The S. Carter Collection mixtape

re: "there's this Puff Daddy verse that it's so painfully obvious was penned by Jay that it's comical"

bring it, Clover, I ain't never scared!

(check the foxy thread again al)

You forgot the best thing which is the "If I Can't Do It" freestyle. Other that and the fucking adorable Russell Simmon's interlude I haven't paid enough attention to this yet.

he's sounds totally in control on everything and like the greatest rapper of all time. instead of just being fast and clever. even when he's just being a bit silly, he sounds perfectly right. he sounds mature but like he still wants to rap, too.

'only a customer.'

on 'pump it up'-- he just goes over it in under two minutes and he's the greatest rapper of all time.

'this life forever.'

the outro freestyle.

on 'rock star.'

on the 50 cent one.

the black album will be the greatest u have ever heard.

i hope you're right, d k. i have high hopes for The Black Album, with reservations (but then, I have a solid track record of my expectations/predictions about each of Jay's albums being way off the mark). for a decent portion of the Blueprint2 (Hovi Baby, Poppin Tags, the Sean Paul track especially), his flow is absolutely on fire, way way moreso than the relaxed Blueprint style. all the remixes and freestyles he's dropped in the past 6 months have been a bit autopilot, though. this mixtape is encouraging though, Pump It Up and Can't Do It are indeed hot.

Oh yeah "Stop" is so great (i know i know its blueprint 2.1 but still) in the career-defining way that "Holla If You Hear Me" was to pac.

If there's ever a "voice of a generation" jay bio its title so needs to be "Y'all Don't Hear Me Though"

speaking of bios, I haven't heard anything lately about that autobiography he was planning to drop along w/ the Black Album, anyone know if that's still on? i'm really looking forward to that, the article he wrote for Vibe a few months ago was great, very illuminating.

"Stop" is great, but i really haven't heard it enough to get a feel for it, i wish radio picked up on it more (or that he'd put it on this mixtape...c'mon Shawn, i bought The Gift & The Curse the first time, don't make me buy it again for 2 songs).

dang, I thought this was going to be about Shayne Carter :-)

This is the Jay-Z we love, the breezy-like-Vol.-3 breezy, not the breezy-like-Blueprint-I-just-heard-this-track-for-the-first-time-10-minutes-ago breezy. And you get "Stop" and "Excuse Me Miss (remix)," obviating the need for 2.1. And it has Joe Budden!

settle a bet: is joe budden white or black?

Not white.

i will claim my five dollars when she gets home tonight. on a technicality.