Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Jay-Z is the GOAT.

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Images procured from our dear friend Vik.

Ok.


Not quite.

But he is exactly what I needed this summer.

And I ain't talking about no Umbrella.

This is not another writer waxing poetic about who belongs in the
hip hops holy trinity.

Its about my Jay Z Summer. But before I get into that, let me
breakdown my description of the emcees and the attributes
the make them candidates for hip hop's holy trinity .

Jay= The Hustler's Hustler
Nas= Thug Politician
BIG= Nihilistic Storyteller with a Keen Eye for All Things Beautiful and Street
Pac= Panther Spirit with Thug Sensibilities.

I rock w/ all these Jawns. But J.
He is DOING something special for me this summer.

You see. School had me overwhelmed.
And Im just now recovering.

Sh*t had me not remembering my hustlers spirit.
I got the hottest chick in the game, wearing my chain.
~PSA

Treat my first like my last, and my last like my first
And my thirst is the same as - when I came
~My 1st song
I have always stayed having, school, 2 jobs and a side hustle.
Planning six months in advance. That type of thing. But.
Not as of late.
And that IRKS me.

However, I remind myself that, when you take on new challenges in life,
you are forced to recalibrate.

For me, this summer, J is helping me to see
that I need to fuse them
clerkship dreams, with that East Oakland- OUT THE TRUNK mentality.

No matter where you go you are what you are you are player.
~Public Service Announcement
I'm ten years removed, still the vibe is in my veins 
~
Public Service Announcement
He feels relevant to my life right now because, we both like cake,
we both have an entrepreneurial spirit, he is ambivalent and a
analytical about his
acceptance into the White establishment
and finally he is obsessed with class mobility.
If you grew up with holes in ya zapatos You'd be celebrating
the minute you was havin' dough
~99 Problems

Rap mags try and use my black ass So advertisers can give 'em more cash for ads, fuckers
~99 Problems
I have never had his catalog.

In fact, I think I have only owned Reasonable Doubt, and
The Blueprint for Big Pimpin.

You see.

Im a Nas Head. But hearing Public Service Announcement in a Rover
this past May,
doing 80 from brunch on a MONDAY morning
got me kinda open for your boy J.

It was at that moment that I concluded that I
NNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEDED more Black Album in
my life.

Without sayin a word, the ghetto's got a mental telepathy Man my brother hustled so, naturally Up next is me, but what perplexes me Shit I know how this movie ends, still I play the starrin role in "Hovito's Way"
Man. Who talks about the streets cycle in a way that is analytical
of both our families, our positions within our families
and the future
that we see for ourselves.

The folks over at "Black People For More Black MALE

Lawyers" need to holler at Jay to get a dialog cracking on
how to reach out to and retain the young bucks at 9 and 10 years old.

Plus, he gets right to the gristle of how succesful Black men, and
aspiring Black men feel.
I heard "Son do you know why I'm stoppin' you for?" Cause I'm young and I'm black and my hats real low? Do I look like a mind reader sir, I don't know Am I under arrest or should I guess some mo'? "Well you was doin fifty-five in a fifty-fo' "
I BEEN feeling like I have been doing a 55 in a 54
for the last two years blood!

Real talk.

Then came 99 Problems.
I always felt this song. But really listening to 99 problems,
Dear Summer Public Service Announcement, My 1st Song
and Allure ON REPEAT, when you are
in the trenches of struggle
is life altering.

Half a Mil for Bail cuz Im African.
~ 99 Problems


And then there is the crush on Bleek, and there you have it.

So. I guess the more appropriate title is
Jay-Z, Greatest of All Summers.

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Whats your favorite J joint?

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21 comments:

The Minority Reporter said...

