The second of three albums from rapper Jay-Z is his sixth studio album. The album was released on 9-11-2001, sharing its fateful release date with Bob Dylan’s Love and Theft. The album received rave reviews, and is considered by many to be one of the greatest rap albums ever released.
Sara
Oh yes, sir. I’ve been waiting for this one. As mentioned earlier, this is one of a few amazing albums that happened to be released on Sept 11, 2001. At the time, Jay was awaiting trials for gun possession and assault and he was also in the midst of feuds with Nas, Prodigy and others. A lot has changed on the personal front for Hova, as it would for a lot of people in 16 years.
Kanye’s influence is strong on this one, with him producing 5 tracks and co-writing 4. This album was a turning point for Kanye, as he transitioned from producer to performer. He transitioned from performer to giant douche shortly thereafter, and is now transitioning into full-blown lunatic.
Girls, I do adore
Yo put your number on this paper cause I would love to date ya
Holla at ya when I come off tour, yeah
So she call me cabron plus marricon
Said she likes to cook rice so she likes me home
I’m like, “Un momento” mami, slow up your tempo
I got this black chick, she don’t know how to act
Always talkin’ out her neck, makin’ her fingers snap
She like, “Listen Jigga Man, I don’t care if you rap
One non-girl who benefited from ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ is Redskins legend Sammy Baugh. Baugh was quarterback for the Redskins from 1937 to 1952 and led the NFL in passer rating a record of six times. Since I care very little about the Redskins, I found that a much cooler and cuter part of Baugh’s history was that he married his high school sweetheart Edmonia and they enjoyed a 52 year marriage before Edmonia’s passing in 1990. Baugh was known to have said that he enjoyed ranching more than football and, although he enjoyed the game, he wouldn’t have played sports at all if he had it to do over again. Anyhoo, Jay Z wore a Baugh throwback jersey in the video and it created a renewed interest in Sammy Baugh and his legend. The Oprah Effect is real, but let us not forget the Jay Z Effect.
I’m a big Eminem fan, so the Em collaboration “Renegade” is another favorite of mine. Nas thought Eminem was so good on this that he outperformed Jay himself, saying in his diss album Ether that “Eminem murdered you on your own sh@t.” The dual meanings of the song are the coolest element. Jay Z’s perspective is that critics don’t understand that his music is truly derived from a very rough upbringing, and that this is the audience he reaches. He says that growing up fatherless, poor, and forced into selling drugs by a desire to help his mother financially means critics shouldn’t dare lump him in with rappers whose songs are just about ‘jewels.’ Eminem’s lyrics are all about how the public responds to his lyrics. Always controversial in his lyrical choices, Eminem has historically become somewhat of a whipping boy publicly, often being denounced and blamed as a contributor to any number of societal problems. He sees this as deeply hypocritical, and asserts that the media uses him as a scapegoat so people can ignore their own culpability as parents, etc. Awesome song:
My back to the wall
Ashy knuckles
Pockets filled with
A lot of lint, not a cent
Gotta vent
Lot of innocent of lives
Lost on the project bench
Whatchu hollerin’?
Gotta pay rent
Bring dollars in
By the bodega
Iron under my coat
Feelin’ braver
Doo-rag
Wrappin’ my waves up
Pockets full of hope
Do not step to me
I’m awkward
I box leftier often
My pops left me an orphan
My momma wasn’t home
Could not stress to me
I wasn’t grown
‘Specially on nights
I brought somethin’ home
To quiet the
Stomach rumblings
My demeanor
Thirty years my senior
My childhood
Didn’t mean much
Only raisin’ green up
Raisin’ my fingers to critics
Raisin’ my head to the sky
Big I did it
Multi before I die (nigga)
No lie, just know
I chose my own fate
I drove by the
Fork in the road
And went straight
A regular
Modern day Shakespeare
Jesus Christ the
King of these
Latter Day Saints here
To shatter the picture
In which of that
As they paint me
As a monger of hate and
Satan a scatter-brained atheist
But that ain’t the case
See it’s a matter of taste
We as a people decide
If Shady’s as bad
As they say he is
Or is he the latter
A gateway to escape?
Media scapegoat
Who they can
Be mad at today
See it’s easy as cake
Simple as whistlin’ Dixie
While I’m wavin’ the pistol
At sixty Christians against me
Go to war with the Mormons
Take a bath with the Catholics
In holy water
No wonder they try
To hold me under longer
I’m a motherfuckin’ spiteful
Delightful eyeful
The new Ice Cube
Motherfuckers hate to like you
What did I do?
(Huh?)
I’m just a kid
From the gutter
Makin’ this butter
Off these bloodsuckers
Cause I’m a muh’fuckin’
Freaking awesome album. I’ll always be back for more Jay Z. It’s rare that the world gets an artist as talented as Mr. Carter.
Steve
This is one hell of a great album. I like Jay-Z, and while my favorite of his albums is coming up (at #251), this was a real treat to hear again. While this may not be my favorie example of Jay-Z’s lyrics, this is probably one of the best produced rap albums I have ever heard. As much as I hate Kanye, the guy has some serious talent, and his work on this album is some of his finest.
Easily my favorite song on the album, and one of my favorite Jay-Z songs in general is “Izzo (H.O.V.A.).” You would be hard pressed to find someone that DIDN’T know this track. It’s chorus is catchy as hell, and Jay-Z kills it. Also… it’s a Kanye produced track.
Ladies and gentlemen, put our hands together for the astonishing…
[girls singing]
H to the izz-O…V to the izz-A…
Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the 8th wonder of the world
The flow o’ the century…oh it’s timeless…HOVE!
