Ranking Jay-Z Albums

[I'm Blackman]

Stfu tone-deaf retard. Vol 2 is easily one of Jay's worst, right down there with Blueprint 3 and Magna Crappa. Timbo and Swizz swung and missed

i'm with you on BP3 and MCHG.

Vol 2 is weird to me. It has these great records:

Money Cash Hoes
nikka What nikka Who?
A Week Ago
Reservoiur Dogs
Money Aint A Thing
Hard Knock Life
Coming of Age
It's like that
It's Alright

And there all on one album. On paper that's a 4.5 album at minimum. While the parts are incredible, the sum of those parts are weirdly underwhelming. It's a collection of very dope records vs a cohesive singularly thematic album.

 

[DirkDizzler]

Blueprint
Reasonable Doubt
American Gangster
4:44
Black Album
Blueprint 3
Kingdom Come
Vol 1.
Magna Carter
Blueprint 2
Vol.2
Vol 3

 

[ThirdAct]

how old are you? did you rock with it when it came out or did you go back and listen to it? like I said, its one of those albums that may not have aged well but it was a moment album. if someone has recently been introduced to Jay and go thru his discog, I can see why this wouldnt be a favorite. Swizz was hot back then but his beats age terribly. I was never a fan of Swizz like that anyway...and some of the pop joints didnt age well either.

I'm 33. Heard it when I was, what, 12 or 13? I prolly liked it more then, and those three singles that I mentioned I was more into before they all got played out. But still its never been my favorite Jay album. I remember playing RD, Vol 1 and even Vol 3, which I think has some underrated gems, a lot more. I get how its a nostalgic album considering how big it was and how it blew Jay up but it ain't a classic for me.

 

[OHSNAP!]

I'm 33. Heard it when I was, what, 12 or 13? I prolly liked it more then, and those three singles that I mentioned I was more into before they all got played out. But still its never been my favorite Jay album. I remember playing RD, Vol 1 and even Vol 3, which I think has some underrated gems, a lot more. I get how its a nostalgic album considering how big it was and how it blew Jay up but it ain't a classic for me.

Agreed, dumbasses rate sth off of nostalgia instead of actual quality. Vol 2 had some horrid beats and concepts. Jay dumbed his shyt down for the masses. Nothing fresh and original except maybe the unusual MCH/HKL beats. A big step down from Vol 1

 

[oO J Smooth Oo]

Lyrically and flow wise he was definitely an apex predator on BP2 and TBA. In 2002 and 2003 Jay was pretty much untouchable when it came to delivery. Dude had a million flows and crazy wordplay.

BP2 was just bloated, but if you take the best half of it's a mean single disc. If you liked Jay in the years he worked mostly with Just, Kanye, Neptunes, and Timbo, then you'll probably fukk with a lot of BP2. If you don't the RD and Volume 1-3 era Jay then you may not like BP2 as much, and I guarantee anyone that doesn't like TBA that much probably won't like BP2 very much.

Volume 2 is the most interesting album to me as far as public opinion goes. It's maybe the only album I can think of that has on one end people heralding it as a classic, and on another end people saying it's total trash and borderline un-listenable outside of a handful of tracks. I can't think of any other albums by a popular artist that have no middle ground. If you don't like it you get called a nerd by one half, and if you do like it you get called a sellout apologist by the other half.

Listened to BP2 today, it’s aged really well. Appreciate it much much more now than I did when it dropped.

 

[TheDarceKnight]

Listened to BP2 today, it’s aged really well. Appreciate it much much more now than I did when it dropped.

Same here. There was a really dope XXL interview with Kanye and Just Blaze about the type of beats they did on BP2 and why Jay chose them. For example Just said Jay wanted some challenging beats to flex in like Hovi Baby.

The following are very dope to me.
A Dream
Hovi Baby (he danced all over this track)
Watcher 2
The Bounce
My Way
Diamonds Forever
U Don’t Know Remix
Meet the Parents
Somehow Some Way
Some People Hate
Blueprint 2
Fallen Soldier
Show You How
bytches Sisters

And honestly these are all pretty good and not bad at all. The Bounce. N—a Please. Poppin Tags. Excuse Me Miss. Guns and Roses.

