, the stilted word associations on wealth, &c. i really like part ii though.

okay now hold on a second, is he really dragging out a joke about Miley Cyrus twerking over 40 seconds of jaunty tenor sax

man somewhereinamerica has a cool DJ Mark the 45 King vibe but the piano shit kinda ruins the track

I have been largely in favor of modern Jay-Z but I think that quoting "Losing My Religion" on "Heaven" on top of everything else I've mentioned so far on this listen-through may have crossed a line I didn't know I had

"Tom Ford" was great thouh

for some reason, I don't think getting Beyonce to croon "cliche, cliche, cliche" on a song was the most critic-proof move Jay could have made here

"holy grail" aka "will jt ever discover a hook"

I think the badness of this album is core-deep. It's easier with hip hop albums than rock to find mitigating factors - this beat, that line — and pull together a few minutes of pleasure but fundamentally this stinks of redundancy.

okay "JAY Z Blue" by Jay-Z is I mean why didn't I look at the track list before playing this

also loooooooooooooool the "Mommie Dearest" samples

what the fuck is he doing on "La Familia"

did he freestyle this

I hope he freestyled this and didn't sit down and right it

i kinda like the beat on "heaven" in a "what if wes anderson produced a jay-z song" way

song w/beyonce is kinda sleepy but i feel like jay raps the most on beat on this song so far

yeah the juvenile flow is like his best flow on the album. it's funny that a) it's so much better than the song it's a sequel to and b) a solo beyonce version has already leaked.

ok, giving this a whirl

I like the beat during the verses on holy grail, but there's not a single memorable jay line and the timberlake vocal is pretty meh

jay sounding tired

this is bad. I've defended a lot of his work that other people have hated, but this is just bad.

rick ross sounds like he's about to be in a bumfight

Wait, hooooooly fuck, I thought dylan made up the "losing my religion" allusion and the "ghost in the ghost" line

Yeah, I had totally thought that as well until listening.

heaven is the only track I can really get with, fwiw

btw ILM tracks poll: Jay-Z -- new voting deadline is eod July 20

put on 'vol. 2' after i heard this and hooo boy what a depressing experience

how many y'all wanna rmde tonight

lmao "beach is better" came on and i was like "Ok jay this is more like it"...then it was done in a minute

i guess it's pretty bad when i give jay props just for having good timing and phrasing on the beat now :/

haha I keep waiting for the US3 guy to come onto BBC and interrupt the track with "Biddy biddy bop" from "Canteloop"

but i feel like jay raps the most on beat on this song so far

― "If you like the Byrds, try Depeche Mode" (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, July 9, 2013 3:09 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

one for the sticker, Jay

not rapping on beat has been a big part of his schtick for a long time so I don't really understand that criticism

if Kingdom Come was Jay's New Jersey, MCHG must be Have a Nice Day

not rapping on beat has been a big part of his schtick for a long time so I don't really understand that criticism

― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Tuesday, July 9, 2013 4:56 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

maybe when doing counterpoint type rhythms like on "Hard Knock Life", but dude has always generally had good meter IMO

"wtf he can't rap on beat anymore"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeHW1u5TWtA

dude has always generally had good meter IMO

good meter =/= square on the beat phrasing

p sure that's not what m@tt is referring to by 'off beat'

he's definitely phoning it in, but I don't think he actually lost his timing

I like the beat on Somewhereinamerica

Have you folks heard DP3? It kills this album

Yeah the beat on Somewhereinamerica is fantastic. This album needs more Hit-Boy and less Timbaland.

"Somewhere" beat is a lil too "Thrift Shop" imo

He used to rap on and off beat in cool and interesting ways

I mean if you don't think he's fallen off to a staggering degree I don't even know what to say

This lump of an album really made me appreciate yeezus more

no I think he's definitely fallen off, phoning it in, going through the motions, etc., I just don't think he's, like, no longer able to rap tightly on beat. It's more like he's doing bad rehashes and pale imitations of the way he used to do it.

dylannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

i don't think he's fallen off in technical terms much at all

his music has gotten much worse, though

i thought you were talking about dylannn

lol so did I

His flow's boring now, but thankfully he at least moved away from the terrible flow he used over and over on BP3, ie "DEE dah duh-duh-duh-duh DEE dah"

Art!

http://gawker.com/jay-z-is-lip-synching-the-same-song-for-six-hours-and-i-733915744

Art!

http://gawker.com/i-dont-even-know-man-734928826

gilbertkittensUMax Read111L
You know what would be really impressive? If Jay-Z just stopped doing anything for ten years. That would be impressive. Today 4:41pm

otm

http://www.vulture.com/2013/07/jerry-saltz-face-to-face-with-jay-z.html

i would be so jazzed if he did a song in his pre-reasonable doubt das efx shiggity shiggity shackt style. or just busted it out for half a bar even. i'm easy. he hasn't as far as i know but i know yall will set me straight if not.

Has anyone ever written something really insightful on the transition from the Vol 3 flow to the Blueprint flow? What happened? Why did he do it? What were the consequences? (I'm not implying that the Blueprint flow is inferior btw, just that this is an interesting subject that I'd like to be able to think about in new ways.)

nu-jay-z just sounds like can ox or something idk

maybe not can ox but he could def guest for anticon

I've been bouncing around certain ideas in my brain about Jay simplifying his rap style for The Blueprint for years.

