Jay used to be so effortless. 
And ofc as a desperate Nas stan u cant even answer the question..dodgin ass mufcka
And im not a stan of nobody man.When's the last boundary of creativity and technical excellence Nas pushed??..and when u tell me define what "technical" is in terms of hip hop and explain the creativity being pushed and how its never been done
? None of them features stood out to me,Ross killed Jay?talk about repetetive.....I walk away feeling like the album wuz alright,better than BP3 and WTT to me which is the only reason I ain't worried
...its time to admit Jay is severly handicapped out here and he did it to himself.....y'all can say what y'all want but Hov seem too damn humble compared to his normal self on this album,let me explain
....yeah he talkin about all the shyt he can by and how lavish his lifestyle is.....but the moments of brilliance Hov usually brings where he shyt on nikkas entire lifestyles,mindstates,state of the current crop of emcees in the rap game,goals,and how underwhelming average nikka ambitions are too few far and in between imo on this album....Jay always been a game spitter which seperated him from a lot of NY emcees imo and which why I favor him over most...it ain't that he ain't spittin cuz everything from his flow to his delivery is everything I been beggin for for years.
...and I think ima have it in rotation a lot off the strength of that alone.....I think what's gon dissapoint certain Jay fans like myself is realizing how good this album COULDA been....IF the features weren't so average themselves,and if Jay wuz actually spittin that shyt
....but I pretty much don't really care about 50% of what he sayin on here or am I moved by it,as impressed as I am by the delivery of it:....and really that's never been a problem with me for jay up until WTT and this current album....and I'm not talkin about content,he can rap about money and livin extravagant all he want to if he can make what he sayin interesting to me as the listener and leave me like "get em Jay" as if he ain't talkin bout me when he shyttin on broke nikkas lol..
....he basically is ross just about on this album,all the reasons I find ross uninteresting as a rapper I found Jay uninteresting on Magna Carta
....maybe he need to work with new people that will take him out of his comfort zone that might bring him new found inspiration who will have suprisingly good chemistry with him...
for bringin the delivery back but he kinda went cruise control lyrically when it came to the materialistic ,bragadocios shyt imo....u bought the delivery back,just bring back the old jay disgust and arrogance and Hovie is fully homeStop using Jay z to shine.This is what u nikkas are calling the best since The Black Album?
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disclaimer: This is off the strength of a first listen.
Which IMO is the strongest listen before bias and forced love begins to set in.
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I just listened to this album all the way through and TBH, I'm not impressed, for Jay.
Don't get me wrong. The production, is top notch. The features, are top notch. But Jay-Z being Jay-Z, is a sidekick this whole record. He got horribly outshined by JT and Ocean. f*ckwitmeuknowigotit Rossed on that track (something serious) finding a pocket in the beat where where flow was impeccable, his presence was impregnable. Then jay randomly shows up like bruhman, with the presence of Ross little brudder.
Then u got the same chick who defaced 'Lift Off" on WTT going on a long winded deep voiced squeal for 80% of the track-- but nah, low blows on Beyonce aside, Part II is a Beyonce track. The lady's singing swarmed the track. The rhythm of the beat jogged along with her as well. Then jay comes on and does his lil thang (albeit in the corner of the room). But had I not be conscious this was a jay album, Ida swore this was a Beyonce feat. Jay Holmes track.
Which brings me to my next point. To call this your Magna Carta, Holy Grail, jay is right. This is his Magna Carta.
The Magna Carta was a document in medieval Europe, forced upon the royalty. Limiting the arbitrary powers of King John of England.
The holy grail in legend is a chalice said to hold the blood of Jesus Christ. In modern culture, a holy grail is considered a work to be the 'magnum opus' or highest manifestation of a subject, held in such high regard is considered to be holy.
