Why do cats like Jay Z still make commercial pop singles?

[TLR Is Mental Poison]

Most important thing is money.

Word? Would you kill for money? Betray your family for money? Have sex w/another man for money?

And Jay is beyond worrying about money. Rap money is a drop in the bucket to a half a billion dollars, and in any case fans will buy his shyt regardless of how good or bad it is. He cried about having to "dumb down his audience to double his dollars" (thats nikkas like you paying to suck dude's dikk) 11 years ago... 11 years and hundreds of millions of dollars later, he's still making dumbed down disc. He had a little spark with AG, but thats a 1 decent album every 10 year average

You don't have to listen to Jay's music ask why he cried about having to sell out to make money, and is still making watered down music after making money

 

[Real]

Word? Would you kill for money? Betray your family for money? Have sex w/another man for money?

And Jay is beyond worrying about money. Rap money is a drop in the bucket to a half a billion dollars, and in any case fans will buy his shyt regardless of how good or bad it is. He cried about having to "dumb down his audience to double his dollars" (thats nikkas like you paying to suck dude's dikk) 11 years ago... 11 years and hundreds of millions of dollars later, he's still making dumbed down disc. He had a little spark with AG, but thats a 1 decent album every 10 year average :ahh:

You don't have to listen to Jay's music ask why he cried about having to sell out to make money, and is still making watered down music after making money

 

[TLR Is Mental Poison]

Bullshyt. Some of his best songs are the ones where he's surprisingly introspective. He could sit there and record a bunch of songs like Regrets, You Must Love Me, Where Have You Been, etc. but it flies over your head. He records songs like that on damn near every album. If you're opting to ignore that and instead bytch about the other songs, that's on you.

Lol @ naming songs from 15 yrs ago. We talkin about Jay now. Minority Report Ghetto Techno Jay.

The problem you guys have with Jay-Z is that for someone who has the kind of power, influence and presence, he doesn't go out of his way to take major risks with his music, opting to remain consistent to what he knows works. It frustrates y'all that he's unwilling to reach the pinnacle of his profession and then once he's there turn into Professor Griff.

The "problem" I have with dude is he is too talented to be dropping such weak discs in the twilight of his career. I mean I know you get your whole life to make your first disc, but you can't cry about not getting the props you feel you deserve and not make the music that would warrant it

What makes this very hypocritical is that these same people that want Jay-Z to be more cutting edge than what he is criticize Kanye West til kingdom come because he's all over the map with his ideas (and most of the time his ideas turn out to work well and it adds something to hip-hop)

Well you can take that up w/those folks specifically. I liked 808s and salute Ye for pushing the boundaries, even when it doesn't work (the wild overproduction of MBDTF). Better to have tried and failed, than to cry about playing it safe and not being heralded as a risk taker

 

[TLR Is Mental Poison]

Youre right, Black Album was good too. So 2 out of 5. Def worthy of being called the best rapper alive. Its not like there are people more consistent on free mixtapes

 

[Champion]

Its crazy how individuals who will probably never have the success of some of these artists feel the need to critique and meticulously pick apart the decisions they have made throughout their careers.
Jay-Z is winning right now and has been for 2 decades . I think he will be alright and had a valid reason for choosing those songs.

 

[Real]

Youre right, Black Album was good too. So 2 out of 5. Def worthy of being called the best rapper alive. Its not like there are people more consistent on free mixtapes

Good thing your opinion is in the minority

 

[CrimsonTider]

Word? Would you kill for money? Betray your family for money? Have sex w/another man for money?

And Jay is beyond worrying about money. Rap money is a drop in the bucket to a half a billion dollars, and in any case fans will buy his shyt regardless of how good or bad it is. He cried about having to "dumb down his audience to double his dollars" (thats nikkas like you paying to suck dude's dikk) 11 years ago... 11 years and hundreds of millions of dollars later, he's still making dumbed down disc. He had a little spark with AG, but thats a 1 decent album every 10 year average

You don't have to listen to Jay's music ask why he cried about having to sell out to make money, and is still making watered down music after making money

So your problem is that Jay z is not making music that is not to your standards that you set for him?

 

[Still Benefited]

and we gon act like Lost Ones wuznt a classic record...one of his best singles ever in my mind....jay rappin about pain would be fake when he don't seem to take losses....Nas last album wuz the first album from him since Godson that didn't seem forced becuz it wuz real life and shyt he actually cared about...unlike sum of u we ain't all impressed to see a nikka rap about the dangers of fried chicken if it sounds forced as shyt...I don't wanna hear another fake song like Minority report...or rap about pain and guilt from sellin drugs 20 years ago...if he's outta shyt to talk about and can't make it sound good id rather him retire.

