Time Of [Career] Death: Jay-Z
One of hip hop’ favorite debating topics are if/when a given rapper has fallen off. There are many (supposed) cases of artists that started strong, even coming to dominate the entire industry, but then eventually fade – either through their own complacency or because they fell victim to the rapidly changing hip-hop soundscape.
But one thing I never hear is any kind of specifics on the actual point where said rapper really bricked for that crucial first time – where, as a fan, you thought “WTF?” and it was all downhill from there. So, for fun – and to have you critics put your money where your mouth is and provide some actual proof – I have a new exercise for YFWB readers.
Like the decline of all great empires or leaders, there is always a point or specific event in history where observers can look to as the watershed moment where things started to veer off course. Same with rappers.
With “Time of [Career] Death”, I’m asking you to offer your opinion on which specific song the decline started. What was the actual track that when you heard it you said “Yup. This is the end”, at least as you saw it. I want you to tell me about it and why. Leave your offering in the comment section below.
Now, with our first subject – as with many others in this series – Jay-Z, there is much argument about whether Hov has fallen off at all. That’s not what this is for. This is about heads who feel Jigga is no longer the beast he was and this is your opportunity to educate those of us in the dark as to when the dark days began.
I’m putting it out there: readers, its on you to call the Time of [Career] Death of one Jay-Z.
Any artist that can sell out Madison Square Garden will not fall off until he or she cannot accomplish that feat. Sure, the quality of Shawn Carter’s music has diminished somewhat since the Black Album, but that’s relative to his past classic efforts. Though Kingdom Come was a frisbee, American Gangster was a quality concept album (unlike another Brooklyn rapper’s that dropped this year) with relevant rhymes and staying singles.
I can hear the purists now, “But Blueprint 3 doesn’t deserve the name because it was mediocre at best.” Look at what critics are comparing Hov’s new music to: his previous material, which is the closest thing to legendary our generation has. BP3 is far from the epic disc that everyone expects of Hov, but it is still a good release by today’s standards. It will still appear on many critics’ Best Of lists, whereas rappers like Gucci Mane or Jim Jones won’t.
Though Hov will probably never return to the original Blueprint or even Black Album caliber, he has yet to fall off because he’s an established brand in hip-hop. He has a faithful following, long-term success and still kicks raps better than 75% of the industry – it’s merely an illusion that he’s fallen since he’s still on top.
Jay stay paid. Bottom line is jay-z is a legend 11 albums all #1 The only rappers in his league or Eminem Pac Biggie and MAYBE nas. We all know who he has brought to music. and as for the relevancy of blueprint 3… Im thinking its huge, theres a couple experimental tracks but did we really expect jay to kill hes a Business does it make sense for him to give his best stuff at the end of a deal on a album that isnt going to his label anymore??? Personally I love hate the song is intresting just the way its not complex its not rat tat tat its kinda like a slow motion heavy weight fight… the venus vs mars. kills!!! every line is on point. ok im rambling and im done
Jay stay paid. Bottom line is jay-z is a legend 11 albums all #1 The only rappers in his league or Eminem Pac Biggie and MAYBE nas. We all know who he has brought to music. and as for the relevancy of blueprint 3… Im thinking its huge, theres a couple experimental tracks but did we really expect jay to kill hes a Business does it make sense for him to give his best stuff at the end of a deal on a album that isnt going to his label anymore??? Personally I love hate the song is intresting just the way its not complex its not rat tat tat its kinda like a slow motion heavy weight fight… the venus vs mars. kills!!! every line is on point. ok im rambling and im done
I think the point is being missed. Sure he is still raking in a ton of dough and sells more records than 99.99% of musicians, but that’s not the question. The question is “is the music still good? If not, at what point did it begin to go downhill?”.
In the rock world U2 still sells an obscene number of records and makes hundreds of millions of dollars on tour, but their music peaked with The Joshua Tree in 1987 and has steadily been declining in artists merit since.
Maybe an even better example are the Rolling Stones who haven’t had a good album since the mid-’70s but still pack in the senior citizens who are trying to recapture a piece of their youth.
Hell toss Metallica in there too.
others may not agree but I have to say, first of all, I’ve never really been a FAN of Jay-Z, I say that because I don’t own any of his albums, I’ve been meaning to go cop some, I’ve heard em through friends and various othe outlets but I never was moved to go out and buy one of his albums, when I set foot in my local Best Buy somebody else was always on my mind. However, I did grow up on Jigga Man….Reasonable Doubt, Hard Knock Life, all that good stuff was bumpin all throughout my childhood and adolescence and such so I know Jay-Z. I like Nas better but that’s another topic. I would have to say that Jay-Z fell off, personally for me, with DOA. My reasoning is, I was listening to the lyrics and I was like damn dude sounds like a bitter old man. Yes he’s getting older but while an artist like Ghostface has matured and yet retained the essence of what made and still makes him dope, Jay-Z has matured into that old head that’s always talking about “Well in my day…” ” Now you young folks now a days….” “Boy back in my day I was a….and so on and so forth.” I heard the new album is real nice though and Empire State of Mind made me feel like I could’ve been wrong about my man, but I stand firm in my belief that though he is a legendary mc and highly skilled businessman, his music doesn’t sound like it comes from the heart but from the ego, a man who is now resorting to reminding us every few seconds about how nice he was and how great he is, instead of letting his artistry speak for itself
Finally. Someone who got where I was going with the post. Maybe I’ll do another one.
I think there’s more gray areas than you’re suggesting: Jay has released some less than great material, but he’s also released some great material. There seems to be no trend with the ‘falling off’. There’s certainly been some stuff where I’ve thought to myself “He’s fell off”, but he usually follows that stuff with a sort of re-invention release.
For example: I first tuned into the first Blueprint. I was (is) a huge Nas fan, and the album was exciting, new and different. For me, the Blueprint 2 wasn’t on the same level. Then he came back with the Black Album, and it was awesome. Then Kingdom Come and American Gangster kind of fell off, but Blueprint 3 shows some incredible artistry (especially the videos).