This 'work' is, in fact, Jay-Z's Magna Carta Holy Grail (consider me here). He parades himself like hiphops thriller, boasts about 12 #1 albums, stares the whole genre down on 'Verses', claiming a royal divinity of sorts, with sovereign claim to the throne. To me, this album is what I claim the Magna Carta. The document limiting his claim as 'GOAT'
This is his holy grail because it is the very blood of his career. The production on this album, is top notch. It bangs, it knocks, it gives you a heavy headbop reminiscent of whiplash. The features, were nearly sacred, they way it was executed so spiritually. Then u got Jay. His adlibs, his flow & lyrics (SOMETIMES!), is downright SWAGGERLESS
Lyrically its same braggadocio rap he been doing. Yes, jewels here and there (YES, I AGREE) but it comes full circle to him rapping yet again about a bugatti. Where's the depth, where's the presence that every other element of the same track produces! In nearly every track it's redundant bragging, zero depth (most of the time), son is a feature, a sidekick, a little brother.
But he's right though, this album defines his very career, Holy Grail. He's not the nikka in the front. He's not the presence that calls the stars into order. He's not the originator. He didn't make anything. He's the lackee, the leech, the backpack. The aspect that's the least talented, but strings along riding the coattails of what IS hot (the beat & features) then packages it in his name effectively blurring the lines, now you have nikkas calling HIM great.
This is what you goo-goos are going gaga over? This album would be far better if it was cut in half.
--then I'd have TWO weed plates, one I can give to my mans
Call it a harsh review. Cause it is. Why? Cause to declare yourself the God of Rap I mete you with a long measure. Breh. You're overrated.
--but then again you already confessed to that. I'm so appalled
2.5/5
And it's still his best effort since The Black Album
People who like it didnt read this post like
on homey
Jay always been a game spitter which seperated him from a lot of NY emcees imo and which why I favor him over most...it ain't that he ain't spittin cuz everything from his flow to his delivery is everything I been beggin for for years.
he basically is ross just about on this album,all the reasons I find ross uninteresting as a rapper I found Jay uninteresting on Magna Carta
JT didnt bodyslam that first track:
Ocean aint body that hook:stop
Beyonce aint flood that track with HER energ
Ross, im not talking about lyrically. Cause there Ross is Ross, and matched the subject matter. Im talking about sheer presence. Him and that beat flowed together like water. Hov, came on later, i felt he was there, just not quite after a man that rap from his chest.
Nas was the only one who was. But he aint have no competition anyway:
exactly my point. breh has gotten so repetitive and lackluster, it allows you to gloss over what the hell he even says. How can you be such a bigshot yet nikkas not even hanging onto your every word anymore?
Just the fact you can compare him to Ross brings my point full circle.
This album i will keep in rotation based off production, like u. But just cause a chip is won dont mean the player properly performed.
You call him a game spitter. fine. I can dig that if he did it with heart. Look jay has racked up more achievements since BP3 then he ever has previously. He became the topic of President Obamas inauguration. He helped open a major arena. Birthed a daughter. Promoted his album in a sacred building. hob nobbed with Forbes Richest Elite, and this is the first we hearing from him. Yet the game he's spitting is about his new hublot watch, his maybach, and how he doesnt use instagram..
to top it off breh is downright lazy doing it. Its outright disrespectful, but you got nikkas out here accepting that
...and u liked that souless frank ocean struggle hook,soundin like a lot of the new age "black angst" these pop singers like to do now....I get what u sayin about ross is that since the lyrics was kinda "blah" both ways for u it wuz a competetion of delivery I guess and presence....but I've heard ross so many times over the past couple yrs on everybodys damn features he can't skate past on presence with me no more,even his presence is boring at this point where it wuz his only saving grace to me for him to be put in that category of emcee people like to put him in.