Well he did and a lot of people said he was "dumbing down" - which was obv the wrong way of thinking about it. I'd be very interested in hearing some of those ideas though.

if skills sold, truth be told, i'd probably be / lyrically, talib kweli / truthfully, i wanna rhyme like common sense / but i did five mil, i ain't been rhyming like common since

what are the major differences between vol 3 and blueprint flow? i think part of it is the types of beats he started getting, the producers he was working with, the way those producers built tracks in the studio with him. i dunno, he seems a bit slower, more deliberate, more effusive, but i don't think i hear a massive difference.

i never read much contemporary crit from jay's vol-1-3/blueprint era either, would be interested - sort of vaguely aware there was an "ew he's sold out and gone pop" feeling around?

one of my first album reviews ever was of Vol. 3, for some site that doesn't exist anymore. i wish i saved it, i think shit might've been on point.

ally's review of the blueprint:

It's difficult to argue that Jay-Z is an artist who needs to make a comeback. An omnipresent force in pop, he always seems to have a single out on the market, and when he doesn't, there's a single floating around with such a heavy S. Carter presence that it just might as well be a joint off Vol. 3. In a position like that, it'd be simple as anything to become wicked lazy - indeed, that seemed imminent with the release of Jay-Z's last album, The Dynasty, which was a decent effort but with lyrics out of the Write-Your-Own-Jigga-Tune kit and a rather bizarre lack of actual Jay-Z, who seemed to have doled all the songs off "his" album out to his posse. Personally, even while listening to The Dynasty I have a difficult time remembering what was even put out on the market as a single - obviously the heads-and-tails-above-the-rest "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)", but after that...? I honestly don't even remember; maybe "1-900-Hustler"? It's a complete mental loss.

Which is, of course, exactly why Jay-Z needed to come back with a fucking thunder. The haters smelled blood, the pretenders saw the opening - Roc-A-Fella could easily releaseJay-Z Croons Frank Sinatra's Greatest featuring first single "Strangers In The Night (feat. ODB & R. Kelly)"* and sell multi-platinum, and they knew it. You can't knock the hustle, sure, but the hustle can knock you, and this is why The Blueprint is important - if it was The Dynasty Done Over Again, it'd be over for Jigga. If it was a return to the form thatmade him the worthy successor to Biggie Smalls, then it'd be over for the haters, most of which ain't released anything worth talking about in ages anyhow.

So the score? Jay-Z: 1, everyone else: 0. The Blueprint destroys any other album I've listened to so far this year. When the duffest track on an album (for the record, it's "Jigga That Nigga") is just being dissed for sounding too much like older, fairly decent tracks and not for actually being a terrible song, you know you're onto something. Most of the album sounds like gangsta via The Avalanches: smooth, sumptuous, almost loungy soul beats that sound exactly like what D'Angelo thinks he sounds like topped off with the tightest Jay-Z flow since the unparalled and underrated Vol. 2. The tracks that don't sound like that sound like extremely angry and indignant thunder. It's the flow of an exorbitantly wealthy man with a god complex coming to straddle that fine line between genius and coked-up madness, and coming out so far on the genius side that ain't no one (yes, you heard me, Nas) gonna catch him.

The bottom line on The Blueprint is that there isn't one single track that couldn't conceivably make it as a single. Jigga immediately smacks the listener into the what's what with "The Takeover", a hissing, spitting middle finger in the face of certain rappers who've taken up the mickey with Jay lately while he was lying low (or at least lying low by his standards). It's the man's way of making sure all you muthafuckas know he isn't going to take that shit, and unlike his rivals he actually has the chops to back up his slams. It's a track that somehow manages to simultanteously do two impossible things: make the Doors sound cool and effectively and cleverly rip off David Bowie. It's funny and cold and, quite frankly, Nas and Mobb Deep should be going into exile over embarassment that they're even trying to take this man on. The transition to the following track is somehow both completely jarring but perfect - the upbeat sunnyness of first single "Izzo (HOVA)" certainly clashes the stomp of "Takeover", but the over-the-top self-aggrandizement of the track certainly takes the message of "Takeover" to another level.

This is the point in the album by which the Rat Packer in Jigga takes over - granted, I think "Gay-Z" is protesting a little too much by having a track where the chorus is "I love girls, girls, girls, girls - girls I do adore!", but who the hell cares when "Girls Girls Girls" sounds like this? It's Serge Gainsbourg by way of the ghetto, "California Girls" if "California Girls" was both good and made in 2001. The lounge tip works even better on "Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)", with the spaghetti western sound of the sample and the growly bark of the world-wearly chorus - it swaggers along with Jay-Z's boasts, laments towards fallen rap acts and cocaine-paranoia, and if it doesn't get released as a single a great injustice will be done towards the world, if just for the breakdown with the fantastic "Take 'em to church" shout out.

Most of the tracks, thinking about it, seem to be about Jay's paranoia towards all the haters - there are times when you feel like you're listening to Beyonce Knowles rant about how hard it is to be rich and "pretty" because now everyone hates her, including some of her own groupmates, and, while she will survive, it still upsets her oh so much because everyone should love her because of how great she is, and besides, she makes way more money than you and in no way feels superior because of this. Unlike Destiny's Child, however, it's hard to blast Jigga as a whiny little bitch when he's coming up with music like the fantastic Latin-themed "Hola Hovito" (which rhymes "Hovito" with "my people", much to my great, great pleasure) or the horror-film-past sound of "Renegade" (which also serves as a forum to prove that, sometimes, Eminem doesn't have to sound like he's sucked a gallon of helium).

The hard-man act slips notably on "Song Cry", a lament towards a lover that Jay-Z done wrong with the absolutely wonderful chorus "I can't see 'em comin' down my eyes / So I gotta make the song cry". It's a gorgeous, shimmery track, and easily one of the most depressing songs to come out of the bling-bling world in quite a while: it's the sudden revelation that there's a downside to the big pimpin' life, and while he still refers to his woman as his bitch in the song, you know he doesn't mean it like that. He knows the way he's living is whack, but he doesn't know better - he was going to come right back. "Shit, I gotta live with the fact I done you wrong forever" might be one of the most pussy-ass things Jay-Z's ever rapped, but it almost makes me cry if I'm in the right mood. Another one that better be a single - the unrequited love anthem for the next generation.

