Old heads....just how powerful was "Hard Knock Life" when it dropped?

[Colilluminati]

I was 11 maybe 12 when it dropped.EVERYONE played that shyt.From my friends to my MOMS.It was HUGE.We would get in trouble at school for saying ''and if you with me mama rub on ya t*ts''.

 

[Long Live The Kane]

Poster smokierobison was pretty comprehensive...pretty much how i remembered it...'98 was really his first "summer"...Jay was becoming that dude in the months leading up to HKL with shyt like Money Ain't a Thang from JD's album, It's Alright with that iconic video with Jay, Dame and them balling out in cancun with all them big titty video hoes (tangent...video hoes seemed more authentic back then...bet you them bytches amongst the illest MILFS on the planet at the moment)....looking back those videos was the beginning of what i later identified as the Roc-a-Fella aesthetic...Can I Get A and Hard Knock Life took him to a whole other level though..and set up Vol. 2 to be one of those undeniable impact albums

 

[REdefinition]

This is what really cemented Jay. Up until this point his career could have went either way but it was no turning back after this. I was one of the few that had Reasonable Doubt in 96 and always liked Jay when he wasn't getting much love. But when HKL came out its like everybody around me were acting like they have been fans forever. I was a big Outkast fan and Aquimeni came out around the same time and it seemed like everybody was fukking with Jay harder. His momentum at the time was just crazy.

 

[Newark88]

I know I may get some flack for this but I actually liked Anything more then the HKL track

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Hard Knock Life was the Song that Solidified Jay-Z as a Star. He ran with it and never looked back. Jay was all over the Radio with this Joint, "Can I get A..." was also a Smash Hit with it being on Rush Hour at the Time + Jay also had "It's Alright" Bumping too which Personally was a much better Song than those 2 but the Album was so Piff that before I became a Stan, I went backwards buying Vol. 1 and then Reasonable Doubt all before Vol. 3. I loved Vol. 1 and Reasonable Doubt was also Good but IDK, I just liked Vol. 1 better. Jay-Z

.....I will say that Vol. 3 was sort of a let down.

It just wasn't Up to my Expectations I guess.

#WayneManor

 

[Da King]

I'm 26 and clearly remember when that track dropped


Im' an old head now?

 

[A.V.]

Thats when Jay blew up.....I dont think anyone even really saw it coming. Vol 1 was so slept on. It came out when EPMD and Rakim made their return, Mase was the top dog, Busta was killing the game and Master P had everyone saying "Uugh." Also The Firm album was pretty hot around that time as well. Going into 98 was Gangstarr and Smif n wessons new albums. Scarface made the best southern compilation ever....DMX, Big Pun, Camron and Silkk The Shocker were the new blood on the scene.....Cappadonna debut....Pras debut.....Snoop jumped to No Limit and Master P was supposed to retire. Nore dropped a banger that summer, Lauryn Hill came out of nowehere with a classic and Canibus dropped a dissapointing debut. Def Jam was promoting like crazy that year......They had a concert in Harlem that summer for Onyx, DMX and Cormega that foxy brown was also a part of............I think its safe to say that the biggest hype to drop that year from Def Jam was Method Mans 2nd album followed by Redmans 4th. Jay dropped the Streets Is Watching VHS tape around the summer time which was being pushed by the "Its alright" single which would be a bonus track on Vol 2 later down the line....Earlier that year Jay did a song with Jermain Dupri that would also be a bonus on Vol 2. ..Jay Z was that dude like never before when Vol 2 dropped. "Can I Get A" was helping promote that Rush Hour movie.....Hard Knock Life was a hot song on NY radio first....Then the video came.....If I'm not mistaken "nikka whut" followed behind that but by that time the court of Hip Hop opinion had given Jay Z his top dog status.....By the end of 98 it was Jay , Busta, DMX, Meth, No Limit records and Lauryn Hill..........Lauryn Hill took the crown tho.......I believe a video for money Cash Hoes dropped in early 99 and by this time Jay was an MTV star......its been uphill for jay ever since.

The "Everybody eats, b" era.

Damn.


















































And Miseducation can't get ENOUGH praise, ever.

There will never be another. What that woman did (or attempted) for minority women & culture...music & perception is just

 

[My Girl is Bow Legged]

Funny was just reading Decoded and Jay-Z barely got this sample cleared, at first it was denied and he had to make up some lie sob story about seeing Annie as a broke kid from the hood for them to finally cave in. If that never happened where would he be now

Also Anything is one of my favorite Jay songs. It's like he made it the sequel not just in terms of sample sounds but also thematically, Hard Knock was real shyt from a hood perspective and Anything was real shyt from his personal perspective

 

[The Bilingual Gringo]

I liked the track because the "Can't Knock the Hustle Fools Paradise" remix came on the b-side to the Euro "Hard Knock Life" single



But "Hard Knock Life" was buggin' when it first dropped, such a phenomenal summer track.

 

[blackslash]

Hard knock Life is the song that turned me into a stan in my elementary school days
Jus playing


MTV would play the sht out that song tho

I used to love the video

Funny thing is. I was more of a fan of Nas back when I was a kid, now that I look back


OOOhhh how things have changed

 

[Wild self]

The "Everybody eats, b" era.

Damn.And Miseducation can't get ENOUGH praise, ever.

There will never be another. What that woman did (or attempted) for minority women & culture...music & perception is just

1998 was THAT year in entertainment. Lauryn and X blew up, it was like another book opened in my life. I remember when Jay blew up, it was like nikkas found their surrogate daddy. nikkas got emotionally invested in him and worshipped everything after that. "Hard Knock Life" as the song blew up on some level I never anticipated before. White folk loved the shyt outta that song and even them old fukkers knew Jay-Z by name. September 1998 was just .

Never be another era like that again. Never.

 

[Mike Statik]

Are u dumb?

You just said "u remember when he can spit"

Then as a contrast u talk about his fashion sense and some stupid gossip thread we had 2 days ago?

Dude do u know what lyrical means?

Dont u realize how much u let your perception of an artist affect your perception of their lyricism?

Good God you're an idiot

This nikka has to be a cac...it'd be funny if he is too

actually i was sayin i remember when he could spit...leading one to believe that he cannot anymore...which is facts WTT BP3... then i went onto say how much of a fakkit sellout puppet hes become by doin his best kanye impression to try to stay relevant

just becuz u slick one out to jay everynight does not mean u have any idea of what being lyrical is

 

[blackslash]

actually i was sayin i remember when he could spit...leading one to believe that he cannot anymore...which is facts WTT BP3... then i went onto say how much of a fakkit sellout puppet hes become by doin his best kanye impression to try to stay relevant

just becuz u slick one out to jay everynight does not mean u have any idea of what being lyrical is

The fact that you think ur small idea of what lyricism is based on ur concept biases and preferences of subject matter is how u can decide if a rapper can spit or not shows me that you understand nothing when it comes to the art of rap..all u know is what these foolish oldheads know as lyricism..which rlly isnt credible because our personal preferences and perception will affect what we call lyricism.

Are u a cac tho? nikka talm bout sell outs and sht nikka sit down u dumass cac

 

[KTD2]

The fact that this title begins with "old head" and refers to something that came out when I was in HS makes me feel like I need to break out the Geritol.

 

[SubLyminalz]

actually i ran the 40 yd dash in 5.4 seconds

not bad for a CAC