jay-z - vol.2... hard knock life album appreciation thread

[J-Fire]

that whole "dumb down for my audience to double my dollars" line is so funny comin' from of all people, jay
jay is the definition of a commercial rapper and always has been since reasonable doubt. "champagne sippin" and all of that. that's jay at his core
jay ain't foolin' nobody, he a damn hustler with his shyt
he sold some bullshyt with that line

Reasonable doubt, dynasty intro, black album is the introspective/ retrospective Jay that I like best.

2nd best Jay is switching up flows like blueprint two

3rd on the list for Jay is the forced double/tripple entendre Jay-z

Least fav Jay is when he brags about being a grown man.... and brags about art like its the bling bling as a form of being grown, lol.

 

[I love Latina women]

Reasonable doubt, dynasty intro, black album is the introspective/ retrospective Jay that I like best.

2nd best Jay is switching up flows like blueprint two

3rd on the list for Jay is the forced double/tripple entendre Jay-z

Least fav Jay is when he brags about being a grown man and brags about art like its the bling bling he used to brag about as a form of being grown, lol.

you want introspective, you need nas' music, bruh
jay may drop a "introspective" song here and there but he lacks the ability to hit home with it unless it's "this can't be life" and i'll even say "anything" and "somehow, someway"
jay braggin' on songs and shyt is what he does best and it's jay at his core
jay ain't never been the "introspective artist" like talkin' bout

 

[Champion]

Top 5 Jay-Z album. Jigga had 5 legit classic records on here and the only track I dont fukk with is the joint with Foxy..

nikkas really think Vol. 3 is better though? With tracks like Girl's Best Friend, S. Carter, and Pop 4 Roc on there.

 

[J-Fire]

you want introspective, you need nas' music, bruh
jay may drop a "introspective" song here and there but he lacks the ability to hit home with it unless it's "this can't be life" and i'll even say "anything" and "somehow, someway"
jay braggin' on songs and shyt is what he does best and it's jay at his core
jay ain't never been the "introspective artist" like talkin' bout

When it comes to the parallel of the street & business/the board room I feel he merges that well for introspection & reflection. Nas ain't in the boardroom, lol!


Bragging about stuff and being the black equivalent of something is fine. Post retirement dude brags about being old and brags about art like it was his platinum chains...and that is meh and outright bad at times IMO. I like watch the throne bragging more than that kingdom come bragging by far!

 

[I love Latina women]

When it comes to the parallel of the street & business/the board room I feel he merges that well for introspection & reflection. Nas ain't in the boardroom, lol!


Bragging about stuff and being the black equivalent of something is fine. Post retirement dude brags about being old and brags about art like it was his platinum chains...and that is meh and outright bad at times IMO. I like watch the throne bragging more than that kingdom come bragging by far!

nas = introspective
jay z = shallow

and i'm speakin' generally and overall

 

[J-Fire]

nas = introspective
jay z = shallow

and i'm speakin' generally and overall

What Jeezy said on the radio in 2006? "Nas don't bust his guns"

Jay hustled street & corporate wise. Nas hustled in neither arena & almost signed to muder inc until he got called out

 

[I love Latina women]

What Jeezy said on the radio in 2006? "Nas don't bust his guns"

Jay hustled street & corporate wise. Nas hustled in neither arena & almost signed to muder inc until he got called out

who said anythin' bout jeezy, bruh?
but since you bought him up, you see he reached out to nas and got him on "my president is black" though
see, they all talk shyt about nas but then go right back to him for a feature because they know nas is 1 of the best of all time. bar none, hands down
i don't care bout nas not bustin' no damn guns, bruh. nas is an artist. he's a writer's writer. a lyricist's lyricist. an mc's mc. he's a poet with words

yeah, jay's a good businessman and all of that but we talkin' bout the music. not what stocks and bonds jigga got, not when he was hangin' out with oprah, or how cool it is that he married beyonce. we talkin' bout music

 

[The_Third_Man]

weak album

 

[Farrinto]

I remember first hearing that "Chain reaction" line from Money Ain't a Thing
This is probably my fourth favorite Jay album behind RD, Vol. 1, and BP.

 

[Foxmulder]

Classic album. Like dude posted earlier I had every song memorized in like a week. shyt got so much play around the way. It's like a whole album of hot singles.

 

[Danie84]

More arms than Green Bay's Brett Favre for ya

...X, Hov, and even Swizz (on the boards) demolishing Money Cash Hoes

Hard Knock Life Vol. 2 always takes me back to highschool

 

[Juggalo Fred]

Good but not great album

 

[Harry B]

that whole "dumb down for my audience to double my dollars" line is so funny comin' from of all people, jay
jay is the definition of a commercial rapper and always has been since reasonable doubt. "champagne sippin" and all of that. that's jay at his core
jay ain't foolin' nobody, he a damn hustler with his shyt
he sold some bullshyt with that line

It's one of the realest lines, every rapper dumbed down to double their dollars, sometimes the music even became better.

And I don't know what "champagne sipping" has do with anything, does "I drink moet with Medusa" imply that Illmatic was super commercial?

People can interpret that line how they want to, I interpreted it as him making big hit songs that might've not been lyrically as dope as what he was capable of. I interpret the second part as him not making niche type of introspective drug dealer music with "obscure" slang for a small crowd but talking about broader subjects that more people could relate to/understand. He still had deeper street joints but he mixed it up.

 

[I love Latina women]

It's one of the realest lines, every rapper dumbed down to double their dollars, sometimes the music even became better.

And I don't know what "champagne sipping" has do with anything, does "I drink moet with Medusa" imply that Illmatic was super commercial?

People can interpret that line how they want to, I interpreted it as him making big hit songs that might've not been lyrically as dope as what he was capable of. I interpret the second part as him not making niche type of introspective drug dealer music with "obscure" slang for a small crowd but talking about broader subjects that more people could relate to/understand. He still had deeper street joints but he mixed it up.

all i'm sayin' is jay z ain't never been some revolutionary or no shyt like that. y'all givin' that nikka credit he don't deserve and makin' him out to be like he was on some dead prez shyt then turned around and watered his shyt down. that nikka won't never stic man or black thought for that matter

 

[Harry B]

all i'm sayin' is jay z ain't never been some revolutionary or no shyt like that. y'all givin' that nikka credit he don't deserve and makin' him out to be like he was on some dead prez shyt then turned around and watered his shyt down. that nikka won't never stic man or black thought for that matter

Who said that?

I'm talking about how deep his shyt was, shyt can be deep without it being political. He went deep into how men and young dudes in his environment moved, thought, their motivation and on. On the albums that followed RD he wasn't as deep, the lyrics weren't as complex, the language was cleaner so that motherfukkers all across the world could try to understand him and on.

No one has talked about the subject of matter, we're talking about the lyrical content and language.