Scatt

5mo

classic song
i’ve never actually listened to most jay z albums

only 4:44, holy grail, WTT, and blueprint

AvenueJones

5mo

Really a classic. Niggas talk about Jay paying homage to B.I.G but let’s get into how many niggas do the same wit Jay. This song is a testament I done heard so many rappers flip lines off this song

AvenueJones

5mo

Really a classic. Niggas talk about Jay paying homage to B.I.G but let’s get into how many niggas do the same wit Jay. This song is a testament I done heard so many rappers flip lines off this song

Flubber

5mo

Fr, Jay is one of the most referenced rappers ever

I can imagine Gen Z folks would be shocked to see how many rap lines came from Hov

It's sort of like back when I first went back to Rakim/KRS One/Geto Boys/Run DMC etc and saw how much they got quoted by 90s/00s rappers

Or like going back to certain albums that originated the use of certain obscure samples that became staples e.g. The Main Ingredient by Pete Rock & CL Smooth was enlightening from a production standpoint (CL Smooth is still probably one of the weakest rappers with classics though, he just served his purpose)

Water Giver

5mo

I found a still of the actual commerical from tumblr (can't embed tumblr but you can see it, and a similar car s***)

https://65.media.tumblr.com/3535e0ede9f3c7fc4e7339d606bdc682/tumblr_nyjo1bKZIr1rrvheyo1_250.png

Which then proceeds to their marketing concepts and style for the album later based off the art template of the commercial

Reasonable Doubt also did not have massive distribution in its first year, it was limited to select stores and in small quantities - this they campaigned for themselves to have it pushed to more stores, just like how Jay Z was denied from multiple labels to get signed originally so they pushed themselves with RD

They were completely indie in the year prior and first year of RD with a small distro deal that came "towards the end" near release

Another fun early days fact - OG RD fully indie n early RD even had a diff CD rom cover of a .22 for its like first two months (you can see an old head posting a video of it in these comments on Facebook, and mention of it on Twitter) but was changed for more potential positive marketing reasons and to get picked up in more stores

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.facebook.com/groups/855684331189883/posts/6370712883020306/&ved=2ahUKEwjr-NSOm-mSAxVRIEQIHcVrKLEQzLMHegQIHRAB&usg=AOvVaw2o9AvZHHwbS9wPwSpFutZe

And twitter mention

https://x.com/HoviBear/status/1805454348790775977?lang=en

But yeah, here's a dude talking about seeing the commercial

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/jay-zs-original-1st-lp-reasonable-doubt-with-the-cd-artwork-as-a-hologram-of-a-gun.684417/

It previewed Dead Pres 1 in it's og airing (which of course didn't make it to the actual release), then later dubbed ain't no nigga over it - but anyways - the og tagline from the commercial was "the trial begins" which was kinda like an early subtitle for reasonable doubt that then later got dropped

I can't find the full commerical still tho outside of the final still above and mentions about it, but it's just Jay Z driving around in his car with various shots inside and outside with him on the phone and there's a voiceover from someone else talking bout Jay Z bout to defend himself in a trial for his life, but he knows he'll win beyond a "reasonable of doubt"

Flubber

5mo

Fr, Jay is one of the most referenced rappers ever

I can imagine Gen Z folks would be shocked to see how many rap lines came from Hov

It's sort of like back when I first went back to Rakim/KRS One/Geto Boys/Run DMC etc and saw how much they got quoted by 90s/00s rappers

Or like going back to certain albums that originated the use of certain obscure samples that became staples e.g. The Main Ingredient by Pete Rock & CL Smooth was enlightening from a production standpoint (CL Smooth is still probably one of the weakest rappers with classics though, he just served his purpose)

THE VILLAINOUS

5mo

I have a private playlist on apple music that either sample or use JAŸ-Z lyrics

Jhenè Aiko - The Worst is prob my fav one

THE VILLAINOUS

5mo

I have a private playlist on apple music that either sample or use JAŸ-Z lyrics

Jhenè Aiko - The Worst is prob my fav one

TheRocket64

5mo

What’s the difference between Dead Prez I and II and why didn’t he put I on Reasonable Doubt

FredVanYeet

5mo

can you share a screen shot of some of the songs, that sounds dope

Flubber

5mo

Fr, Jay is one of the most referenced rappers ever

I can imagine Gen Z folks would be shocked to see how many rap lines came from Hov

It's sort of like back when I first went back to Rakim/KRS One/Geto Boys/Run DMC etc and saw how much they got quoted by 90s/00s rappers

Or like going back to certain albums that originated the use of certain obscure samples that became staples e.g. The Main Ingredient by Pete Rock & CL Smooth was enlightening from a production standpoint (CL Smooth is still probably one of the weakest rappers with classics though, he just served his purpose)

gasdrawls

5mo

the person y’all think is the goat is a diddler.

