jay z has had the perfect rap career. its like boxing, who had the greatest career? ali? robinson? duran? hagler? nah, it was ray leonard. not saying ray leonard is the goat, thats widely belived to be robinson, armstrong, ali and cats like that. but no fighter controlled their career better or got what they were owed financially more than ray leonard.
he had era defining fights, legendary fights, and got paid what he was worth for them. a lot of times, fighters dont get paid the right amount of money they will be underpaid, and hence when they pass their peak, they still have to fight to keep finacially secure.
where am i going with this? jay like leonard did what he came to do, got paid what he deserved, and now and for a long time has had nothing to prove. jay is basically enjoying the rest of his days on some fight when i feel like it and for the fun of it, not for the need. same with ray leonard, he retired early. ridicolously early for a fighter. granted he came back a few times but it was more for hunger and competition than for money. if biggie and pac came back from the dead, jay would come back a la leonard on some real mc sh!t. but why should he have to fight for so called relevancy when he can enjoy his life and money? anyone in his position worrying about making critics and internet kids happy has pretty much wasted their early career. you dont do all that work just to be an old dude wooried if coli brehs or pitchfork like you. man.
the rappers in jays era who still rapping pretty much have to.