Questlove defends Vol 1, Jay-Z responds

[MikeStamina]

Jay Z alone didn't influence that though. Jay Z has pushed for A LOT that never got any traction. Why isn't MCHG held in higher regard since Jay had it in his Top 5? Why isn't "Jay Z Blue" an official color? Why did he make "Blueprint 2" and say "they helped Nas cheat" if he had so much control over the narrative?

So what if Jay got 4 mics in the Source in 1996 for RD and no one was bumping that album in Dallas. Sometimes an album becomes classic over time. If Jay exerted as much influence as you're stating, he'd have all of his albums being argued as classic.

Never mind

 

[mitter]

14 tracks, 5 songs that are fast forward material. 5/14 = 35.7% . So yes, I was wrong, it's actually 36% of the album that is fast forward material. But that doesn't mean it's not a good album, it's just not great. Yall up here claiaming them pop azz bubble gum songs are classics is laughable 25 years later. I was there when it dropped. I have my original copies of RD, vol 1, vol 2, vol 3, etc. I remember when XXL came out with the first episode that had Jay Z on the cover. Then the next year when Hard Knock life was to be released, Blaze magazine put Jay Z on the cover of the 2nd issue(Method Man was on the first).

what are those 5 songs?

 

[FunkDoc1112]

Vol 1 is a mixed bag. Had the best and worst of Jay on it.

Vol 2 is ass outside of about 4 songs. Him blowing up off of it is the primary reason people cling to it.

Vol 3 is extremely underrated and better than a lot of what gets put ahead of it.

Nah Volume 3 is almost as uneven and all over the place as Vol. 1 but without the same highs, plus it has two of the absolute worst songs Jay's ever made sequenced back-to-back. The back half saves it though, so it's like half of a great album again. Track by track I'd say:

Intro - 8
So Ghetto - 10
Do It Again - 7
Dope Man - 7.5
Things That U Do - 6
It's Hot - 8
Snoopy Track - 7
S. Carter - 1
Pop 4 Roc - .5
Watch Me - 8.5
Big Pimpin' - 10
There's Been a Murder - 9
Come & Get Me - 8.5
NYMP - 8.5
Outro - 8

 

[Heavy_Handz]

Nah Volume 3 is almost as uneven and all over the place as Vol. 1 but without the same highs, plus it has two of the absolute worst songs Jay's ever made sequenced back-to-back. The back half saves it though, so it's like half of a great album again. Track by track I'd say:

Intro - 8
So Ghetto - 10
Do It Again - 7
Dope Man - 7.5
Things That U Do - 6
It's Hot - 8
Snoopy Track - 7
S. Carter - 1
Pop 4 Roc - .5
Watch Me - 8.5
Big Pimpin' - 10
There's Been a Murder - 9
Come & Get Me - 8.5
NYMP - 8.5
Outro - 8

Vol. 3 is Jay’s worst album out of all his albums up to The Black Album before he retired.

 

[Tommy Gibbs]

Nah Volume 3 is almost as uneven and all over the place as Vol. 1 but without the same highs, plus it has two of the absolute worst songs Jay's ever made sequenced back-to-back. The back half saves it though, so it's like half of a great album again. Track by track I'd say:

Intro - 8
So Ghetto - 10
Do It Again - 7
Dope Man - 7.5
Things That U Do - 6
It's Hot - 8
Snoopy Track - 7
S. Carter - 1
Pop 4 Roc - .5
Watch Me - 8.5
Big Pimpin' - 10
There's Been a Murder - 9
Come & Get Me - 8.5
NYMP - 8.5
Outro - 8

I was living in Germany when this dropped(shyt, I was in Germany for 5 of Jay's releases lol) and I got the European version. That included an extra interlude, Is that yo bytch with Twista, and "Anything". European releases were different than US releases sometimes. The European Stillmatic had the rockwilder produced "Everybody's crazy" and 2 additional tracks.

 

[Deadman187]

Intro: A Million & One Questions / Rhyme No More
Imaginary Player
Streets Is Watching
Friend or Foe '98
Who You Wit II
Where I'm From
You Must Love Me


Lucky Me
Real nikkaz
Rap Game / Crack Game


The City Is Mine
I Know What Girls Like
Face Off
Sunshine


Album is a mixed bag. Has some of his greatest moments alongside some of his worst

 

[spliz]

Vol. 3 is Jay’s worst album out of all his albums up to The Black Album before he retired.

Let them tell it. It’s better than The Black Album, lol. But say u even LIKE Nastradamus on here nikkas is calling u all kinda shyt. Lol. This thread is hilarious. I hope nikkas is ready to admit “Jay stans” are just as bad if not worse than “Nas stans”. They will excuse literally everything Jay does.

 

[TheDarceKnight]

I’m not saying anything new. Volume 1 is a huge mixed bag. But some of my favorite Jay songs are on that album.

Where I’m From
Million and One
Streets is Watching
Imaginary Players
Friend I or Foe ‘98
You Must Love Me

and to a lesser extent…

Rap Game Crack Game
Lucky Me

 

[Tommy Gibbs]

I’m not saying anything new. Volume 1 is a huge mixed bag. But some of my favorite Jay songs are on that album.

Where I’m From
Million and One
Streets is Watching
Imaginary Players
Friend I or Foe ‘98
You Must Love Me

and to a lesser extent…

Rap Game Crack Game
Lucky Me

Rap game crack game is one of the best songs in the album. Jaz chopped “fopp” and Jay spit a dope concept comparing the rap game to the crack game.

 

[spliz]

Rap game crack game is one of the best songs in the album. Jaz chopped “fopp” and Jay spit a dope concept comparing the rap game to the crack game.

I like Rap Game/Crack Game but this is a clear example of let Nas have spit on that shyt and he wouldn’t have heard the end of it. Imma say it like this with this album. If it wasn’t for some of the songs being some of the greatest Jay songs ever. This album would’ve been the worst in the Vol. series.

 

[Piff Perkins]

This sounds like revisionist history.

I'd like to see proof of that. Because you're basically making the Illmatic --> It Was Written argument and that it one of the most celebrated album from it's actual release date. Not the RD shyt where ppl call it classic years later.

There's a reason Jay did a 360 from RD to Vol 1 back to Street's Is Watching

The shyt almost derail his career and he had to hop on trends until atleast Dynasty (where the modern Rocafella sound was born, IMO).

While I agree Dynasty was the Roc sound, I think Jay found his own distinct style before that. How many people were rapping over guitar shyt consistently like Hov was from Vol 1-3. shyt like Nymp.

 

[Cladyclad]

Let them tell it. It’s better than The Black Album, lol. But say u even LIKE Nastradamus on here nikkas is calling u all kinda shyt. Lol. This thread is hilarious. I hope nikkas is ready to admit “Jay stans” are just as bad if not worse than “Nas stans”. They will excuse literally everything Jay does.

U ain’t gon let this go lol

u making Nastradamus look even weaker by the constant comparison

 

[spliz]

U ain’t gon let this go lol

u making Nastradamus look even weaker by the constant comparison

Nastradamus was a weak album. I’m talking about what I saw in the threads happen to people who liked it.

 

[Piff Perkins]

Why has this become a Jay/Nas topic?

 

[Cladyclad]

Why has this become a Jay/Nas topic?

Because Nas Stan’s get pissed when a jay album get a 2nd opinion

they got to bring up how come Nas don’t get that luxury or some shyt