 

[oO J Smooth Oo]

Same here. There was a really dope XXL interview with Kanye and Just Blaze about the type of beats they did on BP2 and why Jay chose them. For example Just said Jay wanted some challenging beats to flex in like Hovi Baby.

The following are very dope to me.
A Dream
Hovi Baby (he danced all over this track)
Watcher 2
The Bounce
My Way
Diamonds Forever
U Don’t Know Remix
Meet the Parents
Somehow Some Way
Some People Hate
Blueprint 2
Fallen Soldier
Show You How
bytches Sisters

And honestly these are all pretty good and not bad at all. The Bounce. N—a Please. Poppin Tags. Excuse Me Miss. Guns and Roses.

It’s the wordplay/flows he displays on this album. I didn’t include the bonus tracks so my copy finishes “ballad for the fallen soldier” “what they do gonna do” is fire to me also

 

[TheDarceKnight]

Agreed, dumbasses rate sth off of nostalgia instead of actual quality. Vol 2 had some horrid beats and concepts. Jay dumbed his shyt down for the masses. Nothing fresh and original except maybe the unusual MCH/HKL beats. A big step down from Vol 1

The joints that get burn from me on Volume 2 are hand it down, hard knock life, a week ago, reservoir dogs, it’s like that, and it’s alright. Sometimes I do listen to money ain’t a thing. That was a fun song.

I skimmed it this morning and liked it more than the last time I listened which was probably a couple years ago. Now I’m more torn on it than ever. It’s definitely the production. The flow on jigga what is still fire. For the record I never thought Jay sounded as dope over this era of Swizz production as DMX or The Lox did. So money cash hoes and if I should die are struggles for me.

I can’t believe I’m kinda sticking up for this album when I usually trash it. I mean Jay was trying to be big, so I don’t know if I really blame him for chasing some trendy production

 

[TheDarceKnight]

It’s the wordplay/flows he displays on this album. I didn’t include the bonus tracks so my copy finishes “ballad for the fallen soldier” “what they do gonna do” is fire to me also

Yes! I wish he left People Talking on there. Same flow style and Ski merked it on production.

 

[TheDarceKnight]

It’s the wordplay/flows he displays on this album. I didn’t include the bonus tracks so my copy finishes “ballad for the fallen soldier” “what they do gonna do” is fire to me also

Damn. I can’t imagine leaving off Shoe You How but I gotcha.

Anyone know if Early This Morning was a BP1 or BP2 leftover? I’m guessing it’s a Just Blaze BP1 because of Jay’s flow.

 

[oO J Smooth Oo]

Damn. I can’t imagine leaving off Shoe You How but I gotcha.

Anyone know if Early This Morning was a BP1 or BP2 leftover? I’m guessing it’s a Just Blaze BP1 because of Jay’s flow.

both fire tracks, its just i like albums left as they are released. I think it flows better as a album. 22 tracks that i all like. Bonnie and clyde is dope and the only collabo i like of them two. There is some slick wordplay on that single from Hov.

 

[cornercommission2k12]

1. Reasonable doubt
2. Blueprint
3. American gangster
4. 4:44
5. Black album
6. Dynasty
7. Hard knock life
8. In my lifetime vol. 2
9. Blueprint 2
10. Magna carter holy grail (I dont hate this one as much as some of you do)
11. Kingdome come
12. Life and times of s. Carter vol. 3 ( I hated this one a lot more than some of you do)
13. Blueprint 3 (I think run this town is the only song I even revisit on this album, man its trash

 

[TheDarceKnight]

Volume 3 is the best out of the 3. He was so sharp lyrically on this album, production was fire too.

It’s Hot, Come and Get Me, NYMP, and There’s Been a Murder were all dope too. Obviously you mentioned So Ghetto and Dope Man.

I remember thinking that idea of having the same beat on the intro, interlude, and outro was so clever. Several dudes took that idea too.

 

[TheDarceKnight]

Edit. Double post my bad

 

[Cloud McFly]

Anyone know if Early This Morning was a BP1 or BP2 leftover? I’m guessing it’s a Just Blaze BP1 because of Jay’s flow.

It's a crime this never made an album. It was definitely meant to be for BP1 or BP2, but it was never verified which one.

I know Just Blaze reworked the beat later, to become the intro to The Black Album, but it failed to make it on there also.