In short, ladies and gentlemen, the man who brought you "Ain't No Nigga" and "Can I Get A...?" is back in full, almighty, Jay-Hova (god, that's unfortunate) force. As he says himself, when the album is released, you could choose to be anywhere that night - but you'd be insane not to spend it with him. Nas and Prodigy - you got your work cut out for you if you choose to continue this fight, cos the R.O.C. just K.O.'ed your asses.
* Yes, I realize that this Sinatra stuff would easily be both the best cover song of all time and Jay-Z's ultimate wet dream, but let's pretend it'd suck for the virtue of my review, okay?

anybody link this yet?

http://www.okayplayer.com/news/jay-z-magna-carta-holy-grail-mchg-review-big-ghost.html

at some point young chris happened.

but that's probably just after the blueprint

But I always keep shit 1,000,000 HUNNA wit ni**as…n I feel like I gotta speak honestly on this shit too. Basically I think Hov went into this shit thinkin AW MAN I REALLY WANNA HEAR NAS SPIT ON THIS PICASSO BABY OR HEAVEN BEAT BUT THERES A GOOD CHANCE HE GON BODY THOSE TRACKS…LEMME JUS THROW SON ON TOP OF THIS CORNY ASS PHARRELL JOINT THAT SOUNDS LIKE IT DROPPED AT THE HEIGHT OF THE NEPTUNES REIGN IN LIKE ’01…ESCO CANT ROCK ON EM JOINTS LIKE I CAN HOMIE…n gave hisself the advantage.

"This shit is like a continuation of that Watch The Throne luxury rap shit. Kanye kept that torch burnin on the Cruel Summer joint last year…but it almost seems like Ye moved on from that. He a fake revolutionary now. Billionaire Hov still stuck on that shit tho."

On point.

i think vol 3 reviews are split between "jay-z is stepping up the rap game by bringing lyrical prowess to cristal rap" and "jay-z is once again taking an xacto knife to the beautiful lyrical quilt he gave us with reasonable doubt" -- i think blueprint love was near universal.

Christgau gave Vol. 3 an A at a time when RD didn't impress him.

Vol 3 was divisive at first, heads were used to rappers falling off as soon as they got that big, and when "Do It Again" wasn't up to the par of Vol 2's singles and for a minute the Mariah song was gonna be a single..."Big Pimpin'" kinda saved that record I think, kept it in people's decks long enough to notice all the dope songs beyond just "So Ghetto," which was immediately beloved.

"It's Hot (Some Like It Hot)" 4 Eva or GTFO and kill yourself.

otoh hand kill yourself, Mariah song

That's not even a bad song. 2013 Jay-Z would kill for that song.

i don't think anyone was excluding "it's hot" from praise

the mariah song is very good, like maybe second-tier on the album but that's still really high

^^^^^ Lex knows what's up.

i don't think anyone was excluding "it's hot" from praise

they weren't, I just felt like drawing attention to an objective fact.

the actual best song on vol 3 is obviously "is that yo bitch" though

AND it invented "i luv u"!

Carey and the pan flute (I think it's pan flute) is cloying like "Change Clothes" is.

"Dope Man," "NYMP," and "Snoopy Track" 4eva

That wasn't even on the US version of the album, here they saved it for Bleek's album.

"Things That U Do" was fine for cotton candy Hov, but the point was if it had been a single instead of "Big Pimpin'" the entire course of history would have been altered for the worse.

And I'm not even a huge fan of that song. The first time I heard it, it sounded as absurd to me as "Fuck All Nite" did when Blueprint 2 came out, I didn't dream it would be a single.

I don't dislike anything on Vol. 3, really.

Admittedly I got into that album while recovering from a collapsed lung (wow the number of albums that I have clicked with in hospital) so I feel a bit sentimental about it.

The UK/Europe edition of the album (which was released several weeks before the US edition) features an alternate track listing. "Hova Interlude" replaced the track "Watch Me" and "There's Been a Murder" was replaced with "Is That Yo Bitch" (featuring Missy Elliott and Twista). "Is That Yo Bitch" is an alternate version of Memphis Bleek's "Is That Your Chick". It also has "Anything" as the closing song (track 16) before the two hidden bonus tracks. This version is how the album was really intended to sound but due to heavy bootlegging of the promotional copy Jay-Z went back and changed the US track listing on the eleventh hour.

I NEVER KNEW ANY OF THIS!

god, i'd forgotten though, "hard knock life" and "anything" are prob the only two noteworthy pre-2004 jay-z trax i outright hate

maybe i wouldn't now though?

it's mostly great but sometimes comes dangerously close to being one of those overbearing yet underwhelming albums that freshly minted superstars tend to make. Serena Altschul's bars on "Dope Man" are the nadir.

When Jay was on twitter the other day, someone asked him about the hardest lesson he ever learned and his answer was like "'Anything' is not 'Hard Knock Life, keep it moving," I died

lol

"It's Hot (Some Like It Hot)" 4 Eva or GTFO and kill yourself.

― Tim F, Thursday, July 11, 2013 8:33 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this was pretty high up in my tracks poll ballot. I geek out a lot on how he tailors his flow to the beat and even adds to it by alternating his accents with the handclaps.

Reasonable Doubt's reputation is definitely so much greater than it was when it was actually released. It went from being an underrated gem to, like, a centerpiece of his career, even though it's really not.

His most underrated album is the one that sold the most initially at this point. We ranked all the Jay-z albums and most of our readers were mad that Black Album was under Vol. 2

vol. 3 is dope but kind of a weird record. It definitely benefits from Timbaland firing on all cylinders at that point.