Flubber

5mo

Fr, Jay is one of the most referenced rappers ever

I can imagine Gen Z folks would be shocked to see how many rap lines came from Hov

It's sort of like back when I first went back to Rakim/KRS One/Geto Boys/Run DMC etc and saw how much they got quoted by 90s/00s rappers

Or like going back to certain albums that originated the use of certain obscure samples that became staples e.g. The Main Ingredient by Pete Rock & CL Smooth was enlightening from a production standpoint (CL Smooth is still probably one of the weakest rappers with classics though, he just served his purpose)

Etymology

5mo

I want to say I appreciate the initial points in your post. I hope that the referential nature of rap will never die

But then I saw the CL Smooth hate

I’m going to list worse rappers with classics and it’s going to be hot takes. But my criteria is in order to be a better rapper than CL smooth, you have to have a song in your catalog that’s beats his 3 verses on TROY. That’s not an unreasonable ask.

Dr Dre
Juvenile
Snoop dogg
Lil Wayne
Too short
E40
Nelly
Kanye West
50 Cent
Young Jeezy

CL has a great flow and great rhymes. I honestly think that a lot of the hate he got, and this is the reason Pete rock left him, was because he refused to do the more street content that took over in the mid 90s. He wanted to stay true to his respectful, old soulful vibe and the higher ups, the jimmy iovines of the world, had set the new tone, and he didn’t fit in. So it led to him kind of sounding like a weird anomaly if you don’t take it all into proper context and are intimately familiar with early 90s late 80s rap and 70s soul music

Elric

5mo

Big Daddy Kane too

Flubber

5mo

maybe 'he served his purpose' wasn't the right way to say it, i initially typed 'he did his job though', obviously he has some songs with classic/iconic verses & moments but overall he wasn't as captivating as many of the great rappers.

There's no way you could say CL Smooth is a better rapper than Lil Wayne, that's crazy fam.
C'mon fam

I should give CL a bit of a pass since those two duo albums came out in 1992 & 1994 so hip hop was still maturing (93 arguably one of the GOAT years of hip hop though) but he doesn't maintain attention or catch the ear for a full album length as well as many of the rappers you named.

I would definitely put Kanye over him but obviously Kanye's pen is no longer as applicable given all the ghosts/credited ghosts (Kanye can make a cheesy Big Sean written line sounds amazing)

Etymology

5mo

Did yall peep his Apple Music picture too? Man this s*** getting me emotional

THE VILLAINOUS

5mo

Uploaded the music video too 😭

Etymology

5mo

I appreciate the well reasoned reply. You’re on the money about the years the Pete and cl albums dropped: this was the transitional period of hip hop. And I think a lot of MCs from that transitional period are underrated because they got lost in it: Treach from Naughty By Nature is a somewhat obvious one now that Eminem made it corny to mention him, but CL is another. There were dudes who were really nice in that time that get written off too much because of the changes that happened from 94 to 97

CL is flowing on those albums man. His lyrical performance on the first one is especially A1 because of the varied content and consciousness but honestly he killed both them s***s to me. I love his flow. This is weird but when I was growing up in the 2000s and making Madlib type beats on FL studio, for some reason me and my friends would always default to rapping in CL smooth flow. Because it’s lowkey funny and nostalgic but it’s also dope as hell

As far as Wayne, like I said, I grew up in the 2000s, witnessed his prime, downloaded joints like Yes feat Pharrell or Lollipop snippet or La La La on the first day they surfaced. I was probably one of the first 50 people to hear “the F is for phenomenal”. I still get a lot of joy from his music. But I’m done pretending he’s goat status. The dude who made the comment about his content recently is right. CL has Wayne beat in both flow and content, he’s lapping him multiple times in those categories because of how elementary Wayne is. And CL came 20 years before and is probably like 30 years older lol yeah I can’t do it with Wayne anymore

Etymology

5mo

This s*** legendary