Thanks for comin’ out tonight
You coulda been anywhere in the world, but you’re here with me
I appreciate that…uuunnnh…
H to the izz-O, V to the izz-A
Fo’ shizzle my nizzle used to dribble down in VA
Was herbin’ em in the home of the Terrapins
Got it dirt cheap for them
Plus if they was short wit’ cheese I would work wit’ them
Boy and we…got rid of that dirt for them
Wasn’t born hustlers I was burpin’ em
H to the izz-O, V to the izz-A
Fo’ sheezy my neezy keep my arms so breezy
Can’t leave rap alone the game needs me
Haters want me clapped and chromed it ain’t easy
Cops wanna knock me, D.A. wanna box me in
But somehow, I beat them charges like Rocky
H to the izz-O, V to the izz-A
Not guilty, he who does not feel me is not real to me
Therefore he doesn’t exist
So poof…vamoose son of a bitch
[CHORUS]
H to the izz-O, V to the izz-A
Fo’ shizzle my nizzle used to dribble down in VA
H to the izz-O, V to the izz-A
That’s the anthem get’cha damn hands up
H to the izz-O, V to the izz-A
Not guilty ya’ll got-ta feel me
H to the izz-O, V to the izz-A
That’s the anthem get’cha damn hands UP!
Holla at me…
I do this for my culture
To let ’em know what a nigga look like…when a nigga in a roaster
Show ’em how to move in a room full ‘o vultures
Industry shady it need to be taken over
Label owners hate me I’m raisin’ the status quo up
I’m overchargin’ niggaz for what they did to the Cold Crush
Pay us like you owe us for all the years that you hold us
We can talk, but money talks so talk mo’ bucks
[CHORUS]
Yeah…
Hove is back, life stories told through rap
Niggaz actin’ like I sold you crack
Like I told you sell drugs…no…
Hove did that so hopefully you won’t have to go through that
I was raised in the pro-jects, roaches and rats
Smokers out back, sellin’ they mama’s sofa
Lookouts on the corner, focused on the ave
Ladies in the window, focused on the kinfolk
Me under a lamp post, why I got my hand closed?
Cracks in my palm, watchin’ the long arm o’ the law
So you know I seen it all before
I seen hoop dreams deflate like a true fiend’s weight
To try and to fail, the two things I hate
Succeed in this rap game, the two things is great
H to the izz-O, V to the izz-A
What else can I say about dude, I gets bizzay
“Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love)” is another Kanye produced track, and another track I really enjoy. It is basically a big rant about people hating Jay-Z’s success. It wasn’t a single, and honestly not even a song I remembered from hearing this album so many years ago, but it got stuck in my head this time around.
Uh, uh, listen
First the Fat Boys break up, now every day I wake up
Somebody got a problem with Hov’
What’s up you all niggas all fed up ’cause I got a little cheddar
and my records moving out the store?
Young fucks spitting at me, young rappers getting at me
My nigga Big predicted the shit exactly
“More money, more problems” – gotta move carefully
’cause faggots hate when you getting money like athletes
Yung’uns ice-grilling me, oh – you’re not feeling me?
Fine; it cost you nothing – pay me no mind
Look, I’m on my grind cousin, ain’t got time for fronting
Sensitive thugs, you all need hugs
Damn though mans I’m just trying do me
If the record’s two mill I’m just trying move three
Get a couple of chicks, get ’em to try to do E
Hopefully they’ll menage before I reach my garage
I don’t want much, fuck I drove every car
Some nice cooked food, some nice clean drawers
Bird-ass niggas I don’t mean to ruffle you all
I know you’re waiting in the wing but I’m doing my thing
Where’s the love?
“Ain’t no love, in the heart of the city..”
I said where’s the love?
“Ain’t no love, in the heart of town..”
Yeah..
And then the Fugee’s gonna break up, now everyday I wake up
Somebody got something to say
What’s all the fucking fussing for? Because I’m grubbing more
and I pack heat like I’m the oven door?
Niggas pray and pray on my downfall
But everytime I hit the ground I bounce up like roundball
Now I don’t wanna have to kill southpaw
Don’t wanna have to cock back the four pound bar
Look scrapper I got nephews to look after
I’m not looking at you dudes, I’m looking past you
I thought I told you characters I’m not a rapper
Can I live? I told you in ninety-six
that I came to take this shit and I did, handle my biz
I scramble like Randall with his
Cunningham but the only thing running is numbers fam
Jigga held you down six summers; damn, where’s the love?
“Ain’t no love, in the heart of the city..”
Niggas, where’s the love?
“Ain’t no love, in the heart of town..”
Holla at me!!
“Ain’t no love” (take ’em to church) “in the heart of the city..”
Uh, uh, uh – my nigga where’s the love?
“Ain’t no love, in the heart of town..”
Fuck
Then Richard Pryor go and burn up, and Ike and Tina Turner break up
Then I wake up to more bullshit
You knew me before records, you never disrespected me
Now that I’m successful you’ll pull this shit
Nigga I’ll step on your porch, step to your boss
Let’s end the speculation, I’m talking to all you
Males shouldn’t be jealous that’s a female trait
Watch you mad ’cause you push dimes and he sell weight?
You all don’t know my expenses, I gotta buy a bigger place
Hehehe, and more baggies, why you all aggie?
Nigga respect the game, that should be it
What you eat don’t make me shit – where’s the love?
Where’s the love?
“Ain’t no love, in the heart of the city..”
“Ain’t no love, in the heart of town..”
“Ain’t no love, in the heart of the city..”
“Ain’t no love, in the heart of town..”
“Ain’t no love, in the heart of the city..”
“Ain’t no love, in the heart of town..”
“Ain’t no love..”
Goodbye for now Mr. Carter, see you in a few days.
I Would Rock 500 Albums 