DJ Premier, anyone? Just one Kanye West song? (Although, it should be noted that “Do U Wanna Ride” is a good one – a subtler version of Kanye.) Even 9th Wonder or Bink would have been a welcome addition at this point.
Strength of Theory #3 – Likely.
Theory #4 – He’s Too Old. People have been taking cracks at “30 Something” and insinuating that Jay-Z is too old to make a good hip hop record. This seems insane on a few levels. For starters, he just turned 37, which means that he was 34 when he put out a certifiable classic in the form of The Black Album. Is 37 that much older than 34? It’s not like he turned 35 and started aging in dog years.
There are plenty of hip hop stars picking up steam in their 30’s. Nas’ new one is a heater and he’s 33. Ghostface was rap’s critical darling for ’06 and he’s 36. Hell, Snoop Dogg is as old as dirt and he just put out his best album in 13 years. Yes, Jay’s new record was built for an “adult audience.” No, he’s not too old to be good.
Strength of Theory #4 – No Chance.
Theory #5 – Backlash. Let’s face it - we live in a society that loves to bring people down. This is the pop culture universe that built 50 Cent up and then tore him down in the span of 12 months, and that’s just the obvious hip hop example. There was Leo after Titanic (it took him over five years and a half dozen incredible roles to get all the way back).
It started happening with Dwayne Wade during the NBA Finals last year when people started complaining about all the calls he got. It just happened this week regarding SNL’s new digital short “A Special Box,” which should have been enjoyed by all as a truly funny sketch, but was instead beat down lest we get too excited ala the “Narnia Rap.”
It’s happening with Lost. It will probably happen with Sacha Baron Cohen if it hasn’t already. And so on and so forth. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that Jay-Z would get the same treatment. After all, he’s everywhere these days.
Running Def Jam, owning the Nets, dating Beyonce, appearing on Budweiser commercials, doing the Hanger Tour, popping into the booth on Monday Night Football, you name it. Naturally, people are going to push back. Jay even saw this coming, rapping on Trouble that it’s “just a matter of time before the steady hate/ starts to overflow and then the levee breaks.”
Article comments
1 - Jason Meltzer Patterson
I thought this review was dead on and to be honest I knew almost from the get go I was going to stand in agreement. It's not such a bad offering. As you get older you look for albums that hold up and I think this album has a few gems we'll look back on - like the MySpace one
Oddly enough though, rapper Talib Kweli does have a MySpace and his video for "Listen" off the yet to be released (although originally due for Nov 06) album Eardrum - again, all a matter of where you're at and where you are coming from
Isn't a part of the spirit of true hip hop being in the momemnt and expressing yourself - why wouldn't Jay-Z talk about THIS stage in his life
It's not his fault he was "there by the time he was 22"
2 - Laky
Absolutely spot on man. "The Prelude" alone, disproves critics who say that Jay has lost a step lyrically. The only place where you've lost your way a bit with this article is the album rankings. Vol 2 was Hard Knock Life, arguably Jay's worst. The real rankings should be these:
1. Reasonable Doubt
2 (tie) Blueprint and Black Album
3. Volume 1
4. Kingdom Come
5. Volume 3
6. Hard Knock Life
7. Blueprint 2
8. The Dynasty
3 - Beelow
You guys amaze me. I read review all the time on people dissing Jay and saying that the album was wack. Are you guys really listening to the music or just skimming through it? I mean come on guys if you sit down and listen to the words that Jay says and how he uses different metaphors then you will have something better to say. I wish you dumba** critics who don't know s*** about hip hop just shut up. Who are these people. There is no number one Jay Z album because all of them are the best. Jay is the best since Pac and BIG without a doubt. I wish people stop hating on this guy because he is so successful and give the guy his props because he is the greatest. I mean he's on talk shows and he is one of the 10 most fascinating people of the year according to Barbara Walters. Come on don't hate on the guy. You should do something smart and try to figure out how to get on his level and be as half of as a success as he is. Maybe if you critics spent more time doing other things and stop hating maybe you could get on his level.
4 - Black Krishna
Great review, and yeah, both the praise and criticism are valid as they inevitably are, so it's good that you made peace with them.
The one crucial component that's eroding with age and content is his expression of "balls", which is a rapper's greatest weapon, and what makes 50 Cent the "Frank Sinatra of Hip Hop". Both were gangsters who flaunted it, both weren't the best singers but could certainly sing, and both rocked the biggest balls on the planet, whether it was Frank having fun as a serial killer on "Mack The Knife", or Fiddy inviting 6 billion people to pleasure him in making "Candy Shop" the Number One Song in the World.
(And no, I'm not starting a "Who's better?" conversation, I'm just making a point of why the biggest rapper today is crossing-up the game and crossing over until anybody listening can relate by simply feeling "how" he's saying it over what he's saying. He's no 2Pac either, that dood rocked so much balls - and - soul that cats from other countries will bump dat ish a hundred times without knowing a word - but, with knowing on some level what he's trying to say...)
That (balls) in consistent doses is what Nas has been missing since "Illmatic", and to a lesser extent Jay-Z since "Reasonable Doubt", and here on "Kingdom Come". The pressure and their reactions to it compromise both on too many tracks, and while "Made You Look" and "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" among dozens cement their ability to hit "it", their consistency inevitably suffers over the course of an album as they deal with who they've become and experiment or phone it in and rely on who they are to make it forgiveable.
And yeah, he does whisper waaay too much on this, and I think his braggadocio with his over-exposure is finally irking me on a subconscious level. It's like, sure, I'll hold your jock, but not because you're "explicitly" telling me I will, and not because you're throwing it in my face. I liked when he showed up and hit us out of the blue, and that one-minute wait for "Black Republican" is irritating, especially when both he and Nas aren't at their best on the opening banter, they just don't seem confident and comfortable, though the rest of the song's pretty good.
So yeah, if he's gonna flaunt it he's gotta bring it, because I'll throw my diamond up (if you win your lawsuit), but only if you shine homey... :-)
Peace, (NOW!!!)
BK
Google: Black Krishna
5 - RJ Elliott
Fine review. But this album has 99 problems, and Beyonce ain't one.
6 - Still Waters
This Album is not the best Jay-Z CD I've ever purchased...BUT I love this as an alternative to what he have in Hip-Hop right now. I don't want to hear LiL Wayne, 50 Cent, and a host of others.
Jay-Z has always been mature with his approach. Reasonable Doubt was serious, as well as the others.
The flow is still amazing. Listen to the flow on "Beach Chair" that flow has NEVER been used in rap before.
Do the critics understand what voice game is? The intro track....With Goldie from "The Mack" talking and then Jay with another original flow.
Honestly, I believe this album was meant to be a tease before either He and NAS do a CD or he comes out again.
7 - foj-z
i agree w/ beelow. how n da fuck can u say dat dis album is wack. get da fuck outta here.y dont u git a 9 2 5? u shouldnt b a critic.lately dats da only thing i've been hearing, this albums wack & all dat, but u didnt say not 1 time it wasnt good music.
its da ROC
`1`
8 - pkd
the album is nt the best jay-z work bt if u re a fan of jay u'll love all thesame.i dont know why critics re trying to kill the album but i can only say that jay sounds martured onlike dem others
9 - RJ Elliott
The semi-literates speak!
10 - adrian cano
I see music in a total defrent way than other people,and they say I am crazzy!is it best that I keep this sick secret treasure to my sell-f and HO?