Vol 2...Hard Knock Life 20th anniversary Thread

[ReasonableMatic]

Big thang, big chains, ain't shyt changed
Get brain in the four dot six Range
shyt mayne, switch lanes
Every town I hit, switch planes, bytch, flipped big 'caine
Flow with no cut, you take it in vein to the brain
Muh'fukkas is nodding and throwing up, you know that
You don't wanna owe that man
He'll hit you, get the picture? Kodak, man
Gotta, love for war, I don't floss no more
I just sit on my money 'til I'm above the law
How the fukk you gon' stop us with your measly asses?
We don't stop at the tolls we got EZ passes, nikka
Multiple cars and divas with D-Classes
Iceberg sweats with I.B. on the elastic
shyt, biatch! - Reservoir Dogs

As a young'un, dumb and gun in the waist
Sold crack to those who couldn't take the pain
And had to numb it with base
Couldn't drink the Henny straight, I needed somethin to chase
Nowadays I throw shots back, leavin' nothin' to waste
Life's like a treadmill, nikkas runnin' in place
Gettin' nowhere fast, a whole year done past
I vowed to never stop winnin', 'til the earth stop spinnin'
Rock hot linen, cop hot cars and hot women
If it's not him then you got it confused, y'all not rememberin'
My motto is, simply "I will not lose!"
Abide by the block rules, I buy my Glocks used
With bodies on it, let me know anybody want it?
I'm raised, irrational, ways misunderstood
If you ain't live like I live, in one with the hood
I done what I could, to come up with this paper 'til this day still
Run with the hood, guess it's part of my nature
If hell awaits a nikka I'm comin' with the razors
Still flashin' ya shyt, try to pass me in a six
Type classy on the wrist, every bit of 30 karats
This is, not a game, this is not why I came
May these words find a spot on your brain and burn
Then I recycle my life, I shall return - It’s Like That

Classic Hov verses right there

 

[XannyWarbucks]

Was 98 the best overall year for hip-hop?

I know some would say 94' but it feels like everyone was selling albums and making bread in 98'.

 

[Playaz Eyez]

One of the best commercial rap albums ever.

Was 98 the best overall year for hip-hop?

I know some would say 94' but it feels like everyone was selling albums and making bread in 98'.

94, 96, 98, and 2005 or GOAT rap years to me. Every year after those are pretty much a blur, especially post-2010 with so many mixtapes, etc dropping.

 

[Wacky D]

Was 98 the best overall year for hip-hop?

I know some would say 94' but it feels like everyone was selling albums and making bread in 98'.

NO.

but '97 thru 2000 was the boom period for sales.​

Sold more than RD.... and it has some of Jay's best work... where vol 2 has only one real Jay song(it's like that).

it also has some of his worst work.
people forget, he was supposed to take over with volume 1, but he fell on his face.

of course it sold more than RD.
RD was a debut under an indie deal and was str8 street.
by vol 1, he was an established name and his album was blatantly commercially-charged, and was pushed by def jam.

 

[Newark88]

Was 98 the best overall year for hip-hop?

I know some would say 94' but it feels like everyone was selling albums and making bread in 98'.

As far as a mainstream standpoint, yes

 

[Danie84]

I probably make more money off yo album than you

 

[nieman]

No one will ever deny the impact the album had, and everyone had this album (I didn't) and it bumped that entire 4th quarter. To me, it was the first true compilation album, the one that became the template for the albums for the next 3-4 years. Even at the time, it was big because it was Jay, but then he became THE Jay-Z during this album. However, people have turned against it because no one revisits it ever. No one even talks about. Like most of his albums, it's a hit album of the time, checking all of the boxes, but not really timeless.

I'm not a Jay-Z fan, so there's no way I'd buy his album, but most of the songs I didn't like. It has a lot of bullshyt on there. Take a hit like Ninja What, Ninja Who or Can I get A, matter of fact anything with Amil outside of You, Me, Him with no her When was the last time you actually heard those song? And it was everywhere at the time. The album is overrated.

 

[DarkmanX]

and as far as the X vs Jay debate for 98.......Jay had the streets, DMX had the white folks. I remember nikkas calling X Crack Man X almost immediately once Its Dark dropped.....nikkas knew he was on that shyt.....not in Montreal but in Mount Vernon everyone knew what time it was with X

Jay represented a higher frequency to dudes.....straight hustling, no dumb shyt. X was a bummy, wild-out type dude.....so of course white america loved him. the streets werent gonna show too much love to a nikka smoking that shyt

I may be biased but this is literally the 1st time hearing this EVER!
Jay had the streets & X the white folks?

Doesnt add up. What does his crack habbit have to do with ppl fukking with his music & him as a person?

I believe Jay had more white folks. Why? Mostly because of "Hard Knock Life". It sampled Annie, which every white person seems to be familiar with. And that is part of why it blew up. So Jay got a more national promotion because of that song.

X was straight raw no cut. Couldnt even get the nikka to censor his shyt and he repped for the hungry nikkas. Like Irv said, how many nikkas like Jay (image wise) are there out there? Theres more of X than Jay.

What Jay rapped about (money, cash, hoes & being flashy) is what made nikkas root for X and x Mase & Puff out.

Aint no way X was for white folks and Jay for the streets.

 

[Methodical]

Yes, This album helped him successful and breakthrough.

I always felt like this is more like the Compilation album than Jay-Z's solo album cause he only has 3 solo tracks on this album.

 

[Cladyclad]

Classic

 

[Preach Jackson]

I never understood how some ppl felt that Vol.2 didn't age well. Even though it's somewhat a time capsule of that entire period of hip-hop, it had alot of dope tracks on it. It was also my first introduction to Jay Z. My parents were always bumping it around me so it's around the time I really started to really like rap music.

The Intro which Bleek killed
Ride Or Die
If I should Die
It's like That
A week ago
Reservior Dogs
Coming Of Age 2
nikka What, nikka Who
Can I Get
Hard Knock Life (even though it got worn out quickly, it's an iconic song that introduced Jay to the masses and white America).

I don't get how this can't be labeled a classic. Yeah it's not as good as Reasonable Doubt and Vol.1 has more highs but Vol. 2 as a whole is better than Vol.1.

This

 

[smokeurobinson]

Was 98 the best overall year for hip-hop?

I know some would say 94' but it feels like everyone was selling albums and making bread in 98'.

Sheek refered to 98 as the year of the collabos. Thats when everybody started doing somgs with everybody.

R Kelly had Cam and Jay Z on the same song as if they were equals that year.

 

[XannyWarbucks]

Sheek refered to 98 as the year of the collabos. Thats when everybody started doing somgs with everybody.

R Kelly had Cam and Jay Z on the same song as if they were equals that year.

That's what I mean. There were collabs on the east and west and everybody was eating that year. shyt, not even in hip-hop, just, in general, it felt like everyone in every genre ate well that year.

 

[Wacky D]

No one will ever deny the impact the album had, and everyone had this album (I didn't) and it bumped that entire 4th quarter. To me, it was the first true compilation album, the one that became the template for the albums for the next 3-4 years..

nah

that was no limit's template.

no limit laid it down. jay-z followed.

R Kelly had Cam and Jay Z on the same song as if they were equals that year.

by the time the song came out, they weren't.

but im sure it was recorded before volume 2 blew up.​

 

[OHSNAP!]

Y'all nikkas got terrible taste

Intro and tracks 6-9 (feature DMX, Too Short, Bleek, Ja/Amil) are hot, everything else is mediocre at best