Hard Knock Life still his best seller, right?

vol. 3 is my favorite jay record

it's funny that I initially really didn't care for Vol 3 when I bought it. even the replicant employee at Best Buy who scanned me out looked at it, then at me and said "ehhh, this aightttttttt.". but then I relistened to it in 2011 and though I probably prefer Vol 2, I really really like Vol 3 overall.

also, dunno what I was thinkin when I said I hated "Big Pimpin", that beat is all time plus Jay-Z + UGK together is unfuckwitable.

I think one of my first fights w/ d33j was itt as well.

the received wisdom at this point is that Reasonable Doubt, Blueprint, and Black Album are his best LPs. Then people like the new ones (!!!!) but i think it's mostly because every kid today has no idea that the vol.s 2-3 were as big as they were.

"Hard Knock LIfe" was big but the first J single I heard non-stop on radio here was "Big Pimpin'."

yeah that's p much how I remember it too -- Big Pimpin was when I specifically knew who he was as opposed to just having heard his name, and Hard Knock Life was when he seemed to be everywhere all of a sudden. In 1996 when Reasonable Doubt came out I was friends with a lot of high school hip-hop heads, and I don't have that strong a memory of people talking about it. Everyone talked about Biggie but not Jay-Z so much.

xpost same here, actually. "Big Pimpin" was inescapable, mostly because it was always on the radio here, and I worked in a restaurant, and the cooks always had the hip hop station on, so I'd go some shifts hearing it twice (three if I worked a double).

It was my impression that he really blew up with "Money Ain't A Thing" and "Can I Get A..." in terms of wider exposure (the latter esp. with the help of "Rush Hour") and "Hard Knock Life" was expected to be huge

at least that's how it felt to me in Boston

yeah, those three songs owned the radio in 98 here

Actually I remember both of those being big too, but all of those songs used to get on my nerves at the time -- they just seemed like obnoxious frat party songs with cheesy beats and I didn't pay attention to the rhymes. When Hard Knock Life came out I was still kinda like "Oh wow, so now that there's a fucking broadway sample all of a sudden the critics think he's a genius." I really didn't have a come-to-jesus moment about him until I started to hear songs from Blueprint on the radio, especially U Don't Know and then Takeover. I actually remember the exact moment I first heard U Don't Know in my car, probably on Hot 97, driving through New Brunswick, right by the train station.

especially "Can I Get A" xp

they just seemed like obnoxious frat party songs with cheesy beats and I didn't pay attention to the rhymes.

haha this is how I (initially) heard "Money Ain't a Thang."

"Girls Best Friend" and "Do It Again" and "Things You Do" and even "Sunshine" had their runs here too. Also he was on Mariah's "Heartbreaker" which got blanket airplay. By the time "Big Pimpin'" dropped he'd been omnipresent on our rap station for two years.

Actually, at the time it felt more like just another Jay-Z hit than one of his defining songs, at least from my perspective.

Prob didn't help that it came out right at the time I was discovering underground rap and starting to get snooty about the mainstream. It took me a few years to realize just how great it was.

forgot about "Heartbreaker." This era of Mariah is regrettable.

I reacted so negatively to "Hard Knock Life" that I reflexively hated everything Jay-Z put out for like two years afterward, lol

it's very funny to me now that there was a period of time where I sincerely, passionately hated "Big Pimpin'"

xxpost at the time I hated what I called "plinky-plink" rap aka Fabolous with those clinkity beats a la "Can't Deny It", and Jay-Z got kind of caught in the crossfire.

I was rockin couplets like "Lentil soup is/mental fruit"

(though tbf, I will still stan for "Let's Get Free", fuiud)

man, I loved "Hard Knock Life" when I was 12, even then I felt like it was something that should be corny but turned out really dope. prob do even more now that I understand it better.

I always liked Big Pimpin but in more of a "hmm I guess Jay-Z is actually kinda good!" way after not being into "Can I Get A" or whatever else I had heard up to that point. I still don't get why people like(d) "Hard Knock Life" so much, the beat is corny to me.

haha xpost, oh well

so wait is the marina abramovic thing real and if so why are we not talking about it already

xxpost at the time I hated what I called "plinky-plink" rap aka Fabolous with those clinkity beats a la "Can't Deny It", and Jay-Z got kind of caught in the crossfire.

lol I immediately loved the Fabolous singles, there was much car dancing done to those

it's all about that not-quite on-beat lurch that makes it way harder than anything with little girls singing a showtune chorus has a right to be

so wait is the marina abramovic thing real and if so why are we not talking about it already

Ned linked to a couple of Gawker posts about it upthread, the second one with the Vine of Jay and M.A.'s dance is pretty special

like I could see MOP rocking that beat and doing it justice xp

"hard knock life" is cold as hell, wtf is wrong with you people

I love "Hard Knock Life". buncha us went nuts during the WTT tour when he played it (not that it was a surprise).

it's not necessarily full of his biggest quotables, but I've always loved the opening verse. (plus the "I rub on your tits/and what not" still makes me laugh).

I still know a few HNL haters so now thanks to MCHG I can basically sum it up like this:

Jay-Z 1998, Hard Knock Life:

"From standin on the corners boppin
To drivin some of the hottest cars New York has ever seen
To droppin some of the hottest verses rap has ever heard
From the dope spot to the smoke glock, fleein the murder scene"

Jay-Z 2013:

"Knock knock, I'm at ya neighbor house
Straight cash, I bought ya neighbor out
You should come to the housewarming
Come and see what your new neighbor bout
Yellow Lambo in the driveway
A buck thirty-five, I'm on the highway"

forgot about "Heartbreaker." This era of Mariah is regrettable.

um take that back "heartbreaker" is prime mariah and prime jay-z and one of the greatest songs ever

"hard knock life" was his uk breakthrough iirc and i HATED it for its gimmickry - "can i get a..." turned me around him him. funny, i never think of vol 2 as an amazing album but in "can i get a..." and "money ain't a thang" it has like two of my all-time fav jay-z singles. RD and vol 1 i only heard in retrospect. actually it was probably 2002-03 that i actually began to retrospectively discover jay beyond the singles.

