Jay-Z The Emcee

Tee21 · 03-29-2006, 03:10 AM

You know, I give Jigga man a lot of **** on this board being a big Nas fan and never really considered him the King of NY and would always jump on the "Biggie Biter" bandwagon, but I guess you could say that recently I've been giving his music another chance with an open mind with more attentive listens.

If you think Jay's whole career has been nothing but flashy, flossing, commercial pop-rap brag fests, I'd suggest you throw this tracklist together and listen all the way through and come to the realization that not only is he easily one of the G.O.A.T.'s, but that his flow is one of the most unique and matchless in the history of the game. These 20 tracks can compete with any "Greatest Hits" catalogue of anyone whoever picked up a mic. He covers everything you could ever want out of a top notch emcee over these twenty tracks and with the way I've constructed the order, you'll notice a consistent and smooth tone of how it flows... Normally, it would start with all the hardcore, braggadocio songs coming first and the introspective and reflective storytelling tracks towards the end, but I chose to do mine opposite as If I'm giving this cd to somebody who's ignorant to his versatility.

One of the things that bugs is when people say Jay has no versatility with his music, but then when he does give you instrospective or relevant, you call it disingenuous and it's utterly hypocritical. Let me tell you something from somebody known as being a Jay-z hater, songs like "Heart of the City", "Never Change", "Song Cry", "Can I Live" are just as unbelievable and instrospective as anything Nas or 2Pac ever released. "Dead Presidents", "D'evils", "Meet The Parents" are some of the greatest, most lyrical songs ever created and the superior braggadocio on "22 Twos", "Cashmere Thoughts" and "The Watcher" are equal, if not greater than cuts such as Nas' "Halftime" and "Aint Hard To Tell". The only questionable track on here is number 20 with the Timbaland beat, but I couldn't help it... Jay just rips the track to shreds.

01 - The Ruler's Back
02 - Heart of the City
03 - Never Change
04 - Song Cry
05 - Regrets
06 - Can I Live
07 - Dead Presidents II
08 - D'evils
09 - Meet The Parents
10 - Politics as Usual
11 - Feelin' It
12 - Takeover
13 - The Watcher 2 (feat. Dr. Dre and Rakim)
14 - Cashmere Thoughts
15 - 22 Two's
16 - Breathe Easy
17 - U Don't Know
18 - Brooklyn's Finest (feat. Notorious B.I.G.)
19 - Renegade (feat. Eminem)
20 - Dirt Off Your Shoulder

Stop Sleeping on one of the Greatest as I did for so long, if you have been that is. He was definitely fit to be King in my book.

mizzOe · 03-29-2006, 04:03 AM

Yeah Jay-z is pretty versatile.. His older stuff is much better..

I'd have to agree with all them tracks you listed there as being some of his best..

His freestyle with Big L was alright (got shined like a motherfuker) but it showed a nice lyrical side of Jay-Z.

Tee21 · 03-29-2006, 04:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mizzOe

Yeah Jay-z is pretty versatile.. His older stuff is much better..

I'd have to agree with all them tracks you listed there as being some of his best..

His freestyle with Big L was alright (got shined like a motherfuker) but it showed a nice lyrical side of Jay-Z.

Yeah, but word has it L was actually spittin' a written (as I have heard parts of his verses on other tracks) and Jay was goin' off the top of the head. You can make a Jay-Z Greatest Hits album off Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint alone, and I'm really, really beginning to appreciate the latter as of late, especially songs like "Heart of the City" and "Never Change", both produced by Kanye. I actually think he sounds incredible making instrospective/relevant tracks.

Shahin · 03-29-2006, 04:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tee21

Yeah, but word has it L was actually spittin' a written (as I have heard parts of his verses on other tracks) and Jay was goin' off the top of the head. You can make a Jay-Z Greatest Hits album off Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint alone, and I'm really, really beginning to appreciate the latter as of late, especially songs like "Heart of the City" and "Never Change", both produced by Kanye. I actually think he sounds incredible making instrospective/relevant tracks.

Agree with you there, I'm probably one of the few people who think The Blueprint>Reasonable Doubt. Jay-Z can be really good when he wants to, I think the reason a lot of people dislike him cus he put out so much trash for a few years, but yeah he's definitely one of the G.O.A.T's.

mizzOe · 03-29-2006, 04:45 AM

I know Big L was spittin a written.. It's obvious that he was spittin writtens

Tee21 · 03-29-2006, 05:11 AM

I probably still believe RD > Blueprint, but both are classics. Vintage Jay-Z flow is timeless... he just seems to blow everybody else out of the water and it's so enjoyable to listen to. I also feel the same way about Raekwon's "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx".

Thy_Kingdom · 03-30-2006, 12:03 AM

Brooklynn's Finest; amazing song.
Wonder why ''I love the Dough'' isn't up there.

SupaDJDiesel · 03-30-2006, 12:10 AM

If I made a similar thread about Cam'Ron I'd hear it for days on end.

Regardless, it's a good post. Jay is a good rapper. Nothing special to me personally, and my top 20 Jay list would be much much different, but good job.

HOVAFAN100 · 03-30-2006, 04:32 PM

D'evils is the best song ever written. Any genre.

SupaDJDiesel · 03-30-2006, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HOVAFAN100

D'evils is the best song ever written. Any genre.

HOVAFAN100 likes one of Jay-Z's songs? Would have never thought.