“You can sell about two mill’, get hooked with a good deal and start stacking dough. You can get your mobiles, ride twenty inch big wheels and collect some hoes. You can even start eating good and smoking good, but you’re pressing your luck, and you say what?–Somebody went bankrupt! But it wasn’t us.”

I was going to post something completely different, something sensitive and thoughtful, then this song came up in the shuffle. As you can see, I could not resist.

Not to imply that this track is not thoughtful… let’s say it is more instructional than my intended selection. The production demands that you listen, and Ludacris demands that you pay attention.

Plus, it has a good beat and you can dance to it.

“Treat my first like my last, and my last like my first and my thirst is the same as when I came.”

Is it really like that? Really?

Like I said at the start of this week, I am a fan of Jay-Z. He is exceptionally talented and plays with words effortlessly. He stands apart from those of lesser talent who are putting out mediocre music at best. The fact that Jay-Z sells millions of records is not surprising, yet neither is it necessarily a sign that these records represent his best efforts.

I’m going to wrap this up like this: if you really are a cut above the rest, the challenge isn’t to outdo those in your field, the challenge is to outdo yourself, stretch yourself, expand yourself. The album that comes from there, from that state of mind, that is the Jay-Z album that I believe is yet to come, that I can’t wait to hear, that I will recommend to Simone.

Ganbatte kudasai, Jay!

“Nothing is for itself, but each thing partaking of the other is living its greatest possibility, is surpassing itself with vitality and meaning and is part of the making of a great unity. So with the works of the great masters.”

-Robert Henri

8/10/08 - Will that album be Blueprint 3?…

… Then there is American Gangster: the concept album.

The press and the praise, much has been said about this album (read all about it). I respect this unified effort, sold only as a complete album (no iTunes), and find it to be a very good one. The album production is first rate, fairly cohesive, and Jay-Z does come up with some unbelievable rhyme patterns. Yet, I must say, the themes aren’t exactly fresh or coming from a new perspective. Even Jay-Z sounds bored on a couple of songs. The vibrancy, dexterity, and delivery on the title track, that’s where it’s at:

“Prodigal child, y’all not ready for the future. Then I disappear in the Bermuda Triangle. My name will be viewed as such, ‘Here’s to the man that refused to give up.’ I want the sky, nigga.”

More please…

“No question, Jay-Z got too many answers. I been around this block too many times, rocked too many rhymes, cocked too many nines, too. To all my brothers it ain’t too late to come together, ‘cause too much Black and too much love, equal forever. I don’t follow any guidelines ‘cause too many niggaz ride mine, so I change styles every two rhymes.”

… Continuing the conversation on the Jay-Z conundrum, I did attempt to rally behind Reasonable Doubt, which was a sincere, quality effort, but really, it wasn’t quite ripe, Jay-Z hadn’t quite come into his fullness–though you wouldn’t know it by this song.

…

So like I was saying, the other day I had this conversation with Simone White and she asked me which Jay-Z album would I recommend her buying. She appreciates Jay-Z’s talent, which is basically undeniable, yet Simone has never purchased a Jay-Z album, due to, shall we say, the uneven quality of his output. And you know what? I had to admit that she was right. I couldn’t think of a single Jay-Z album that I could recommend in its entirety.

In general, with a Jay-Z album, you can count on two or three high quality songs: tight lyrics throughout, no filler, innovative production. Beyond that, well… you get what you get.

“But the real sh!t you get when you bust down my lines. Add that to the fact I went plat’ a bunch of times. Times that by my influence on pop culture, I’m supposed to be number one on everybody’s list. We’ll see what happens when I no longer exist.”

To be continued…

“I’m not a biter, I’m a writer for myself and others. I say a B.I.G. verse, I’m only bigging up my brother, bigging up my borough, I’m big enough to do it, I’m that thorough, plus I know my own flow is foolish.”

Yes, I am a fan of Jay-Z. Almost as big a fan as he is. However… When I get a minute, I’ll tell you about a conversation I had the other day and what I had to admit.

OutKast, “Liberation”:

“Shake that load off.”

Busta Rhymes, “Do My Thing”:

“Let me do my thing!”

De La Soul, “I Can Do Anything (Delacratic)”:

“I can say anything that I want. It’s Delacratic.”

Digable Planets, “Escapism (Gettin’ Free)”:

“Get free, get free y’all.”

It’s July 4th, do you know where your freedom is?