...talkin about this limits Jay and sums up his career as being a sidekick,background,not head of the pack nikka,and how it limits his claims to goat status.....u can't take extra points off cuz he called his shyt magna carta....naming his album title make his album seem like it would be sumthing grander than it wuz is just good promotion....its like nikkas gettin mad cuz dudes make a sequel to whatever they greatest album wuz yrs after the fact and it don't live up to the original....if snoop come out with doggystyle 2 u can't get mad cuz of the album title makin it sound like its "really gon be like the og doggystyle:krs"
...like this is a summary of his career,when this nikka has been the driving force behind every album of his I ever purchased,I wanted to hear HIM rap,not his features didn't care about his production and matter of fact. A lot of its aged horribly and his emcee ability is the saving grace of a lot of his catalogue....he has about 4 or 5 well produced albums that contribute to his emcee ability,and the rest he carrys for me inspite of the production
...but make no mistake everything he has done from obama,the money,getting married all those things limit him....dude can barely shyt on women any more bcuz his wife is americas girl next door all for female empowerment bullshyt...my nikka can't even shyt on bytches,talk about fukin and disrespectin bytches bcuz he's married to beyonce....can't be to foul bcuz fox news and the media will bring his lyrics up at the whitehouse or just in general possibly fukin up sponsers and business paula deen style.....people are definitly hangin on to his words still just the wrong people who ain't even fans....unfortunate Jay got them on his mind too much while he makin a album and maybe he ain't,maybe he genuinly don't wanna disrespect women on record no more out of luv for his wife and daughter,and maybe he don't wanna shyt on nikkas and be as vulgar as he used to be....which is understandable but that's one helluva handicap he has placed on himself or the outside world has placed on em bcuz he knows he's bein watched now,as that's what originally made me a fan that's a helluva handicap....but he's talented enuff to not have to do that shyt and still be entertaining....but as u said he can't be lazy about it....if u gon do this shyt wit one hand tied behind your back he gon need that hunger he had when he first wuz trying to get on to prevent the shortcomings this album gave imo....this sums up Jay career right now and nuthing more and maybe is a turning point to either say fuk what these sponsors and media might say,or he gotta work harder to be more clever and realize his "handicap" as I call it....or as he may call it growth,he might say fuk off NotSoft and buy my old albums tho...he's had the handicap for a while now tho and it still put out great lyrical efforts,so maybe he just didn't give it his all or maybe he lost a step let's hope not...but is ONE ALBUM not career definingI agreed with sum of what u said but then u went too damn far
U didn't just say Jay lost sumthing,u almost make it sound like he never had "it" to put him in that disputable goat category in the first place,which imo is a goddamn lie...like this is a summary of his career,when this nikka has been the driving force behind every album of his I ever purchased,I wanted to hear HIM rap,not his features didn't care about his production and matter of fact. A lot of its aged horribly and his emcee ability is the saving grace of a lot of his catalogue....he has about 4 or 5 well produced albums that contribute to his emcee ability,and the rest he carrys for me inspite of the production
[..]
. But he got an image who is bigger than what he can deliver so i guess at this point he'll always be around
fair enough jay get that TTWO HUNNIT FIFTYYYYYYY
I just don't get where you people disappointed in the lyrics are coming from. Sure he dumbed down with the flows, but he's doing that since '97. All the normal Jay Z attributes are on this album lyrically. The wit, the arrogance, the hidden gems/double meanings are all there though. I'm curious as to which joints you thought were a let-down lyrically. Sometimes you have to just chalk shyt up to personal preference and leave it at that.To keep it funky I can't say I've ever enjoyed justin timberlake and especially don't wanna hear him on a jay song or think he could make a jay song better,just not a fan.....Beyonce fuks up Jay tracks as well typically,she wuz ehhh but again not a fan of her musically
I agreed with sum of what u said but then u went too damn far
U didn't just say Jay lost sumthing,u almost make it sound like he never had "it" to put him in that disputable goat category in the first place,which imo is a goddamn lie
And I think he WAS a game spitter and that's what he's lacking right now,just pure entertainment value in his lyrics...technical and delivery is all he really showed me this album,and yes that regretfully is Ross to me.
Yea I'm satisfied, I enjoy the music(that I haven't even paid for yet). Then again, I didn't put the album on with my arms crossed and face screwed on someSo are you saying your thoroughly satisfied with this lyrically
"youre suposed to be all that, you got all this hype, well impress me nikka" type shyt. I actually listened to the album with the an open mind taking it for what it is, music
Yea I'm satisfied, I enjoy the music(that I haven't even paid for yet). Then again, I didn't put the album on with my arms crossed and face screwed on some
I pose the question to you too. Which songs are you disappointed in lyrically? What exactly are you expecting from Jay Z at this point? He's on his victory lap shyt and some of you seem mad that he isn't rhyming like a broke nobody with everything to prove.
