Jay-Z: American Gangster

[inabis]

Who me? I listen to a wide variety of music but mostly rap and techno (I know weird combo)...there a lot of good artists out there but for the most part I dont like country...just don't relate to it...it's just that when ppl say that ALL rappers are ignorant and dumb and never talk about anything intellectual I KNOW this isn't true and hence I get frustrated....anyway after catching a couple episodes of "The Big Idea" with Donny Deutche I agree with you that there are a lot of rich idiots out there...but here's the clinger: Most rappers aren't rich...they're broke as f**k

[just4kickz]

Originally Posted by inabis

Who me? I listen to a wide variety of music but mostly rap and techno (I know weird combo)...there a lot of good artists out there but for the most part I dont like country...just don't relate to it...it's just that when ppl say that ALL rappers are ignorant and dumb and never talk about anything intellectual I KNOW this isn't true and hence I get frustrated....anyway after catching a couple episodes of "The Big Idea" with Donny Deutche I agree with you that there are a lot of rich idiots out there...but here's the clinger: Most rappers aren't rich...they're broke as f**k

not at all. i listen to hip hop/rap/trance/house/chillout/trance/techno... and whenever last.fm matches me to people... its always a match to a rap person or a techno person.

[Expired]

Originally Posted by inabis

Who me? I listen to a wide variety of music but mostly rap and techno (I know weird combo)...there a lot of good artists out there but for the most part I dont like country...just don't relate to it...it's just that when ppl say that ALL rappers are ignorant and dumb and never talk about anything intellectual I KNOW this isn't true and hence I get frustrated....anyway after catching a couple episodes of "The Big Idea" with Donny Deutche I agree with you that there are a lot of rich idiots out there...but here's the clinger: Most rappers aren't rich...they're broke as f**k

Was talking about Los Angeles.. Most rappers don't know how to manage their money.

-Nathan

[SE3P_to_E90]

Originally Posted by Expired

The only reason he has money to manage, is because of his managers.


His music is only worth half of what people pay for it. (If not less)

-Nathan

Who are you talking about?

Originally Posted by inabis

from Wikipedia:

He adopted the nickname "50 Cent" as a metaphor for "change." The name was derived from Kelvin Martin, a 1980s Brooklyn robber known as "50 Cent." Jackson chose the name "because it says everything I want it to say. I'm the same kind of person 50 Cent was. I provide for myself by any means."

50 Cent's new stuff is pretty much garbage but Get Rich or Die Trying + Power of the Dollar were amazing...esp. Power of the Dollar...he was hungry and you could really tell

thanks for the info on this...
Man, he must've really wanted it because for me to get shot 35x, and not shoot back, whoa~

[wj4]

Originally Posted by younghov85

People dont really listen to lyrics I see on this particular thread. Jay is the best to ever do it. If you dont believe listen to his albums. He talks about an array of topics and has never fallen off. This album in particular shows the growth and maturation of Jay-Z as an artist.

And for those saying he is not a smart/ bright, look at the success he has achieved through music, but more importantly, financially. You try and do the same.

You're kinda bias, man...look at your screen name.

I listened to the CD...I like the intro, Blue Magic, ROC boys, and Ignorant Shit.

Growth and maturity? Jay-Z is well into his 30s to say the least..he's not an 80s baby, like Camron stated. He should've been wearing button ups years ago, and not with fitted hats.

Jay's best two albums IMO are Black Album and BP.

[Expired]

Originally Posted by SE3P_to_E90

Who are you talking about?



thanks for the info on this...
Man, he must've really wanted it because for me to get shot 35x, and not shoot back, whoa~

Jay-Z in the first sentence, was hating on 50 cent in the second one.
wanted what???

-Nathan

[inabis]

Originally Posted by wj4

Jay's best two albums IMO are Black Album and BP.

No love for Reasonable Doubt?? Black and BP are off the chain but RD is a straight classic man...I liked the Intro, Pray, Sweet, American Gangster and of course Ignorant Shit ...this album was a 4/5

[SE3P_to_E90]

Originally Posted by Expired

Jay-Z in the first sentence, was hating on 50 cent in the second one.
wanted what???

-Nathan

I was quoting Inabis... since he said 50Cent really "wanted it" i.e. the fame, money, etc.

[wj4]

Originally Posted by inabis

No love for Reasonable Doubt?? Black and BP are off the chain but RD is a straight classic man...I liked the Intro, Pray, Sweet, American Gangster and of course Ignorant Shit ...this album was a 4/5

I've listened to Reasonable Doubt sooo many times and I can not get myself to like it. It's been dubbed a classic, but I just don't see it. I even liked Roc La Familia...the intro to that album was one of the best I've ever heard from any rap albums

When a rapper gets some fame..it's just not the same anymore. Go listen to the old 50 Cent before he signed with Dre, you can tell he was hungry. Same with Fab, when he was dropping freestyles one after another on Clue's mixtapes.