1. PSA (I believe we already discussed this)
"I'm like, Che Guevara with bling on, I'm complex"(I got a tshirt made from this joint
I never claimed to have wings on" (cause when nickas hear that u reppin for Black folk and Women they start thinkin that my personal/political is all aligned...it ain't

2. Meet the Parents (aghhhh)
"That's the life of us raised by winter...it's a cold world"

3. Where I'm From
"Faced with immeasurable odds still I get straight bets
So I felt some more something and you nothing check"

4. Renagade
"See I'm influenced by the ghetto you ruined
That same dude you gave nothin, I made somethin doin
what I do through and through and
I give you the news - with a twist it's just his ghetto point-of-view"
oh and Em goes clean off on this song too

Hon. mentions
Lucifer---OMG this beat!

Reservoir Dogs--Sheek's opening lines killed it "Yo shut the fuck up 'fore I blast and Banned From TV your ass with no mask, look at the camera like what?...If I ain't hungry, who the fuck is, I'm worse than them African kids"

Unplugged version of Song Cry---Jaguar Wright Kilt it!...that's right "k-i-l-t it!"

Where Have You Been/Still Got Love for You---Females ain't the only one's with Daddy Issues.

***********************************
clearly i have a lil too much time at work today lol

BeautyinBaltimore said...

I really can't comment on this post since I've never really cared for Jay. I find it annoying when men who are facially challenged are very arogant(sp).

Anonymous said...

PSA is my ringtone, but Song Cry & Where have you Been are my favorite Jay songs. Anytime he speaks on real life, it's magic. I always wanted the Watcher 2 from BP2 to be a video though.

But Nas is favorite because he's never manicured his image. Those contradictions his show his growth as a man.

find it annoying when men who are facially challenged are very arogant(sp).
==================================
When life gives you lemons make lemondade

Anonymous said...

"Lucky Me"

Best song off his best album.

Anonymous said...

^
Forgot about that one. I'll add You Must Love Me as well.

M.Dot. said...

@tmr
Don't feel lucifer.

M.Dot. said...

@ BIB
I find it annoying when men who are facially challenged are very arogant(sp).
==========

LOl at facially challenged.

M.Dot. said...

Anytime he speaks on real life, it's magic.
============
I aspire to fulfill this.

But Nas is favorite because he's never manicured his image. Those contradictions his show his growth as a man.
============
Sh*T. IM STILL ROUGH AROUND THE EDGES.

Anonymous said...

the feel good track

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WVD74YTlws

nine, six and forever.

Anonymous said...

damn almost forgot about, "heart of the city."

ohh - you not feelin me?
Fine; it cost you nothin - pay me no mind
Look, i'm on my grind cousin, ain't got time for frontin
Sensitive thugs, y'all all need hugs

M.Dot. said...

Sensitive thugs, y'all all need hugs
==========

I heart this line.

neo said...

U don't know - gets me amped, motivated and in it to win it..

"you don't know, what you're doin-doin-doing, sure I do"

"I'm a hustler baby, I'll sell water to a well.."

welcome to the jay fan club. :-)

I got too many joints that are faves of mine..

yeah and I still got mad love for the boy Nas..

i love it when fans dissect rappers in social contexts...its awesome. you begin to read their lyrics differently.

Mr. Proctor said...

"Politics as Usual"

The first time I heard this song, I listened to it, I estimate, 20 times in succession.

"Y'all feel a nigga's struggle, y'all think a nigga love to
hustle behind the wheel, tryin to escape my trouble
kids stop they greetin me, I'm talkin sweet to keys
Cursin the very God..."

Dude is a HUSTLER...

"Allure"
I didn't even give this a chance when the beat would drop. I always had it on "ASS" status before I finally gave it a listen 3 months after I had the cd. To this day, I regret that three month period that I denied my ears the aural pleasure of Allure (a little over the top, but fuck it)...

It's crazy how, in each verse, you get a sense of why he hustle's, women love the hustler's, and how he can't escape "the life."

Honorable Mentions
"Can I Live"
"Poppin' Tags"
"Soon You'll Understand"
"Never Change"
"Dead Presidents"
and... Fuck it, it's too many to name.

She Hate Me said...

