My girlfriend and I broke up, so I started binging Jay-Z albums.

Quicklinks:

Part 1: Heartbroken

Reasonable Doubt

• Album Review: Reasonable Doubt

In My Lifetime, Vol. 1

• Album Review: In My Lifetime, Vol. 1
• Update 1: Reservoir Dogs.
• Update 2: NOW, OR LATER...?

Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life

• Album Review: Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life

Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter

• Vol. 3 Preview & Anecdote
• Update 3: Roxanne
• Album Review: Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter
• Update 4: Bring It On

The Dynasty: Roc La Familia

• Album Review: The Dynasty: Roc La Familia
• CREDITS: End of Part 1
• NEWS: Twitter review by Justin L. Hunte
• REACTION: Viewer Mail by KTT user

Interlude

• Prelude: Heart of the City
• Song Spotlight: Feelin' It (1996)
• Song Spotlight: Coming of Age (Da Sequel) (1998)
• Tito94: About The Author
• Search and You Will Find: Quotes From Jay-Z
• THE RE-RANK IS UP NEXT

Part 2: Beyond A Reasonable Doubt (2024)

• Part 2: Beyond A Reasonable Doubt (2024)
• Beyond A Reasonable Doubt: Instagram Page
• The Re-Rank: Intro
• The Re-Rank: In My Lifetime, Vol. 1
• The Re-Rank: Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter

The Blueprint

• The Blueprint Is Up Next
• Song Spotlight: Song Cry (2001)
• Update 5: Note to Self
• Song Spotlight: Heart of the City (Ain't No Love) (2001)
• Fan Love Interlude: All I Need
• Song Spotlight: Renegade (2001)

Part 2.5 Diamond in the Rough 💎⚾

My girl and I are done. I have deep love for her, but I could've treated her better. It's time I became a better person and start becoming what I'm capable of.

While I was in my feelings listening to "The Shoe Fits" by Drake, the sound plus my ambition took my mind to Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt. That's when I remembered: $500K or dinner with Jay-Z? Well the man himself says if you want to be like him, listen to the music:

That's when I decided. I'll listen to and internalize every Jay-Z album while I build myself into the gangster I was born to be. The first up? Reasonable Doubt. From there, we'll go in order until we reach the last Jay-Z project. Where are we at now? Check out the review below:

Review: The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2000)

The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2000)

This album released on January 1st, 2000.
Did you know that was Ice Spice's birthday?

This is a nice collab album, and as it progresses, it gets more personal with Jay as he takes us in his mind in some of his most introspective songs.

It took me a few listens to really get my groove with this album, and after I gave myself some time to clear my Jay-Z palate, this one really started to resonate with me.

🎵 Track 5, "This Can't Be Life'" feat. Beanie Sigel and Scarface

I'll be clear: three my favorite songs on here are 1-900-HUSTLER, Where Have You Been and Soon You'll Understand.

This is a collab album, but Jay-Z really takes it home towards the end of this project.

We see some faces on this album that aren't a part of Roc-a-fella... R. Kelly singing about how he's guilty until proven innocent, and a little bit of Pharrell on here as well as Snoop Dogg.

In that way, the album reminds me of Kanye's Cruel Summer with some of the features.

Speaking of Kanye, did you know that this is the album he was mentioning on his song Last Call (2005)?

"Yo you heard the track I did, man This Can't Be Life".

Historic! It was cool hearing This Can't Be Life finally and you can tell it's straight from Kanye. The sample by David Ruffin is very somber and you'll surprised at how many introspective tracks there are on this album.

I'm not sure if these are Jay-Z staples, but a few tracks that always seem to play when I hit this album on shuffle are Get Your Mind Right with Snoop as well as You, Me, Him and Her. They're decent tracks.

I think the songs that have the non-Rocafella features are cool tracks to listen to for the sake of the album, but on this project, Jay-Z and the music shine when it's Roc-a-fella. Memphis Bleek and Beanie Sigel have a few tracks on here as well, and as usual their features are on point.