[inabis]

Originally Posted by wj4

I've listened to Reasonable Doubt sooo many times and I can not get myself to like it. It's been dubbed a classic, but I just don't see it. I even liked Roc La Familia...the intro to that album was one of the best I've ever heard from any rap albums

When a rapper gets some fame..it's just not the same anymore. Go listen to the old 50 Cent before he signed with Dre, you can tell he was hungry. Same with Fab, when he was dropping freestyles one after another on Clue's mixtapes.

Most rappers are that way...DMX was GREAT when he started It's Dark and Hell is Hot is yet to be replicated by anyone...then he met Swizz and it was all downhill from there...but a lot of these rappers have sick ass mixtapes still...it seems their mixtape game is more on point than their commercial albums I guess they dont think anyone would buy it if they released that isht

Do you mean The Dynasty?? Yeah that intro was f'in sick and it had a lot of good songs on it...Change the game, Give it to me..that song finally pushed the Neptunes in the forefront of producing...I love the third verse off of Squeeze First even thought the ENTIRE song is a hook:

Hell is hot, you heard X/Wanted to tell God that I don't deserve this/Was afraid that he'd tell me I deserve less /My life was nervous, you haven't heard stress/Til you heard the cries of my mama, me givin her drama/Told her I aint promised tomorrow, gotta live for the day

[wj4]

Lyrical Exercise was probably one of the best tracks that Hov came hardest on. If you want nothing but straight up grimey rappers spitting hot lines...you just need to get mixtapes. I remember circa 02-04 when DJ Clue would make mixtapes after movies, Stack Bundle and A Team were something serious.

And yeah, the title of the album was Roc La Familia: The Dynasty.

X was an exception because he was messing with coke, lol.

[BaLLzZz]

Originally Posted by wj4

I've listened to Reasonable Doubt sooo many times and I can not get myself to like it. It's been dubbed a classic, but I just don't see it. I even liked Roc La Familia...the intro to that album was one of the best I've ever heard from any rap albums

When a rapper gets some fame..it's just not the same anymore. Go listen to the old 50 Cent before he signed with Dre, you can tell he was hungry. Same with Fab, when he was dropping freestyles one after another on Clue's mixtapes.

aYYy ayy FaB is still fire and at the top of his game right now. On to the rest of this jelly thread

I am not going to quote or what not im just going to speak my mind. Jay Z is definatly not the best out... Top 5 yes but the best NO. This album i just heard it briefly on the ride home and too me its not jay z. It sounds rushed and not his style at all. "Ya Digg" Never did i think the words would come out of jay zs mouth but sure enough on this album they did. It just doesnt feel jay even the production. The only piece of this album that he might have seen threw is the intro. Now im not hating yet because llike i said i didnt really LISTEN 100% yet. But from what i heard its mabey a 3/5 and a week 3 at that. Now on another note jigga gets alot of credit i remmber 8 albums in 8 years 7 out of 8 were 5/5. Now thats sick. Reasonable OMG thats rap. But now onto the kayne issue and sampling. Thats what rap is if you do not like it then dont listen. Kanye is one of the best at it only behind Dj Premier and Dre. Now kayne as an artist thats not why i listen. Some songs he is good others imho he sucks. But his beats are masterpieces and works of art. Now a days only a few real rappers are left. Jada,jigga,nas,eminem(falling off a lil), Pap, Styles nd a few others... but this thread is funny. Who knows real rap in here i hope only a few cuz most have no idea what they are saying. A few do. 50s first album and everything prior was fire. MoBB dEEp was sick till they signed with rat unit(for $$$ why else) fuKin bIGGY IS THE BEST RAPPER EVER HANDS DOWN. lil wayne is a joke. Hate him love his production. jeezy got sum fire. cass always got fire. fab always got fire and im DONE lol

[wj4]

^Fab stays making love songs now because he knows it sells. Go look at older songs like Keep It Gangsta and Breathe...now that was vintage Fab.

[Kiemyster]

Originally Posted by wj4

^Fab stays making love songs now because he knows it sells. Go look at older songs like Keep It Gangsta and Breathe...now that was vintage Fab.

those songs were epic. i still listento them today lol

[inabis]

It sounds rushed and not his style at all

+10000000

Kanye is one of the best at it only behind Dj Premier and Dre

I def. agree...don't forget about the Neptunes and Timbo...unlike many producers out there they have the ability to make both hip-hop and non-hip hop records

Jada,jigga,nas,eminem(falling off a lil), Pap, Styles nd a few others...

Jada is nice and so is Styles...I know there is a LOX album in the works...personally I think that Hov, Nas and Em have been falling off...that last Eminem album was straight garbage...guess he's outta ideas...Papoose is nice but I think that he has a problem riding the beat...allota times he's just off-and I have a real hard time listening to rappers like that

MoBB dEEp was sick till they signed with rat unit

I lost mad respect for Mobb Deep especially after P was like "My face is Hollywood but my tattoos will only give me the thug parts tho"....wtf who says that?? He just called himself Hollywood....u just took 20 steps back u dumbass

lil wayne is a joke. Hate him love his production. jeezy got sum fire. cass always got fire. fab always got fire

Thank you...sometimes weezy's rhymes are tight but for the most part he's not that good and definitely NOT the best rapper alive...fab's been falling off HARD recently, his last album wasn't anything great...yeah he's good at making love songs but every once in a while you need to come out with something hard or you'll end up like LL Cool J (btw he's "mad" b/c he doesn't know why no one thinks of him as a "hardcore" anymore artist like he "was in his youth") ....Jeezy's not bad he's maaadd repetitive but Cassidy is gonna be tight BARS is def. gonna be one hot LP...try looking for Saigon too he's gome some hot tracks but he's having label problems

[younghov85]

Originally Posted by wj4

You're kinda bias, man...look at your screen name.