 

[the cac mamba]

makin pop records>>>>makin underground 'real' joints

bein jay>>> bein nas

now nas>>>>jay but at this thread

 

[tremonthustler1]

Lol @ naming songs from 15 yrs ago. We talkin about Jay now. Minority Report Ghetto Techno Jay.

Beach Chair, Do You Wanna Ride, I Know, Fallin', Lost Ones, American Dreamin', even songs like A Star Is Born, New Day and Young Forever to a degree. That a little more recent for you?

The "problem" I have with dude is he is too talented to be dropping such weak discs in the twilight of his career. I mean I know you get your whole life to make your first disc, but you can't cry about not getting the props you feel you deserve and not make the music that would warrant it

The funny thing is that the line you're using as a crutch was something he said in 2003. Fast forward to 2011 and he's the Illest Motherfukker Alive. It doesn't even sound like he's bytching much about his place in music. He feels now like he's solidified that to the point where he revels in self-indulgence, thus, making the music he wants to make.

Well you can take that up w/those folks specifically. I liked 808s and salute Ye for pushing the boundaries, even when it doesn't work (the wild overproduction of MBDTF). Better to have tried and failed, than to cry about playing it safe and not being heralded as a risk taker

I think fans complain about it more than he does. Looking back on music, there aren't a lot of artists that at their zenith completely go left field from their comfort zone and succeed. In saying that, how far left do people want Jay-Z to go musically? From the looks of it, it just seems like people want Jay-Z to do music he already made but fits better with that fan's particular comfort zone.

 

[just my thoughts]

Bullshyt. Some of his best songs are the ones where he's surprisingly introspective. He could sit there and record a bunch of songs like Regrets, You Must Love Me, Where Have You Been, etc. but it flies over your head. He records songs like that on damn near every album. If you're opting to ignore that and instead bytch about the other songs, that's on you.


The problem you guys have with Jay-Z is that for someone who has the kind of power, influence and presence, he doesn't go out of his way to take major risks with his music, opting to remain consistent to what he knows works. It frustrates y'all that he's unwilling to reach the pinnacle of his profession and then once he's there turn into Professor Griff.

What makes this very hypocritical is that these same people that want Jay-Z to be more cutting edge than what he is criticize Kanye West til kingdom come because he's all over the map with his ideas (and most of the time his ideas turn out to work well and it adds something to hip-hop)

Why do people tell this lie? They act like his music is some coded message only a few scholars can decipher

 

[tremonthustler1]

Why do people tell this lie? They act like his music is some coded message only a few scholars can decipher

The point is that he's making this music people are allegedly fiending for him to make and people either aren't paying attention or pretend it doesn't exist, case in point...

Cant make anything else

 

[Reggie]

Jay ain't living the lifesyle conductive to making street shyt anymore. He gave us that with American Gangster and i think that's all we can expect. It would be hard for me to listen to a 40 plus year old man who is proly worth half a billion dollars to be rapping bout the street life still. It just wouldn't feel organic. This guy hanging with Warren Buffet and Oprah. Jigga know what songs got him that corporate money and which ones got him his LOYAL fanbase. And we know he love that dough. It's like a drug kingpin. Has money to last for generations but they can't stop cuz dey addicted to that money. Just like Jay is rich as shyt but he gonna keep doing he music that got him his riches.

 

[up in here]

truthfully, Jay's new music kinda bores me personally but I understand why he does it. He likes to appeal to that festival/stadium crowd. He likes being the hip-hop representation for people who dont really like hip-hop as a whole, and thats just fine to me. He has given us enough material from his early career for me to be satisfied with his input for hip-hop.

He still one of the best to ever do it and if he does come back and drop something dope I will bump it, but if he comes back and drops something popish I wont bump it but someone will. He wont lose any sleep if I dont like his new shyt. I will still bump his older material cause I enjoy it.

 

[BREAD N BUTTERZ]

as much as it me..... nikkaz have to accept jay has lost touch with his real fanbase......

the man who brought the suburbs to the hood is

as a bed-stuy nicca i find my self nowadayz listening to jay and saying "who is this guy" or "will the real jay z come back"

everyone changes but its still just sad to see him so disconnected to what he use to stand for and how much i could relate to him.

he is more concerned to relate to gwyneth types than us anymore