Questlove gives his thoughts on Vol 1, Hov responds

[Duwop]

That was a crazy year for hip hop, and like Jay said... It wasn't what it could have been.... At the time.

It holds up well, and had some crazy classic tracks....

But that was a monster year for hip hop, and at the time it wasnt gonna get the shine due to the field alone....

 

[mryounggun]

If y'all don't cut it out, this album was bad in 97 and it's bad in 2022

Here's the track list. What are the 'bad' songs. Let's talk about it:

Intro / A Million And One Questions / Rhyme No More
The City Is Mine
I Know What Girls Like
Imaginary Player
Streets Is Watching
Friend Or Foe '98
Lucky Me
(Always Be My) Sunshine
Who You Wit II
Face Off
Real Niggaz
Rap Game/Crack Game
Where I'm From
You Must Love Me

 

[mryounggun]

Also...

Vol 2. > Vol. 1 > Vol. 3

 

[Playmaker88]

Played it to death i always dug it

 

[dodge]

Intro/million one questions
Face Off
City is mine
Who you with (both phone intro and outro)
Imaginary Players
Streets Is Watching
Friend or foe 98
Always be my sunshine (could still do without…and no outro)
Real Niggaz
Rap game/crack game
Where I’m from
Lucky me or you must love me as the final tracks

This segue would’ve been better IMO…it’s not even the tracks you can just tell the execs ain’t put it together as good as his more standout albums

 

[Old Man Cain]

I didn't like the following because the beats was ass.....


The City is Mine
I know what girls like
Lucky Me
Sunshine
You must love me

Jay bars was perfect but those songs always got the skip treatment.

 

[RozayTabernacle]

Wild that the Vol Trilogy isn't really spoken about in Jay's career, at least from what I've noticed. Basically goes: Reasonable Doubt -> Hard Knock Life song -> La Familia/Blueprint era

 

[Lion_Heart]

When Volume 1 first came out I liked it better than Reasonable Doubt. Jay just seemed to flow better on the album.

 

[southsil4lil]

Niggas is bugging. Vol 1 is fire. I know what girls like is the only wack song. Some of jays best songs are on this album. Some of you can’t be serious

Facts

 

[The Lonious Monk]

I didn't like the following because the beats was ass.....


The City is Mine
I know what girls like
Lucky Me
Sunshine
You must love me

Jay bars was perfect but those songs always got the skip treatment.

You thought The City is Mine is wack? I like the song and beat.

 

[Old Man Cain]

You thought The City is Mine is wack? I like the song and beat.

The beat was the issue never cared for the original sample to be in a hip-hop song.

 

[konceptjones]

That Sunshine songs sounds horrible, i dont remember that song at all.

I literally wrote the album off because of Sunshine. That was the first joint dropped and I was like "This the same dude that made Dead Presidents??? Nah, homie done fell off already"

It wasn't until I saw that "Streets Is Watching" LFV/Movie that I decided to give Vol1 a run. Shit ended up being my favorite Jay Z album by far.

 

[Natural Born Sinners]

By Hov saying that he knows what it coulda been, followed by "streets is watching" being the 1st song made. Kinda tells me he wished he had stuck to that direction and not try to mimic the bad boy sound of the time. It is what it is, he obviously learned from that album and eventually mastered how to balance the commercial and street records. Which is how he maintained longevity and became the legend he is today

 

[Natural Born Sinners]

Vol. 1 is easily the best album in the series. The other two are not even close IMO.

Volume two is better. Wayyy better actually. Higher highs and higher lows. Even the guest appearances. Volume 1 ain't got a presence like DMX on Money, Cash, Hoes. The Mase diss on ride or die. The title song became an anthem, not just a song. Nigga who, nigga what, had such a futuristic and advanced sound for that time

 

[Natural Born Sinners]

I literally wrote the album off because of Sunshine. That was the first joint dropped and I was like "This the same dude that made Dead Presidents??? Nah, homie done fell off already"

It wasn't until I saw that "Streets Is Watching" LFV/Movie that I decided to give Vol1 a run. Shit ended up being my favorite Jay Z album by far.

So I live in CT. But one of best friends at the time lived in NYC and this dude was a jigga warrior before being a jigga warrior was a well known thing. Dude brought the "streets is watching" VHS down to CT and I thought Jay was "cool". Then volume two dropped and I was like "ohhh, this what my boy was hyped up about"

 

[konceptjones]

So I live in CT. But one of best friends at the time lived in NYC and this dude was a jigga warrior before being a jigga warrior was a well known thing. Dude brought the "streets is watching" VHS down to CT and I thought Jay was "cool". Then volume two dropped and I was like "ohhh, this what my boy was hyped up about"

Bruh, the videos for Imaginary Player, Face Off, and Streets Is Watching from that videotape was all I needed to be like "Ok... maybe I was wrong here".

 

[nex gin]

Yeah Vol 1 wasn't that bad at all...aside from a couple of the obvious/questionable songs. Imaginary players, Where I'm from and You must love me are some of my favorite Jay joints. You must love me still tugs at a niggas heart strings whenever I hear it.

 

[Mr.LV]

Volume two is better. Wayyy better actually. Higher highs and higher lows. Even the guest appearances. Volume 1 ain't got a presence like DMX on Money, Cash, Hoes. The Mase diss on ride or die. The title song became an anthem, not just a song. Nigga who, nigga what, had such a futuristic and advanced sound for that time

Volume 2 is a top 3 or 4 album in Jay-Z discography.