But it’s a rare rap album that pulls off tracks about adoring one’s wife (‘Part Two (On The Run)’ and caring for one’s daughter (‘Jay Z Blue’) without ladling on too much schmaltz, and the Pharrell-produced ‘Oceans’, a noble meditation on slavery crooned by Frank Ocean, is a career highlight for both. Some slightly cringeworthy moments, too – rapping Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ on ‘Holy Grail’ probably isn’t one for the ages. They called it “dad rap”, and it’s true that it didn’t hit with the shock of the new displayed on Kanye’s ‘Yeezus’. But what does it mean, if you have to sit through a Lenny Kravitz guest spot (‘Guns N Roses’) to get there? There are some bangers here – the Kanye-produced ‘Some People Hate’, a slamming remix of ‘The Blueprint’’s ‘U Don’t Know’ featuring shouty Brooklyn mob MOP. The cockiness is plain from the opening track, ‘The Dream’, where Jay Z communes with the ghost of his late friend The Notorious B.I.G before sampling a verse of Biggie’s ‘Juicy’ – it’s meant, doubtless, as tribute, but comes off a little crass, to be honest. The Blueprint 2: The Gift And The Curseįollowing up a career classic with a double-album sequel is asking for trouble, and so it is with ‘The Gift And The Curse’. Agree? Disagree? Have your say in the comments.ġ3. But a trawl through his discography has been quite eye-opening – I definitely underrated 2007’s ‘American Gangster’ on its release, while some of the flashier releases that impressed so much at the time don’t really stand up now. Sequencing the lower end was a bit of a headache – I don’t think he’s actually made a properly bad record, save perhaps for that rather ill-advised Linkin Park collaboration back in 2004. Well, maybe that Kanye fella had a perch while his back was turned.Īs Jigga finishes his UK tour at the O2 tonight, it’s time to survey his back catalogue and try to place them in order. He’s retired from music, and returned to find his throne unclaimed. He’s run clothing lines and record companies. Since his breakout album ‘Reasonable Doubt’ hit the streets in 1996, Shawn Carter has cast an increasingly long shadow over hip-hop. Jay Z is one of those rare figures who’s stayed put.
It’s the rare figure, though, that can fight their way to the top of the pile and stay there. Hip-hop, as we’re told, isn’t just a musical style – it’s a way of life.
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