Over the years since it happened Un has consistently said it was marketing.
I'm inclined to believe that.
Jay finally got the sucess he had been trying to gain for ten years with Vol. 2.
The Hard Knock Life single was kind of a lightning in the bottle situation. The pressure to follow that up and maintain the sucess he had finally achieve had to be insurmountable.
DMX still had the game in a vice grip with a consistently winning formula. So, Jay took note. He's not dumb. He ditched the Armani suits and polish for denim and bandanas. He started talking more like a thug (Did he ever use that before Vol. 3?) and less like a dapper hustler. He started carrying himself like he was a shooter instead of a boss.
Nas had called these out in the past on how he was a chameleon who faked his way through trends. Thats what the whole "dikk riding fakkit" part was about.
LETS BE CLEAR NO ONE TALKED ABOUT THAT SITUATION AND MADE A BIGGER DEAL OUT OF IT THAN JAY.
You could probably compile the songs mentioning it into an entire mixtape.
No Criminal Record Jay was trying to make it out like he was John Gotti and it was the trial of the century.
Does anyone else remember this cringe shyt?:
That shyt is self indulgent, melodramatic theater.
Jay was actively try to build an artificial myth of himself to sell records. He tried to act like he was Shyne shooting up the club.
Then he talked about it for three albums.
So yeah, I think Un is being honest about it being a publicity stunt to push records.
