In the early 2000s, it was Em, Ja, Nelly, 03 - 50 started his wave (really 02 but 03 was when he dropped get rich) Nas, Ma$e, Biggie, X, Ja were hotter than him in the mid to late 90s.been meaning to make this thread, but i gotta put my foot down now.
one of those internet narratives that have gotten way outta hand.
nobody was hotter than jay-z in the early 2000s. and dont give me any commercial rappers that didnt have the cultural relevance to match their numbers.
LOL. thats the part that really irks me. yall dont keep the same energy when talking about 2pac & biggie. yall never bring up how they were being outsold by coolio. in fact, its like he never even existed. LOL. or maybe cats just dont know.
another classic.
Time To End The Narrative That Jay-Z Was Never The Top Rapper In The Game
- Thread starter Homeboy Runny-Ray
- Start date
Homeboy Runny-Ray
From Around The Way
Devil Plisken…CMS
Veteran
As someone who lived through those days Jay was seen as the all around best rapper due to his combination of skills & sales. What he never had however was that year/years of sheer dominance sales wise that his peers had at some point in time. What always held Jigga over was he always hovered around the top of the best rapper conversation. Sales wise however he never was the undisputed king
Devil Plisken…CMS
Veteran
In 2000-2001 Ja was the bigger rapper
No he wasn’t
Devil Plisken…CMS
Veteran
These were 2 of the top 5 biggest songs in the year 2000. “Give It To Me” was big but not bigger than either or
thank god I was around back then to know for myself
Jay ultimately capped off 01 but Pain Is Love was a huge success for Ja earlier in the year as well
nikkax hated Ja’s guts and you would hear other guys in the streets more (lox, Jay, x, beans etc) but white people & girls had Ja super-powerful in them Days
These were 2 of the top 5 biggest songs in the year 2000. “Give It To Me” was big but not bigger than either or
thank god I was around back then to know for myself
Jay ultimately capped off 01 but Pain Is Love was a huge success for Ja earlier in the year as well
nikkax hated Ja’s guts and you would hear other guys in the streets more (lox, Jay, x, beans etc) but white people & girls had Ja super-powerful in them Days
Ja rule was never in the same realm as Jay Z
Devil Plisken…CMS
Veteran
Homeboy Runny-Ray
From Around The Way
Homeboy Runny-Ray
From Around The Way
i think hes saying that jarule was bigger commercially.
not overall.
no to 2000.
yes to 2001.
once "put it on me" blew up.
that song dominated from around thanksgiving all the way past spring break.
that song is prolly the main reason why no chick, baby mom, wife, etc will ever surpass my favorite girl from high school.
Devil Plisken…CMS
Veteran
the years are getting blurry but I believe “Put It On Me” & “I’m Real” came out in 2000 not to mention “Between Me & You”
Jigga was holding steady no doubt but Ja was the industry darling at that point. We’re not even talking “Livin It Up” or “Always On Time” to your point in 01
If I remember correctly 01 that was the year Ja performed like 4 times (no exaggeration) on the BET Awards. I was sick to my stomach
ja was going so crazy they was even having talks about irv starting to rhyme to capitalize off of Murda Inc’s success. That’s right around the time when Ja was in magazines talking like Jay was the little guy...I forgot what magazine however
no debate Ja was hotter/bigger 2000-2001
Homeboy Runny-Ray
From Around The Way
he wasnt hot long enough in 2000 to give him that year.
i would say his big run was from late 2000 til fall 2002.
"between me & you" was a big hit summer 2000. but "put it on me" was the song that made jarule a superstar. that was towards the end of the year, and ran for a long time in 2001. murder inc owes a lifetime debt to lil mo. without her, jarule teeters around 800k territory throughout his career.
"im real" was summer 20001.
it was the 2002 BET awards where he performed like 3 times.
i remember when we watched it, my homebwoy basically said that jarule was about to drop down a few pegs by the end of the year. he was always right about these types of things. he had no clue that the 50 cent thing was about to go down and jarule was about to fall dam near off the map.jarule always talked alot of delusional chit tho. even before the superstardom. remember that interview where he credited himself for jay & dmx success in a roundabout way?? it was in the source not long after "put it on me" took off, and he prolly did the interview beforehand, because he came off kinda bitter.
Last edited:
Jay was dropping 2 albums in a within year from 97-2003. Sometimes with a 10 month turnaround. Jay never let his albums breathe back then. It cannibalize his sales. Dynasty came out Halloween 2000 than Blueprint come out 11 months later. So if really being technical jay sold more records in 2001. Jay was dropping albums in less than a year or like a month over a year for 7 years straight. Which is like today era type shyt. Ja was scorching hot 1 album and that’s it.
We the reason they ain't hand over Def Jam so quick
They new every year I was droppin new product
I was raisin the stock up, while building the Roc up
But that's alright, cause they knew they had to see us
When it was time for us to re-up, make us multi-million-ires
Devil Plisken…CMS
Veteran
Both albums certified triple platinum after a calendar year of their release
either say you don’t know or don’t quote me lying poorly