Introspective Jay is the best Jay. Here, he looks back on three major losses: the Roc-a-fella split, the end of a relationship (rumored to be with Rosario Dawson), and the death of his nephew in a car crash. All are handled with sensitivity, though the first of the three has by far the bestcatchphrase.
The song with perhaps thecraziest collection of writers ever(thanks, U.S. copyright law!) is also one of the greatest diss tracks of all time. Its insults are surgical, as opposed to the machine-gun splatter (and rampanthomophobia) of the reply it inspired. Plus, it has one of the best endings of any song.
Top 3 Songs:
1) "It's Hot (Some Like It Hot)"
2) "Big Pimpin" (ft. UGK)
3) "Snoopy Track" (ft. Juvenille)
If you care, this is the first JAY-Z album I bought with my own money since I was out with my grandmother and she didn't know my parent's stance on that Parental Advisory sticker in the corner. I didn't get that Jay was dissing 50 on "it's Hot" even though it's obvious I just liked the Timbaland beat and how Hov spit over it. It clearly aged well with time once I knew what was up. Obviously "Big Pimpin" is in the top 3. I kinda like Bun B's verse the best actually. Even though I actually tried to memorize Jay's verse. "Snoopy Track" may not be the obvious choice to round out the top 3 but I can't help how much I liked Juvenille at the time and the way I loved singing along to this hook.
Jay-Z's deal ensures that Magna Carta will sell at least 1 million copies in its opening week. That's almost a 50% increase over his next-best debut--Kingdom Come, which moved 680,000 units--and slightly better than the opening week sales of his first four albums, combined.
Perhaps best of all, Jay-Z guaranteed himself an insurance policy: if the album had leaked to an outside source before tonight, that would have been Samsung's problem. And either way, he'd have gotten paid, racking up the best first week sales of his career.
UPDATE: The launch of Magna Carta Holy Grail experienced some technical difficulties early this morning--scores of users including FORBES contributor Joshua Steimle found that Samsung's app didn't work. Analysis? That's Samsung's problem, not Jay-Z's. The rapper still got paid, got tremendous buzz around his album, got his music out to millions (thanks in part to the efforts of Funkmaster Flex, who streamed it on Hot 97) and, as promised, got the best first-week sales of his career. Jay-Z wins again.
Jay Z is widely known as one of the greatest rappers of all time, and with good reason. The man with many nicknames also has just as many hit songs. All of these songs were on Jay Z's best albums, which this list tries to figure out what can truly be named his best albums. People think very highly of his debut, Reasonable Doubt, which is widely considered one of the best rap albums. His other work isn't too shabby either. While people generally think that it drops off after a certain point, it's up to you to determine if that's true or not.
This is our list of the best Jay Z albums, including pictures of the album covers when available. This Jay Z discography is ranked from best to worst, so the top Jay Z albums can be found at the top of the list. To make it easy for you, we haven't included Jay Z singles, EPs, or compilations, so everything you see here should only be studio albums. If you think the greatest Jay Z album isn't high enough on the list, then be sure to vote for it so it receives the credit it deserves. Make sure you don't just vote for critically acclaimed albums; if you have a favorite Jay Z album, then vote it up, even if it's not necessarily the most popular.
In 2010, Jay-Z reflected on growing up in Brooklyn surrounded by drugs and violence. "One day, your best friend could be killed. The day before, you could be celebrating him getting a brand-new bike."
And there was playing in the Johnny Pump, and there was the ice cream man who - coming around. And there was all these games that we played. And then, it would turn - suddenly, it just - violent. And there would be shootings at 12 in the afternoon on any given day. So it was just - weird mix of emotions. I mean, you know, one day, your best friend could be killed. The day before you could be celebrating him getting a brand-new bike. It was just extreme highs and lows.
He had been talking about retiring since Reasonable Doubt and by 2003 it finally seemed like it may happen, so Jay-Z pulled out all of the stops. While it did not have a different producer for each song as originally intended, it does feature a range of beatsmiths (Just Blaze, Timbaland, the Neptunes, Eminem, Kanye), each of whom brings a different sound to the proceedings and most deliver their best, forcing Jay to up his own game.
Gal pal Selena Gomez also had a creative way of wishing Swift a happy birthday. She posted this pic of her nail art with the letters "T & S" as two halves of a heart for her best friend's birthday weekend.
Case in point: The rapper turned into an expert photographer at the 2023 Super Bowl on Feb. 12 as he went all in to get the best pictures of eldest daughter Blue Ivy Carter, who he shares with Beyoncé.
These 10 best Jay Z quotes are phrases to live by. Shawn Corey Carter, best known by his stage name Jay Z, is known as the most successful hip hop businessman of our generation. Born on December 4, 1969, Shawn grew up in the Marcy Houses project in Brooklyn, selling drugs to get by. Starting his professional music career in 1996, no major record company would give him a deal; so, a young Jay Z, along with several other rappers, formed Rock-a-Fella Records, which went on to become an astounding hit throughout the mainstream.
Conceptually, Blueprint 3 was always going to struggle to match the previous two records in the series and with the classic soul samples which peppered those albums were replaced by futuristic beats. It was clear Jay was trying to lay out a new blueprint for the future, but this 2009 LP is confused, at best.
He had been working on his rap game for five years within the public eye and, on Blueprint, everything came together to assert Jay-Z as the best rapper around. Everything that makes Hova a true king can be heard on this LP. From the soulful seventies beats, the introduction of Kanye as his producer, to the way he tells stories with consummate ease, on Blueprint, Jay laid it all out.
760c119bf3