i think i would like "hard knock life" better now but it's just never gonna be in the running for top 10 jay-z

it's all about that not-quite on-beat lurch that makes it way harder than anything with little girls singing a showtune chorus has a right to be

― lady steendriver (The Reverend), Thursday, July 11, 2013 4:30 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that was part of the original reason I struggled with it. he kind of sidesteps the beat rather than staying on any consistent meter, but I eventually came to see it as a cool effect.

the way he agilely dances around the beat, while still maintaining a very conversational tone, he could never do that now

and now "heartbreaker" slander

this message board has gone to hell

hard knock life was the ONE but can i get a...was also huge because of the rush hr sndrk (ditto that dru hill song). 'money ain't a thing' i don't remember being quite as omnipresent.

vol 2 has the best singles run of any of his albums, it's no wonder it made him a superstar. besides the ones mentioned... "Jigga What", "Money Cash Hoes"... those are like top 5 jay to me

oh yeah 'heartbreaker' and 'best of me 2' are awesome. basically created fabolous' entire lane

vol 2 has the best singles run of any of his albums, it's no wonder it made him a superstar. besides the ones mentioned... "Jigga What", "Money Cash Hoes"... those are like top 5 jay to me

― lady steendriver (The Reverend), Thursday, July 11, 2013 3:42 PM (11 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yes. the album tracks go deep too: 'a week ago' 'reservoir dogs'

I love "A Week Ago". ice cold final verse from Jay on that one, plus Too $hort makes that a really nice chorus.

also doesn't suffer from the issues Vol 1 had, which despite having mostly of a lot of dope tracks, also had that terrible crossover shit like "I Know What Girls Like" and "Always Be My Sunshine".

vol 2 or blueprint are my favorite jay records. vol 3 and vol 1 a notch down. then black album and dynasty prob

also doesn't suffer from the issues Vol 1 had, which despite having mostly of a lot of dope tracks, also had that terrible crossover shit like "I Know What Girls Like" and "Always Be My Sunshine".

― Neanderthal, Thursday, July 11, 2013 3:45 PM (28 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i actually like the 'bad' pop joints on Vol 1 but they are def inferior to the dope pop joints on vol 2

I like "The City is Mine" cuz it had that Miami Vice feel to it.

At first the whole "Ruff Ryder"-touched sound of Vol 2 was a little weird to me but I liked how it worked out in the end.

i would really like to read someone attempt to argue for post-2004 jay over vols 1-3 because i simply don't understand what argument one would make

tbh most of it is "it's the first jay-z I heard"

posted elsewhere in 2011 when it happened but there was this asshole behind me at the WTT tour who kept rapping the opening of "99 Problems" over and over, ad nauseaum, and he kept saying "God, he's got to play this tonight, it's like the best Jay-Z song ever", and then he starts bragging to his 'date' about how he has some obscure old school Jay-Z song that most casual fans wouldn't know, so I'm expecting to hear his verse of Hawaiian Sophie or something (cuz of course, asshole is actually playing his music on his phone w/ no headset), but instead he pulls up the Linkin Park/Jay-Z version of "Encore".

blacked out for a few minutes, woke up w/ blood on my hands

playing "Heartbreaker" for the first time in years and I'm remembering why it's been years since I last listened to this horrible thing of my own free will

vol 2 or blueprint are my favorite jay records. vol 3 and vol 1 a notch down. then black album and dynasty prob

huh so you don't rate reasonable doubt like, at all? agree w/ most of this ranking but would probably have Blueprint first and RD second or third.

oh lol i forgot that yeah that's up with 2 & BP.

i mean, it's a classic, no question. i would def put it after those two, but ahead of 3 & 1

i come back to "heartbreaker" INCESSANTLY

I really don't get it, it's a wholly inferior reworking of "Fantasy" with Mariah in absolutely horrible voice and more "a-ha!" interjections from Jay-Z than you can shake a stick at

for all the worship the Jay/Timbo cuts on vol 3 get around here, "Jigga What" >>>>>>>>>>> any of them, even "Big Pimpin'"

yes. the album tracks go deep too: 'a week ago' 'reservoir dogs'

― rap steve gadd (D-40), Thursday, July 11, 2013 1:43 PM Bookmark

also "Coming of Age Pt 2" (which I like more than the OG)

"Heartbreaker"'s all about the remix with Da Brat over the "Ain't No Fun" beat imo

pretty much the only valid reasons for Bleek to exist, those songs...

and "Change the Game"!

love Change the Game. and most of Dynasty really.

fuck, I might actually vote in the Jay poll now

playing "Heartbreaker" for the first time in years and I'm remembering why it's been years since I last listened to this horrible thing of my own free will

― "Post-Oven" (DJP), Thursday, July 11, 2013 4:52 PM

Having relistened to it at the urging of deej and sarge I still think this is an ephemeral little thing but, yeah, that remix improves it.

forgot how good "This Can't Be Life" is.

Dynasty feels like a bit of a weak link in his RD-Blueprint run, but it has some obvious joints

that's the only one of the classic run I don't own. Should I just go for it?

it's worth owning for "1-900-Hustla" alone

and "this can't be life" is easily one of ye's best beats ever

I mean the essential drawback is that it wasn't supposed to be a Jay-Z album as much as a posse album until the record label forced their hand, so there's way more guesting than in his classic run, but they're good guests at least (Scarface on "This CAn't Be Life", lots of Beanie Sigel, etc).

I hope all this talk gets people inspired to VOTE IN THE JAY Z TRACKS POLL
ILM tracks poll: Jay-Z -- new voting deadline is eod July 20

i think people underrated dynasty alot

although not as much as best of both worlds

I'm loving this thread: it's acting like the Jay-Z nominations thread is supposed to.

