Jay-Z: Classic Or Dud?

or maybe not *knowing* but kind of intuiting and gambling at a high level

i remember being really disappointed by in my lifetime; a handful of really incredible tracks, a bunch of filler, and a couple fairly gross overproduced radio attempts (of which "i know what boys like" is one; yes kim sounds great but she always sounded great* — the other is "city is mine" which i liked back then and still like now, even though i will admit that it's absolutely soulless). i was much more into the native tongues/organized konfusion/oc/gang starr vibe for nyc hiphop at the time so i liked the dj premier beats and i still say "streets is watchin" is maybe his best single (and probably my `pick only one` choice from the album). overall though, aquemini had just been released about a month before and that was where my head was really at. a few years previous, reasonable doubt and atliens also released within about six weeks of each other and reasonable doubt held up. not the case this time around. by the time the following august rolled around, "spottieottiedopaliscious" sounded better than ever while in my lifetime hadn't been played in months.

*think of "another" from life after death: awful track, but uhm ——
"you mad at me? too bad she ain't bad as me.
shoulda kept the freak bitch off my canopy.
now you see:
ain't no pussy warm as mine, long as mine.
ain't no lovin strong as this.
when i sucked your dick, it's like smokin' a roach.
uhh, why go from first class to coach?!
yeah, she had a habit of stealing the spotlight back then.

i liked the dj premier beats and i still say "streets is watchin" is maybe his best single

sorry didn't mean to imply "streets" is a premier beat. it's not. it just sounded like one.

dude.

you know what!?!

i had forgotten that in my lifetime is where "who you wit" ended up! that was originally on the sprung soundtrack and it was then, is now, and will continue to be the absolute shit. that's his best song, single or no. i just never really associated it with the album because 1) i bought the 12" asap because i didn't know where it would end up otherwise and 2) they buried it in the sequence with a different last verse or like a beat switch-up or smthg idk?? just... enh, stick with the og 12" version.

but anyway, yeah ski produced both "who you wit" and "streets is watchin" — definitely one of the better of the premier wannabes in those days. he had a bit more shine on his beats, but definitely rooted in that basic-ass chop`n`loop style.

I recently went back to Reasonable Doubt, which I heard for the first time long after my Jay fandom started. At the time - late 00s? - I was underwhelmed. But it’s solid as a rock (the Roc?) and I have no idea where my head was at then.

don't sleep on this remix (which i definitely have mentioned before on this thread). no, it doesn't outdo the mary j og, but they actually got meli'sa morgan on it which is very cool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6_TMH8UkFc
jay-z feat meli'sa morgan - "can't knock the hustle (fool's paradise remix)" (1996)

it finally showed up on streaming about a year ago, which is nice. love jay's verses on this one; between this and "feelin it" from the album they kind of present the proper progenitor of what would become his entire persona. very classic beat, obvs.

"run through you, like
(aural shove)
...excuse you"

I love the fools paradise remix yea

Idk what 'overproduced' means, again—its just the hook from one famous '80s song over the beat from an 80s rap song, which is a formula that worked for many other rappers. ppl just didn't like the curatorial choices