if Jay was inspired by Life Is Good we would have got another Magna Carter.
LIG was great but has its faults so it just ended up being a looked at as really good album from Nas. it was seen more of a step in the right direction for what people wanted from him but here we are years down the line with the next chapter nowhere in sight.
theres a couple songs on LIG i like more than all of them on 4:44 but i'll take 4:44 as a body of work.
and in fairness to Jay he's been trying to make his "grown man" album for a while.
bits and pieces always been there and this time he pulled it off because he's finally got nothing to prove.
Kingdom Come: pressure of coming out of retirement and rivals chipping away at some of your cool.
MCHG: pressure to still prove you're the top dog in a changing game.
4:44 is stripped down and concise.
just Hov and some good beats from the one producer getting his thoughts out.
no forced single, no checklist of certain songs to do, no features for the sake of them.
thats why people are going to bat for it so much. it just felt different than your usual Jay-Z album.
you usually know what you're getting out of a Jay album..this time we didn't and people took to it in a way they haven't in some time.