grYmes
The price of a brick goin up…
Ok y’all, I think I got it broke down... Jay has had many transformations in his 20 plus years on the scene. As he got older we’ve seen these incarnations set trends & make enemies. Create unintentional comedy & classic music. These are all my humble opinions. It’s a semi-serious send up, as I leave it to my ABW kinfolk to bring the laughs.
“In My Lifetime” era Jay (95’-97’)
Whole lotta Mafioso imagery & Alfredo raps. This despite the Italians clear hate of the black man. The hungriest of Jay-Z. We talking Jaz on the subway at 3 AM lookin desperate stomach rumblings. He’s certainly a name, but Biggie co-sign aside not THE name in hip hop yet. Came into the game guns blazing tho. RD & Vol 1. a great 1-2 punch to start a discography. Not too many rappers accents are like this anymore.
“The Dynasty” Jay (98’-00’)
Commercially he’s broken through with classic club hits/street anthems. All without sacrificing his ability on the mic for the most part. Biggie swag & rhymes a plenty to be bitten. The Roc roster also begins to build up at this point. Dame Dash pops all the goddamn bottles in the videos. Whole lotta Diamond Dallas Page gimmick infringement going on here. Oh yea, Jay stabbed Lance Rivera during this time... but we not supposed to remember that.
“Blueprint” Jay (01’-02’)
The literal blueprint for the rest of Jay personal/professional life is here. The classic that is The Blueprint & the genesis of Kanye. “The Takeover” & subsequent beef with Nas & Prodigy. The Summerjam Screen. The first Jay/Beyoncé collab. The condoms in the baby seat. The Gift and the Curse. This is low key my favorite Jay-Z era.
The “Fade to Black” Jay (03’-05’)
This era brought us the first highly publicized “retirement” in hip hop. Don’t think a shit ton of people believed he was out the game but The Black Album was a great send off had it been it. Whole lot of pretenders wearing button ups & Yankee hats were spawned. This era ushers in Jay’s Def Jam presidency. The Carter Administration was successful or a mixed bag depending on who you ask. Rihanna & Ne-Yo hit it big but Roc-aFella as a label dies a slow death (Kanye being the exception). When Jay gets bored he spends days jumping from remix to remix riding the wave of artists trying to mimic his great accent. Letting us know the comeback would be inevitable.
“Wearing the 4-5/96 Bulls” Jay
You watch basketball? Remember when Jordan came back in 95’ wearing 45? That was Kingdom Come. That was Cam’Ron calling Jay all sorts of Joe Camels. Shots from many a rapper trying to fill the void in his absence. Of course tho, the down period wouldn’t last long. American Gangster is that ‘96 Bulls Jordan that let niggas know he still got it. 2007 was a hybrid of “In My Lifetime” & “Blueprint” Jay to form a dangerous businessman/subliminal diss creature. We would see glimpses of this the next 13 years but never as good as this period ever since.
Five down, five to go.
“In My Lifetime” era Jay (95’-97’)
Whole lotta Mafioso imagery & Alfredo raps. This despite the Italians clear hate of the black man. The hungriest of Jay-Z. We talking Jaz on the subway at 3 AM lookin desperate stomach rumblings. He’s certainly a name, but Biggie co-sign aside not THE name in hip hop yet. Came into the game guns blazing tho. RD & Vol 1. a great 1-2 punch to start a discography. Not too many rappers accents are like this anymore.
“The Dynasty” Jay (98’-00’)
Commercially he’s broken through with classic club hits/street anthems. All without sacrificing his ability on the mic for the most part. Biggie swag & rhymes a plenty to be bitten. The Roc roster also begins to build up at this point. Dame Dash pops all the goddamn bottles in the videos. Whole lotta Diamond Dallas Page gimmick infringement going on here. Oh yea, Jay stabbed Lance Rivera during this time... but we not supposed to remember that.
“Blueprint” Jay (01’-02’)
The literal blueprint for the rest of Jay personal/professional life is here. The classic that is The Blueprint & the genesis of Kanye. “The Takeover” & subsequent beef with Nas & Prodigy. The Summerjam Screen. The first Jay/Beyoncé collab. The condoms in the baby seat. The Gift and the Curse. This is low key my favorite Jay-Z era.
The “Fade to Black” Jay (03’-05’)
This era brought us the first highly publicized “retirement” in hip hop. Don’t think a shit ton of people believed he was out the game but The Black Album was a great send off had it been it. Whole lot of pretenders wearing button ups & Yankee hats were spawned. This era ushers in Jay’s Def Jam presidency. The Carter Administration was successful or a mixed bag depending on who you ask. Rihanna & Ne-Yo hit it big but Roc-aFella as a label dies a slow death (Kanye being the exception). When Jay gets bored he spends days jumping from remix to remix riding the wave of artists trying to mimic his great accent. Letting us know the comeback would be inevitable.
“Wearing the 4-5/96 Bulls” Jay
You watch basketball? Remember when Jordan came back in 95’ wearing 45? That was Kingdom Come. That was Cam’Ron calling Jay all sorts of Joe Camels. Shots from many a rapper trying to fill the void in his absence. Of course tho, the down period wouldn’t last long. American Gangster is that ‘96 Bulls Jordan that let niggas know he still got it. 2007 was a hybrid of “In My Lifetime” & “Blueprint” Jay to form a dangerous businessman/subliminal diss creature. We would see glimpses of this the next 13 years but never as good as this period ever since.
Five down, five to go.