I'll admit, this album has a dated sound. It sounds like the onset of the 2000's to me, with some of the beats reminding me of stuff I'd see in Def Jam movies and media back then.

This album is cool. It's not the wildest Jay-Z album we've heard... I want to give it between a 7.5 and an 8--I do think it's better than Vol. 3... The Life and Times of S. Carter, but overall I'd probably rank it as the fourth best album we've heard so far. It's just a collab album so it feels more like a pit stop to me than a full project, but I did enjoy spending time with this album. Honestly, I can probably hold out for another week still spinning this record, but I wanted to go ahead and not only pay homage to his earlier work with the Re-Rank, but I wanted to close out this album and move this project forward. Perhaps in the future we'll re-rank this, but for now, let's assume we've gotten what we could out of this album.

ALBUM RANKING: 8/10

Tito's Track Rankings:

1. 1-900-Hustler feat. Beanie Sigel & Memphis Bleek
2. Where Have You Been feat. Beanie Sigel
3. This Can't Be Life feat. Scarface
4. Soon You'll Understand
5. Guilty Until Proven Innocent feat. R. Kelly

• 11 of 16 tracks downloaded

Up Next: The Blueprint (2001)

Album Ranking Archive:

• Reasonable Doubt (1996): 10/10 | Page 5
• In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1997): 7/10 | Page 6 | Re-Rank Score: 9/10
• Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life (1998): 10/10 | Page 7
• Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter (1999): 7.5/10 | Page 7 | Re-Rank Score: 8/10
• The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2000): 8/10 | Page 7
• The Blueprint (2001): TBD
• The Best of Both Worlds (2002): TBD

Project Bonus #1: The Shoe Fits by Drake (2023)

Project Bonus #2: Can't Knock The Hustle (Live) feat. Beyonce

Project Bonus #3: Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter vinyl packaging

Project Bonus #4: Jay-Z x Rhapsody album cover commercial

Project Bonus #5: 1998 Jay-Z interview

Project Bonus #6: Alicia Keys: Feelin' It (cover)

Project Bonus #7: About Me

About the author

Tito94 is a creative writer in Atlanta, GA. His interests lie in music, sports, tech, and gaming. Tito is a skilled writer and has been a member of the music website KTT since December 2008 and through entertaining content has amassed feats such as, the most posts in site history and the creation of the sports section.

@op

⚡⚡⚡ - Tito94 🌎

OP really going through it

This is the kind of experiment you’d see on a random blog in the early 2010s.

You are no gangster you got dumped and cry on music forum

Op on some real s*** 🐺

lock thread hang op

Better than going bottle first with your sorrows op I can say that at least

What

He could be doing a lot worse things instead💯

I did the same thing after my break up but with Nas old albums

Better than listening to sad music tbh

dont listen to Song Cry, thank me later

@op ❤️🫂

I know how you're feeling man, but a lot of people on here are real insensitive, my best recommendation is speak to one of your homies in private about this. If not, you can find me in the DMs on Social media, and talk privately with me.

Posting on here won't help

Don't you think its weird you posted this 10 seconds after me

@op listen to some Future Hndrxx

I Never Liked You should hit the spot

In bol

Op real soon

Damn that's some rs lol

Jay is the GOAT man. can't wait for you to really get into his stuff

I'm excited too. I'm giving each album about 10 listens each before I post my review. I started listening to Vol. 1 yesterday so expect an update a bit later this week or the weekend.

Bro tried to aesthetisize McDonalds

|| 1.4:44 10/10
2.Black Album 10/10
3.Reasonable Doubt 9.5/10
4.Blueprint 9.5/10
5.WTT 8.5/10

6.Vol 1 8.5/10
7.Jay Electronica & Jay Z - A Written Testimony 8/10
8.AG 8/10
9.Vol II 7.5/10
10.BP 3 7/10

11.Vol 3 6.5/10
12.The Dynasty 6/10
13.BP 2 6/10
14.The Carters - Everything Is Love 6/10
15.KC 6/10

16.Magna 6/10 ||

Good time as any to bump some Hov tbh