It's sounds similar to Run DMC in the 80's. '99 Problems' which was produced by Def Jam co-founder Rick Rubin sounds like a rock song and uses lots of guitar and drums. For the record, I'm neither.Īnother favorite is 'Allure', where Jay chronicles the allure of the drug game that kept him hustling even when he wanted to retire. I respect that he said it and proved to the world that I am not crazy or just a Jay-Z hater. Those few lines say everything that I've been saying about Hov since he sold 5 mil. That's as honest he's ever been about his commercialism and becoming an overnight pop sensation. Rhyme like Common Sense / but I did 5 mil, I ain't been rhyming like common Truth be told / I'd probably be, lyrically, Talib Kweli/ truthfully, I want to He says, 'I dumb down for my audience to double myĭollars / they criticize me for it but they all yell holla / if skills sold, One of my own personal favorites on this album is 'Moment of Clarity.' OverĪn average Eminem beat, Jay rhymes about not rhyming like he used to because She opens the song talking about the birth of her son Shawn and throughout gives little stories and anecdotes about Young Hov as a child.

On 'December 4' Jay gets help rehashing the tales of his childhood from his mother Gloria Carter. You haven't heard before, but some are told in a new way. Bragging, blinging, stories of hisĭrug dealing past and growing up without his father. In truth the production outshines the lyrics by a long Primo is the only person missing in theīeat department. Production comes from a myriad of producers including regulars like the Is something that I love about an album that I have only grown to like. This album sounds very retro, it sounds like whatĪ hip-hop album may have sounded like if the genre existed in the 60's. It is also not the prequel toĪny of his past albums. This album is not good enough for the man who claims toīe the 'best who ever did it' to bow out on. Touting it as his retirement album and it was slated to be the prequel to Jay-Z has been promising The Black Album for some time.

Jay z the black album album