Now I regret selling The Dynasty 2 years ago.

the dynasty is great.

Still a hilarious Vol. 2 review from the old, old days of the Rap Internet.

Dynasty is in my top 3 Jay albums, has always been dope.

<3 this thread

wait has no one posted this?
http://www.vulture.com/2013/07/jerry-saltz-face-to-face-with-jay-z.html

have spent the whole evening listening to new Ciara + old J

And then boom! The music started and he said, "I just want a Picasso, in my casa," and I replied "Picasso is great." He nodded. At Rothko I said, "Him too." He nodded again. Then his line about wanting to make love on a bed covered with a million dollars, and I said, "No." He laughed. Wow, I was getting to be an art critic to Jay-Z.
He started dancing. So did I, or at any rate what passes for an older balding Jewish man trying to bust some moves. When he got to Koons, I said, "Yes, even though he really is annoying." At George Condo I went, "Eh, okay." I gave a big no to Art Basel; at Christie’s I said, "I hate auctions." By then, somehow, he'd taken me around my waist, and we were strutting around the room. My hands were ice cold. I was shaking. My reactions were shot. The entire time were together, there was no doubt in my mind that he was controlling me, taking my energy and giving it back, manipulating the space around us. I felt like my internal ship was on fire and useless. I loved it. And him. And this.

WTF is going on 2013?

wow

Any performer who can get a room full of strangers chanting, "Picasso baby" over and over again is good in my book.

noooooooooooooooooo

also "Coming of Age Pt 2" (which I like more than the OG)

― lady steendriver (The Reverend), Thursday, July 11, 2013 9:03 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

what the hell man

I love Coming of Age 2 but there's something about Memphis Bleek saying "I'M KILLIN YER CREW" that makes me giggle. Maybe that he sounds like a 9 year old when he says it.

that vulture thing is fucking me up

The whole thing was as tribal as it gets.

gives "tell you how to move in a room fulla vultures" a new meaning

http://thehairpin.com/2013/07/6-second-loop-of-woman-with-broken-foot-scootering-in-circles-around-jay-z-vine-2013

This seems like as good a time as any to re post this:

http://splicetoday.com/pop-culture/re-coded

enjoyed this take on the performance art thing

http://artforum.com/diary/id=41957

Rip hyphen ;_;

what a bizarrely pointless change, as if anyone except sub-editors will notice or care

jay-z.htm

i really feel like jay-z ... flowed better

Haha

So I'm trying to write something about how the post retirement Jay-Z albums have all in some way been experimental albums, consciously leaving the second phase Jay-Z style (BP1 - BA) behind in search of a new style/identity as an artist in order to reflect the changing circumstances of his life, and also pretty much shedding the B.I.G influence in an attempt to become "himself". Now obviously a lot of it hasn't really worked out aesthetically, but if anyone has any thoughts on how we should understand late period Jay outside of "he kinda fell off" please leave them here.

that's an interesting angle. the post-retirement albums mostly feel very much built on a Black Album (and to a lesser degree Blueprint) template to me, with 2 main differences -- playing keep-up with Kanye on an aesthetic front, and highlighting the widening age/achievement gap between him and everyone else as he continually becomes the oldest rap superstar ever and richest rap superstar ever.

btw i'm still accepting ballots for this, i assume everyone who's posted on this thread is working on theirs: ILM tracks poll: Jay-Z -- new voting deadline is eod July 20

I think there are some real victories along the way - compare "In real life I'm much more distinguished / I'm like a bloke from London, England" with, well, N's in Paris or even winning over the art crowd on this last one. But it's been kind of a struggle. The experimenting is most obvious on Kingdom Come which is his first attempt at "maturity" over hits/bangers, but which is also kind of a disaster and led to the indirect confrontation with Lil Wayne that really did make him look/sound old. I think I see his "embracing" his age as the outcome of that "confrontation". The Kanye thing is really interesting though - somehow I don't think he understood what kind of competition Ye represented until after 808s but I could be wrong.

yeah Kingdom Come/American Gangster definitely feel like he's unconcerned with Kanye or how he moved the needle of the genre compared to the later albums. for a while it was like 'ok, i'll just keep getting soul beats from Just Blaze and other guys who are less busy.'

AG was an attempt to appease all the fans who hated KC though. I know a lot of people love it but to me it really feels like his laziest or at least his most regressive album ever - the sound of the artist licking his wounds.

oh i totally agree with that, AG is totally craven and hollow, at least the other albums feel a little more, i dunno, sincere. i'm just saying, the No ID/Hitmen/Just Blaze stuff is still in that soul beat comfort zone.

Yeah. But what's missing in just about everything post Takeover though is that old aggression, the downright contempt in his voice, that defined him up until the first Blueprint. I miss it the most on American Gangster because the throwback sound (but throwback to what, exactly?) on that album sorta implies that the old Jay should be back. He was so harsh up until Blueprint and all of that just left him for some reason.

It's definitely there in the Blueprint 2 title track - outside of the corny Austin Powers references - but it used to be everywhere. Threat from Black Album just feels like he's going through the motions. It used to be a property of his voice.

What I love about his voice on the old records is that he barely *has* to threaten, because it's all in the confidently disdainful malice in his voice.

perfect example being the original "Friend or Foe"

I always felt like with AG he was shooting for BP beats and RD subject matter, but the writerly distance on AG made the whole thing feel like this cold exercise in checking subject-matter boxes for a crime rap record.

true. BP2 is the last gasp of mean Jay, his verse on "The Watcher 2" is crazy.

Yes. BP2 is underrated. Definitely unfocused but still the Jay I love.