OK, so, I have to admit, I'm a Jay fan. Always have been, ever since someone gave me his first album back in '96. (I want to say it was Biggs, but I would be lying. All I know, it was part of Jay's street team visiting VA.)

Now, I had the tape. And someone had that tape and played it, because I had to start on Side B.


And the first song I ever heard from Jay-Z was Can I Live.

"We hustle out of a sense of, hopelessness
Sort of a desperation
Through that desperation, we 'come addicted
Sorta like the fiends we accustomed to servin
But we feel we have nothin to lose
so we offer you, well, we offer our lives, right?
What do you bring to the table?"


And after that, I've been just entranced in his music. Before '96, it was all about Wu, Pac, Snoop, and Bone.

"I keep my head, both of them, where they supposed to be..."

I've followed that since July of 1996, and it's gotten me to where I am now.

I've got Hov's whole catalog, from beginning (Hawaiian Sophie) to now (Watch What You Say To Me). It's hard for me to pick out favorite songs, but I can pick out songs that, from year to year, has held me down mentally.

1996 - Can I Live
1997 - Streets Is Watching (man, that got me zone for a hot minute)
1998 - Hard Knock Life
1999 - NYMP (I'm a hustler; except that no correctional facilities can correct that....)
2000 - Soon You'll Understand
2001 - Renagade (Do you fools listen to music, or do you just skim through it?)
2002 - Some How, Some Way (Can I get a Beans, Scarface, and Jay album? Please?)
2003 - Allure (Or even the worst pain is the distress/Learnin' you're the mistress only after that love gets slain/And the anger and the sorrow mixed up leads to mistrust/Now it gets tough to ever love again...)
2004 - It's On (Once again it's on/Young run through you aggins/Like a glitch in the computer aggin/I'm the sh*t, I'm a sewer aggin/This is Jay everyday, no days off, Ferris Bueler aggin)
2005 - Dear Summer
2006 - Tie Between Beach Chair (I really do love this freaking song) and The Prelude (Haven't heard a intro this nice from him, ever)

Can't comment on '07 yet.... but I know it'll be something profound.

Sorry for the wall of text, but you know how I am, gotta get my point across....

~She Hate Me

Anonymous said...

You wanna know how I roll? Just seek and you'll find. I'm like a brain in the voice box; I speak my mind.

Dame said...

Wow..the out of the Trunk mentality…..word to E A Ski..and Short Dog

Hmmm black men for more black lawyers site..gotta check that.


I’ve always had a love hate (I’m to old to be saying no homo) thing for J…

Great lyricist .off hand…and even tho I like you am more as I Nas fan I never ceased to give him credit where credit is due…( Either..pfft he destroyed Nas..with actual fact..and as a Mobb Deep fan I’m sad to say they haven’t been the same since”

Hmmm hard question to answer….

I could say..”Soon you’ll understand”…..for its depth…..

“Allure”…..(white or clear album version)

But honestly..my winner is

“You must love me”…

http://www.zshare.net/audio/278845777d6787/

That song rivals Ghost face’s “All I got” for the song to most likely make me shed tears at art since the last time I did it (Boyz in the Hood circa 91)

Loved the post and how you incorporated the lyrics within in it.

M.Dot. said...

To this day, I regret that three month period that I denied my ears the aural pleasure of Allure (a little over the top, but fuck it)...
=======

I solemly swear, to change my approach, cuz I be doing the most, OH NOOOOO.

N*gga.

You ARE OVER THE TOP.

ACCEPT IT.

M.Dot. said...

Loved the post and how you incorporated the lyrics within in it.
========

My DUTY as a b-girl.

Glad you likey.

Mr. Proctor said...

It has been accepted.

Anonymous said...

Regrets off Vol. 1 as well. Along with You Must Love and Lucky Me, Jay didn't get that personal again until The Dynasty.

Unknown said...

not trying to hate cuz I feel wat u saying....and im not sure if anyone else noticed this, but.....Big Pimpin' was on IML Vol. 3, NOT Blueprint.

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