My Favorite Rap Artists, Vol. 4 | Jay-Z

I've been real all my life, they confuse it with conceit.
Since I will not lose, they try to help him cheat.
But I will not lose, for even in defeat,
There's a valuable lesson learned,

So it evens it up for me.
- (From Blueprint 2, 2002)

We've finally reached our first legend on my list, and to a lot of people he's the greatest of all time in terms of success and longevity. A couple of people actually asked me if he was next in the series because I did the review on decoded, so here is the answer to that obviously lol. When I was growing up I was actually the polar opposite of my older brother, he loved the Braves, I loved the Yankees, he like to be a pretty boy, I liked being active and rough, he liked Jay-Z, I liked Nas. I didn't give Jay-Z a real chance until I was actually on my own and trying different things. I think it was around the time Blueprint 2 came out and I actually gave it a try and I liked loved it, I went back and checked all of his other albums and I gained more appreciation for who he is an artist and more so as a business man now.

There's always a point where people tend to stop really listening to Jay-Z as now he's not really relatable to most people that listen to his music. For me that point isn't really there because I listen and enjoy his albums on a level that doesn't really hold people to standards. MCHG wasn't really my cup of tea simply because every time I turned around there was a song on the radio from the album. That's great for him and all of the promotion, but I personally don't like hearing the same thing a million times over a day. But on the same hand, Watch The Throne was my album, and I'm beyond ready for part two to drop, whenever that is. I would say I'm ready for another Jay album but I would only like that if either he got on some new production or got back to the old grimy days and pull some production out of DJ Premier, among others of the same nature. But all in all, Jay continues to adapt and put out some solid, not great, but solid albums.

He's one of my favorites because I can roll out so many lyrics and quotable's from this man that it's almost uncanny to believe one human can own that much. Beach Chair is in my top five songs ever that I love to listen to; Blueprint is in my top albums as well. It's safe to say that unless Jay-Z puts aside his many business ventures and focuses solely on music, or even release some unheard tracks and packages them as an album, I doubt he'll come out hitting on another classic. Personally outside of dropping joint albums with JT and Kanye, I don't see him releasing another studio album, he just has too much to do with his time between running his label, his business ventures, and being a family man, and nothing is wrong with that. I'd rather have a part time Hov, than a full time distracted one, so I'll check out and cherish his old material and lookout for his guess appearances.

What is your greatest memory of Hov? Any favorite songs, lines, guest appearances? Leave it in the comments below.

Until next time guys.

Discography

1996 | Reasonable Doubt

1997 | In My Lifetime, Vol. 1

1998 | Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life

1999 | Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter

2000 | The Dynasty: Roc La Familia

2001 | The Blueprint

2002 | The Best of Both Worlds (with R. Kelly)

2002 | The Blueprint²: The Gift & The Curse

2003 | The Black Album