The Watcher 2 made my Jay-Z ballot. obv BP2 is spotty but The Watcher 2 gives it a momentary burst of energy. "we give Dre his props...but that's where it stops".

also love Poppin' Tags altho that's really just a Dungeon Family track w/ Jay on it really, lol

nah that's not fair, Twista's on it too. I like "Hovi Baby" as well, but I have always felt "A Dream" to be a weird, leaden tribute to Biggie.

rediscovered TB2 thanks to this thread

I really like most (maybe 70% of) the first disc, but really barely remember the second. I know I hate the Lenny Kravitz song, found the U Don't Know remix kinda pointless, but the rest, I can't even remember. I think I liked "Some People Hate"?

"some people hate" is gr8

beat on "some how some way" features both chipmunk jermaine jackson and is overall incredibly lush. "show you how" is fun

"Some People Hate" is amazing, one of Kanye's best beats ever

I forgot all about how great "some how some way" is

Al, what's the deadline for addl votes?

Did anyone actually buy a physical copy of MCHG?

fuck no

I saw a million on the shelf at the local indie store I shopped at. I liked to think they were all the original copies stocked, untouched by buyers

challop : ten best tracks on BP2 > ten best tracks on BP1

no wayyyyyyyyyyyy

he continually becomes the oldest rap superstar ever and richest rap superstar ever.

Diddy's actually a bit richer--liquor deals panned out better. ($580M vs. $500M.)

LL tweet from last night--would make sense if this theme comes up more in general in rap:

LL COOL J ‏@llcoolj 9h
I have deep love for traditional blue collar Hip-Hop..

Daaaaaamn sisilafami

Al, what's the deadline for addl votes?

― Beatrix Kiddo (Raymond Cummings), Sunday, July 21, 2013 11:47 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

probably at least a week, since the Motown rollout hasn't started yet.

i know Jay and Diddy are neck-and-neck but one's still a full bore rap star and one's in mogul mode

Would anyone pick any of the post-BA albums over any of the pre-BA albums? I wouldn't but I'd be interested in hearing the argument made. I will say however that Kingdom Come and Blueprint 3 sound better now than they did when they came out, at least to me.

I guess WTT vs Dynasty would be the argument and Dynasty still takes that pretty easily imo.

i wouldn't, but there are lots of people who would. young'ns.

yeah i've met kids who're like "oh man i'm the biggest jay stan" who'd never heard anything prior to BP

While stannin on the corners boppin
Ignorin all of the dopest joints Hova had ever made

challop : ten best tracks on BP2 > ten best tracks on BP1

― sisilafami, Sunday, July 21, 2013 5:16 PM (2 days ago)

i'm with you on this

So I'm trying to write something about how the post retirement Jay-Z albums have all in some way been experimental albums, consciously leaving the second phase Jay-Z style (BP1 - BA) behind in search of a new style/identity as an artist in order to reflect the changing circumstances of his life, and also pretty much shedding the B.I.G influence in an attempt to become "himself".

i'm not sure what i want to say exactly but something like: it feels like jay has been very intentionally attempting to build a new type of persona+legacy. jay's talked about how there are very few true artists in rap since so many people discovered rap as a hustle, a way to make money, rappers explicitly saying "i'm not a rapper" and building their persona around street authenticity and improbable moneymaking instead of true artistry. something like decoded is clearly about that, annotating and explicating his lyrics like saying, this is real art and i am a real artist. black and white videos of himself breaking down the concepts, the leaked lyric sheets.

so like magna carta, jay is very aware of what he's building his career and his persona into and the album is such a carefully constructed thing meant to feed into a greater view of himself as an artist. it was easy to review it before hearing it because it feels like the pre-album social media blitz was produced with reviews in mind, checking off the boxes of what reviewers expect, what is required to reinforce his image.

man, that sounds really obvious and way too confused for what i want to say. but, like, the interesting thing about jay-z starting with the black album is not really the rapping or the writing or anything but more watching him really explicitly trying to build himself into a legend.

"contempt" kind of defines for me why Success is a great "late" Jay-Z track -- he has it there, but he turns it on his own wealth. It's like a diss track only he's dissing his own wealth. That track was the first (only?) time I've ever heard a rapper adopt that sort of early third-act, bored, drunken king attitude, and it worked really well there, but that just makes it all the more boring that he's gone from "how many times can I go to Mr. Chow's" to "I own all this fucking art, the ultimate luxury good, allow me to name-drop the artists."

dylannn, I definitely agree on what you say about Jay as a strategist. What interests me is that in doing so he has also very much moved out of his comfort zone as an artist on quite a few occasions, putting himself and his image at risk and also taking... well, aesthetic risks and even often failed. Stuff like Beach Chair for instance, does not work at all to me but it's really interesting that the guy who made Vol. 3 and Blueprint suddenly ended up making a song like that or even trying to woo art critics with this last one. All of this makes him look slightly ridiculous and that's kind of the point: there's something really interesting about not only his ambition - he's trying to accomplish something no other rap artist has done - but also about how vulnerable this makes him. In the end he risks satisfying no one, as the reactions to MCHG seem to indicate. The aura that makes these new audiences accept him still hinges on the menace that was there in his early work but which he has rid himself of in order to make them accept him. Or something like that.

*failing

Again, the interesting contrast is Kanye, who understands that people will love him more if he actively tries to push them away. Jay's narcissism is different - he just really wants everybody to love him.

MCHG satisfied a huge number of people, though, is the thing.

Well it's not a bad album. It's weaker than WTT but an improvement on American Gangster. It lacks proper hits (and songs) though.

i'm just saying, it's selling well, and a lot of hip hop squares think it's a masterpiece.

Why do they think it's a masterpiece though? Is it because he took the pop out of it?