I listened to the CD...I like the intro, Blue Magic, ROC boys, and Ignorant Shit.

Growth and maturity? Jay-Z is well into his 30s to say the least..he's not an 80s baby, like Camron stated. He should've been wearing button ups years ago, and not with fitted hats.

Jay's best two albums IMO are Black Album and BP.

I am not bias, just stating facts. Jay fell off after Blueprint, but this movie, American Gangster, highly motivated him and brought the best out of him.
The entire CD is good, every song has some strong meaning behind it. Its almost parallels the movie, which describes a hustlers life, both positive and negative.
Those three songs you named are all good songs, but not the best. Success feat. Nas is a really great song, as they describe how all the money and fame means nothing in the end.
When Jay-Z says he is an 80s baby, he means JAY-Z, not Shawn Carter. Everyone knows Jay is not born in the 80s. Camron just said that to make a hot mixtape. You see how far it has gotten him.
Your opinion is a good one, but honestly, Black Album was one of his weaker albums, but still a very good one. Listen to Reasonable Doubt and Vol. 3. Those are the best ones, not including BP. No offense, but you sound as if you started listening to Jay maybe four to five years ago.

[Los Angeles]

Originally Posted by younghov85

I am not bias, just stating facts. Your opinion is a good one, but honestly, Black Album was one of his weaker albums, but still a very good one.

Black album weak???

Whaaaat?
That's funny.

Black Album is a masterpiece from the beginning to end. BluePrint is classic.
Reasonable doubt is classic. American Gangster isn't really Jay album. It's like Streets Is Watchin(< if you listen to his music, you definitely know this album). Am. Gangster is a theme and concept.

I think the album went over a lot of people's heads because they're expecting to hear something more conventional. That also goes for the Kingdom Come album. A lot of people didn't understand it.

Jay thinks years beyond a lot of his fans and some of them don't really get it until some time later. Others never get it.

When Reasonable Doubt dropped in 96', soo many people slept on the album and thought it was decent. It took some recognition from those who understand and some time for people to realize how good really is.

Overall, Am. Gangster has 2 tracks I could live without but the rest is amazing. It purposely didn't have the Timbaland and Kanye production because it has a different purpose. Thus, all the production sounds gritty and vintage.

It embodies the American gangster mentality of the 70s-80s era.

[just4kickz]

anybody listen to the black chronic? jay-z's black album remixed by bash bros... good beatss!

[Max_!]

Originally Posted by inabis

ok...my opinion: EVERYONE SUCKS LIVE regardless of genre no one will come anywhere close to how they sound on their cd...unless they're lip singing. You can't go to a concert and expect to be wowed by lyricists well because they're lyricists...their music is about the lyrics man

You don't listen to real, talented artists, that's the problem.

Plenty of bands will do their best work live. The problem is that labels stopped scouting for talent and instead promote artists scraped off the sidewalk that suck so much they don't have to pay them and make up for the lack of talent with autotune processing.

Rap isn't music. It's what you do when you can't hold a job, you can't sing and your fingers are to stubby to pull a trigger for cash.

You don't know me so I won't hold it against you if you think I know shit about music.

[just4kickz]

Originally Posted by Max_!

You don't listen to real, talented artists, that's the problem.

Plenty of bands will do their best work live. The problem is that labels stopped scouting for talent and instead promote artists scraped off the sidewalk that suck so much they don't have to pay them and make up for the lack of talent with autotune processing.

Rap isn't music. It's what you do when you can't hold a job, you can't sing and your fingers are to stubby to pull a trigger for cash.

You don't know me so I won't hold it against you if you think I know shit about music.

how is rap not music. haha your telling a hundred million people that what they're listening to isnt really music. you must be really smart to be making a statement like that

[Max_!]

Originally Posted by just4kickz

how is rap not music. haha your telling a hundred million people that what they're listening to isnt really music. you must be really smart to be making a statement like that

Some of the music in rap could be pretty good, but it's ruined by the spaz mouthing off over it and the recording engineer pushing all the levels in the red so it sounds louder than the other crap.

[Max_!]

Originally Posted by just4kickz

how is rap not music. haha your telling a hundred million people that what they're listening to isnt really music. you must be really smart to be making a statement like that

Plus - and you know this - the number of people buying something has no bearing on the quality. In fact, the relationship is more likely to be inversely proportional.

A hundred million people can be listening to a hippo pass kidney stones and believe that to be music, that doesn't make it so.