gnarlynasty

2y

I guess you could say NWTS is "Drakes" Blueprint if you want. Drake really doesn't have anything as introspective and concept heavy as Black Album for sure. Uts really a humbling album for Jay cause he's asking,when its all said and done"whats my place in rap history,would anyone care if im gone.

I don't think were ever getting anything loke that from Drake

ryuH

2y

Idk man Take Care is pretty introspective and concept heavy and extremely well produced obviously it’s not the SAME since it not a retirement album and it came earlier in his career rather than later but Take Care is a really high point in his discog that hits all those marks imo

ryuH

2y

Idk man Take Care is pretty introspective and concept heavy and extremely well produced obviously it’s not the SAME since it not a retirement album and it came earlier in his career rather than later but Take Care is a really high point in his discog that hits all those marks imo

HOV INNOCENT

2y

Considering The Black Album a humble album is quite a take lol

On my recent revisit it almost felt too ego driven and legacy obsessed for me to enjoy it as much as I used to. Hov isn’t seriously asking that question on the album lol he’s very smartly and calculatedly laying out his argument for his legacy as a goat and the “retirement” thing is just basically an excuse for that.

I think The Black Album was Jay’s best attempt to beat the “boxing with ghosts” thing of him being in the shadow of big and pac. He figured if he did the retirement it could help him get as close as possible to the death stimulus for his legacy and it worked

I never use this argument but Black Album might be one album where you might have to be invested in jay z’s career narrative to dig the content. It’s like a campaign speech or book report on why he should be the GOAT. It’s almost meta. Very fascinating stuff. I actually think we do get similar content from drake a lot lately where he’s trying to drop little lines to course correct his legacy or shift narratives but just not a full album

gnarlynasty

2y

One album is mostly about relationships and another is about worrying whether or not the rap game will remember you,theres a difference

gnarlynasty

2y

Jay literally put the fate of his career into the listeners hand,by walking away. He asked us to decide for ourselves,who's the GOAT.

Bobby_96

2y

The Drake and Kanye comparison works better because they're both poppier/more crossover than a lot of other rappers.

Comparing Jay's work to Drake's simply doesn't make sense.

This is especially true when comparing RD to SFG. RD is considered one of the GOAT 90's rap albums whereas I never see people bringing up SFG as one of the best projects from the 2000's. Hell, it even gets overshadowed when people talk about the best mixtapes from the 2000's.

SFG is a great project but it doesn't have RD's legendary status at all. You got rappers doing remixes to Dead Presidents to this very day.

And comparing Vol 1 to TML is even worse since TML is downplayed and underrated by many Drake fans whereas Vol. 1 has some of Jay's best and most iconic album cuts like Imaginary Players and Where I'm From.

Overall, both Jay and Drake have their share of mid albums, classic/great albums, and mixed bag albums but Jay has higher highs in hip hop culture music wise.

Like I said, though, it's apples and oranges. Drake's catalog is better off being compared to other crossover rappers or his peers like Kendrick, Future, Cole, Tyler, etc.

gnarlynasty

2y

You could say its cocky of him to feel like he could make a whole album telling people "im better then you",but its still him having to state his case,and make people believe his argument is valid. Jay is literally on the stand throughout the entire Black Album and were the jury,he's damn near giving a statement on What More Can I Say.

Thats pretty humbling imo

Bobby_96

2y

The Drake and Kanye comparison works better because they're both poppier/more crossover than a lot of other rappers.

Comparing Jay's work to Drake's simply doesn't make sense.

This is especially true when comparing RD to SFG. RD is considered one of the GOAT 90's rap albums whereas I never see people bringing up SFG as one of the best projects from the 2000's. Hell, it even gets overshadowed when people talk about the best mixtapes from the 2000's.

SFG is a great project but it doesn't have RD's legendary status at all. You got rappers doing remixes to Dead Presidents to this very day.

And comparing Vol 1 to TML is even worse since TML is downplayed and underrated by many Drake fans whereas Vol. 1 has some of Jay's best and most iconic album cuts like Imaginary Players and Where I'm From.

Overall, both Jay and Drake have their share of mid albums, classic/great albums, and mixed bag albums but Jay has higher highs in hip hop culture music wise.

Like I said, though, it's apples and oranges. Drake's catalog is better off being compared to other crossover rappers or his peers like Kendrick, Future, Cole, Tyler, etc.

shaleirose

2y

Kanye’s discography is way too varied to ever be compared to Drake’s.

Kanye literally doesn’t have two albums that sound alike, and even thematically all of his albums are very independent of each other when you really break it down.

The Drake/Jay comparison works because of the nature of their lyricism, their somewhat formulaic approach to album making, and with how they both adapt to modern sounds throughout their careers rather than setting the new trends themselves.

Gay Ave Stan

2y

How the f*** is HNVM a "concept album"

Bobby_96

2y

I see your point but Drake has tried to dabble in different lanes musically over the years. He just wasn't as good at it as Kanye but it still counts.

Jay is just too much of a traditionalist to be compared to Drake imho. But there are similarities in the subject matter and wave riding(no knock).

ryuH

2y

SFG gets mentioned regularly as one of the greatest mixtapes of all time definitely one of the best of its era

HOV INNOCENT

2y

Very interesting takeaway tbh maybe I’ll consider this view next time I listen

But as far as Take Care, Look What You’ve Done alone makes a good argument for it’s introspection. S*** still moves me to tears damn near every time, it’s comparable to something like Dec 4th or Moment of Clarity in that sense. Over My Dead Body and Lord Knows have some pretty interesting reflections on his place in hip hop as a new artist with some stigma around him too

shaleirose

2y

Yeah I agree, Drake definitely has tapped into more styles than Jay did throughout his career, but part of that is why I think Drake is the modern day equivalent to a Jay.

There are so many different styles and sounds and audiences in rap music now, and I think Drake tapping into so many of them is just his way of staying relevant and reaching different demographics in the same way that Jay kept up with current sounds and trends throughout his career

Bobby_96

2y

Hmm...I guess you're right but I haven't really seen it.

When people bring up 2000's mixtapes, it's usually Wayne's, 50's, Dipset's, Jada's, Fab's, Bank's, etc. that get brought up.

And, in general, it seems like IYRTITL completely overshadows SFG as a whole. And other mixtapes post 2000's like LLA, Acid Rap, 56 Nights, Barter 6, 1999, Kush & OJ, House Of Balloons, Days Before Rodeo, etc. get brought up more frequently as GOAT mixtapes.

That just could just be what I'm seeing though. SFG's a good tape so I wouldn't doubt that it gets praised a lot.