TheSickness
I'll be seeing y'all neggas on the streets
Jay-Z's first album is widely considered as a classic. From the production to the ''conversational'' flow that Jay-Z spits. Other than the two factors i just named, in my opinion, the guest features also make a key ingredient on this album. The features provide a view into the different way of rapping popular in the 90's.
Now we're going to analyze every guest appearance from the rappers to the singers.
1. Can't Knock The Hustle feat. Mary J. Blige
Classic intro. Mary's vocals are rich and lush. She wrote the chorus herself. This is just good for late night rides. Here's the original version without her chorus and with a different Jay verse.
Rating: B
3. Brooklyn's Finest feat. The Notorious B.I.G.
One of the few collaborations by Frank White and Iceberg Slim. The back and forth is just so engaging and entertaining. Biggie's 2Pac shot hasn't aged well.
Rating: A-
5. Feelin' It feat. Mecca
Mecca was the resident singer for Rocafella Records but this is the only time i heard her. She's ok, though.
Rating: B-
9. Ain't No Nikka feat. Foxy Brown
F̶o̶x̶y̶ ̶g̶o̶t̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶h̶o̶t̶,̶ ̶‘̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶k̶e̶p̶t̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶f̶a̶c̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶p̶u̶s̶s̶. Foxy had a hard time. From the Firm fiasco to losing her hearing. Her albums always sold well. She does alright for herself here. Her verse is open and versatile, which is even more impressive considering she was 18 (what can i say, Jigga likes 'em young).
Rating: B
11. Coming Of Age feat. Memphis Bleek
Ah, M. Beezy the recently bankrupted rapper. This is his first recorded appearance at 16 and he's not bad, but being that he didn't actually write his verse i'm going to have to give him a D (no homo). Let me tell the story. While Jay was recording the album, a youngin' approached him and asked to be on the album. Jay was like ''aight spit yo shyt''. So he spit and Jay was impressed. The next day he came and wrote a verse for Bleek to be on his album and told him if he didn't memorise the verse in 1 day, he wasn't going to be on the album. Then this track happened.
Rating: D+
13. Bring It On feat. Sauce Money and Jaz-O (Big Jaz)
Now we get to what is, in my opinion, the best song on the album (tied with Dead Presidents 2). I just can't stress how good the verses are. Sauce goes first and drops a really hot verse, recently mentioned by Lupe Fiasco on his twitter page. Jaz's verse is something else though. Probably the best he ever sounded on record.
'''fukk with me witness mañana Absence of malice in my palace
Call cousin now Dallas trigger finger with the callus
Tip scales from mail to keep these nikkas off balance'
However Jigga's the best (which is just a testament of his incredible verse) here but it's close.
Sauce's verse: B+
Jaz-O's verse: A-
*Bonus trivia: Nas and AZ were originally supposed to be on track but they never showed up for whatever reason. So Jaz and Sauce had to write their verses quick.
15. Can I Live 2? feat. Memphis Bleek
This is only on a few editions of ''Reasonable Doubt''. You can hear it if you're unfamiliar with it.
This time, Memph wrote his own verse and it's nothing special but he's passionate as ever, so i'll give it a C.
Rating: C+
Overall rating for all guest appearances on the album: B+
This is my first sort of article if you guys like i'll do some more.
Written by JayOne.
All the opinions stated are those of the writer.
I wanted to do one for Illmatic but that would make for a short thread.
Now we're going to analyze every guest appearance from the rappers to the singers.
1. Can't Knock The Hustle feat. Mary J. Blige
Classic intro. Mary's vocals are rich and lush. She wrote the chorus herself. This is just good for late night rides. Here's the original version without her chorus and with a different Jay verse.
Rating: B
3. Brooklyn's Finest feat. The Notorious B.I.G.
One of the few collaborations by Frank White and Iceberg Slim. The back and forth is just so engaging and entertaining. Biggie's 2Pac shot hasn't aged well.
Rating: A-
5. Feelin' It feat. Mecca
Mecca was the resident singer for Rocafella Records but this is the only time i heard her. She's ok, though.
Rating: B-
9. Ain't No Nikka feat. Foxy Brown
F̶o̶x̶y̶ ̶g̶o̶t̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶h̶o̶t̶,̶ ̶‘̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶k̶e̶p̶t̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶f̶a̶c̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶p̶u̶s̶s̶. Foxy had a hard time. From the Firm fiasco to losing her hearing. Her albums always sold well. She does alright for herself here. Her verse is open and versatile, which is even more impressive considering she was 18 (what can i say, Jigga likes 'em young).
Rating: B
11. Coming Of Age feat. Memphis Bleek
Ah, M. Beezy the recently bankrupted rapper. This is his first recorded appearance at 16 and he's not bad, but being that he didn't actually write his verse i'm going to have to give him a D (no homo). Let me tell the story. While Jay was recording the album, a youngin' approached him and asked to be on the album. Jay was like ''aight spit yo shyt''. So he spit and Jay was impressed. The next day he came and wrote a verse for Bleek to be on his album and told him if he didn't memorise the verse in 1 day, he wasn't going to be on the album. Then this track happened.
Rating: D+
13. Bring It On feat. Sauce Money and Jaz-O (Big Jaz)
Now we get to what is, in my opinion, the best song on the album (tied with Dead Presidents 2). I just can't stress how good the verses are. Sauce goes first and drops a really hot verse, recently mentioned by Lupe Fiasco on his twitter page. Jaz's verse is something else though. Probably the best he ever sounded on record.
'''fukk with me witness mañana Absence of malice in my palace
Call cousin now Dallas trigger finger with the callus
Tip scales from mail to keep these nikkas off balance'
However Jigga's the best (which is just a testament of his incredible verse) here but it's close.
Sauce's verse: B+
Jaz-O's verse: A-
*Bonus trivia: Nas and AZ were originally supposed to be on track but they never showed up for whatever reason. So Jaz and Sauce had to write their verses quick.
15. Can I Live 2? feat. Memphis Bleek
This is only on a few editions of ''Reasonable Doubt''. You can hear it if you're unfamiliar with it.
This time, Memph wrote his own verse and it's nothing special but he's passionate as ever, so i'll give it a C.
Rating: C+
Overall rating for all guest appearances on the album: B+
This is my first sort of article if you guys like i'll do some more.
Written by JayOne.
All the opinions stated are those of the writer.
I wanted to do one for Illmatic but that would make for a short thread.
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..man please sauce bodied that song..jaz-o's verse was nothing special