SFJ:

Jay Z’s new album, “Magna Carta Holy Grail,” has sold six hundred and seventy-five thousand copies according to Nielsen SoundScan. If you don’t own much music, it’s diverting enough, though it would be hard to get through the whole thing in one sitting. If you know anything about rap, it’s slightly embarrassing. If you love Jay Z, it gives you that American feeling, that “Oh, Christ” feeling that makes you just want to sit down. It is music made for and by people who are in no danger of proximate harm. “Magna Carta Holy Grail” was made by someone who thought it would be appealing to invite the one per cent of the one per cent of the art world and dance for them, with them, for six hours, at a blue-chip art gallery. You weren’t invited, but don’t worry: Sarah Nicole Prickett reported on the experience, and you can see what it looked like soon, if you have HBO.

also calls The Dynasty: Roc La Familia Jay Z’s "one truly terrible pre-retirement album."

If you love Jay Z, it gives you that American feeling, that “Oh, Christ” feeling that makes you just want to sit down.

I have no idea what the fuck this is supposed to mean.

this crap is not an improvement on american gangster

I have no idea what the fuck this is supposed to mean.

me neither

Or the next line. BTW is it NYer style to write out "six hundred and seventy-five thousand" or is that just his annoying tic.

Guys BRB, I have an American "Oh Christ" feeling that makes me want to sit down, and I need to relieve it.

i didn't realise how much jay-z removing his hyphen would annoy me until i began seeing style guides complying

i'm american and i feel like sitting down a lot

I don't know what "truly" is doing in that sentence

i didn't realise how much jay-z removing his hyphen would annoy me until i began seeing style guides complying

― lex pretend

won't believe it until I pick up my next edition of the AP Stylebook.

also i think this is entirely the wrong album to be going in on casual music consumers for

I also dispute the notion that any one of J's pre-retirement albums deserves "terrible" hurled at it

I have no idea what the fuck this is supposed to mean.

opening paragraph of the sfj blog describes a kind of american "saudade" that's more akin to the helplessness felt when the trayvon martin verdict came through

why he links it to feeling disappointed in jay is beyond me

I have no idea what the fuck this is supposed to mean.

you would have to read the piece but it basically means "the helpless disappointment you feel when you hear the George Zimmerman verdict." (xpost)

the dynasty is good

also calls The Dynasty: Roc La Familia Jay Z’s "one truly terrible pre-retirement album."

i yelled about this yesterday bc i feel like blueprint 2 is worse and neither record is at all terrible

how on earth is helpless disappointment in the workings of the state particularly american

what does being "in danger of proximate harm" mean? Can't you only be "proximately" harmed BY something?

The Dynasty > The Black Album

guys guys guys guys come here and talk about GOOD jay-z records with me here:

JAY-Z ILM TRACKS POLL RESULTS - WORD TO THE HYPHEN IN MY NAME

i'm sorry i never got round to voting :( i think it must have coincided with wimbledon or a deadline or the heatwave or both, didn't find the time :(

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTpQS14zu3Pq5EneaFjw0YZTZxlhzbTKZdv_C3Oa0aQpbQmyFNr3w
"Magna Carta Holy Christ. Geez..."

http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/auremar/auremar1201/auremar120103842/11843827-grumpy-man-sitting-on-the-floor.jpg
"Oh Christ"

The Dynasty > The Black Album

― some dude, Wednesday, July 31, 2013 10:22 AM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The Dynasty > The Black Album

― some dude, Wednesday, July 31, 2013 10:22 AM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

― Hooks on Phoenix worked for me (Spottie_Ottie_Dope), Wednesday, July 31, 2013 10:30 AM (18 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

how on earth is helpless disappointment in the workings of the state particularly american

― lex pretend, Wednesday, July 31, 2013 12:21 PM (39 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

americans think they are the best at everything, even the best at being the worst

that picasso baby performance art thing was more choreographed/constructed than bey's halftime show

but jayz can feel good that he thinks making an apple ad w celebs is a perf art piece

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMG2oNqBy-Y

tbh this was much more likeable and less terrible than I thought it would be

The video definitely improves the song.

the jerry saltz description was so unwittingly embarrassing, but the final result is just like a big stylish love fest

Jarmusch looking especially swaggy I must say

something about the video makes me feel v. uncomfortable.

is this his "liberian girl"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ugBcfT3eqM

http://vimeo.com/71732467

lol

Al is your Jay/JT thing up?

yah http://blogs.citypaper.com/noise/index.php/2013/08/live-review-jay-z-and-justin-timberlake/

"tom ford" despite the goofy title is a pretty amazing conceptual track that's built around samples from a single man, sort of reminds me of jay on "this can't be life" in its hard realism but describing a very different lifestyle.

― dylannn, Wednesday, July 3, 2013 1:21 PM (3 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol remember this shit? i heard fuckwithuuknowigotit or whatever today and LOLed.

has any 'big deal' album ever faded so quickly from collective memory?

what about the album by "the carters" lol

i can remember the big singles from mchg, but can't even remember the name of that one migos song that they tried to push on us from that album

I'm in Heaven
Yachting

I keep forgetting this album ever happened

Jay probably feels the same way.

It reminds me (a little) of a movie podcast I subscribe to where they just pretend that Indiana Jones 4 never came out.

I still hear the title track on the radio tho. So it did extend his pop presence into the 2010s.

There was a little thing called Watch the Throne in 2011 I guess.

Really, tips? Wow. I envy you. Here's it's "Big Pimpin'" all the time.

I’m very tempted to create an Everything Is Love vs MCHG poll, but that would mean people would need to revisit these records.

There was a little thing called Watch the Throne in 2011 I guess.

lol speaking of something Jay's probably not eager to talk about at the moment.

And yeah, I think "Holy Grail" is actually still the Jay-Z track I hear most on our local hip-hop/R&B station. "Big Pimpin'" and the like mostly show up during the "oldies" lunch hour, but "Holy Grail" gets play in the normal rotation.