Faith Restoration
I'm glad I waited to write this post on Jay. I just heard a Hot 97 rhyme-drop that Jay spit on Flex's show that made me feel like he might end up being on of the most important black men in Anerican history. Which is good, because as recent as yesterday, while blackin out to "Show Me What You Got" over my nigga Rek's crib shootin Jim Beam and chasin with some ice cold Katrinas (that's what we call Hurricanes)...anyways, while buggin to Just Blaze's performance on "Show Me" I couldnt help the disdain I felt for Jay-Z and his recent American-Joe pandering with his Budweiser commercials and music videos where he ruins one of the dopest hip-hop tracks with a soft, cornier than cornball, slew-foot-shuffling handshake with Jeff Gordon and Danica Patrick, as if that profound track says NASCAR or Formula One at all. Despicable.
I mean, when I heard the track and Jay was tellin listeners "hands up, now wave! wave! wave!" The grown-nigga Twist would throw my arms up and wave...but in a Hip-Hop Hooray kinda way, a neighborhood way, a real way...like the way I'd wave at a KRS concert. But then this clown Jay-Z is in his video waving like a Miss America pageant winner. You serious? I wanted to take his life.
Look, I don't mind hip-hop diversifying. And I understand it's now an American cultural phenomenon..naa, scratch that, an international cultural phenomenon...but I hate when people overtly pander for wider acceptance. What Jay did was about as disgustingly commercial as you can get. But what upset me the most was that it was associated with "Show Me"...if the song had been something like "Give It To Me" or "That Nigga Jigga" (I dont even know if those are the names of the songs) i wouldnt have cared one way or the other. But after a 2 year layoff, to come back with a song so triumphant and next-level like "Show Me", Jay could have really gotten real gangsta with a real hop-to-the-core video. I mean, the last videos we saw were "99 Problems", "Encore" and "Public Service Announcement", all those joints were straight-hop. So I'm figuring dude is gonna definitely hit us with a similar joint to bolster the dope song.
...but this dude goes and starts kissin NASCAR a$$ and ruining a true-hop body-move (the wave) by turning it in to some whimsical, gay, twinkle-in-my-eye gesture. The throw-up in my mouth tasted so horrible.
And I ride with Jay...I really do. We all rode with dude back in 1996 with Reasonable Doubt...but as soon as the following year, when his first single to his new album was with Foxy and Babyface and he's wearin some wack suit and standing awkwardly behind Foxy as she rubs that fat rear on his crotch...as soon as that happened, a lot of real-dudes and true-hop fans started jumpin ship. Not me though...I argued incessantly with my judgemental, hop-protector friends non-stop. Defended this dude all the time. At the end of the day, I thought he was dope and forgave a lot of his overt trespasses as he chased popularity.
Then Blueprint came and I stopped needing to do that, which all culminated with the Black Album where even his harshest critics finally gave dude his due. The point is, Jay has stooped to some corny lows over the years and I was never like, "Dude, I'm through with you." But thats the point I was at with his Budweiser-Nascar stunt he pulled.
But then I heard this joint: http://www.allhiphop.com/player/default.asp?id=jay-z-live_at_hot_97.mp3&track=HOT%2097%20Freestyle&artist=Jay-Z
Not only is Jay emceeing at a profoundly supreme level, but his message is not only powerful, but responsible in a way that makes you appreciate that he's the most powerful man in hophop and gives you the idea that he appreciates that, too. He's kickin it about the trials of being that dude and how the combative forces are at his neck, he's tellin youngsters to forget diamonds and buy land. There is an empowering spirit there.
Look, no one will ever be Russell Simmons. Russ is an American icon and the reason for hiphop. And he continues to trailblaze and offer opportunities and educate and all that. Russ is THAT nigga. Jay is reaching that level, though. He runs the most powerful label in hiphop, he's doin humanitarian things like Russ...all that. But what gives Jay even more leverage than Russ is that he's an artist. Russ could only approach things from a biz standpoint. Jay can do that -- and seems to have the acumen for it -- but he can also inspire throough his music. thats HUGE. plus, Jay is a trendsetter in his own right. Russ could produce and offer trendsetters a platform, but Jay can do that AND set trends himself, since he is a cultural personality and phenomenon in his own right.
I'm gonna allow Jay that NASCAR gaff. I'm just gonna bite my lip when I see his budweiser commercial during NFL games, because this freestyle just restored some faith that dude is on the grind and 'bout it (uhhhh). I'm back on the ship.
I mean, when I heard the track and Jay was tellin listeners "hands up, now wave! wave! wave!" The grown-nigga Twist would throw my arms up and wave...but in a Hip-Hop Hooray kinda way, a neighborhood way, a real way...like the way I'd wave at a KRS concert. But then this clown Jay-Z is in his video waving like a Miss America pageant winner. You serious? I wanted to take his life.
Look, I don't mind hip-hop diversifying. And I understand it's now an American cultural phenomenon..naa, scratch that, an international cultural phenomenon...but I hate when people overtly pander for wider acceptance. What Jay did was about as disgustingly commercial as you can get. But what upset me the most was that it was associated with "Show Me"...if the song had been something like "Give It To Me" or "That Nigga Jigga" (I dont even know if those are the names of the songs) i wouldnt have cared one way or the other. But after a 2 year layoff, to come back with a song so triumphant and next-level like "Show Me", Jay could have really gotten real gangsta with a real hop-to-the-core video. I mean, the last videos we saw were "99 Problems", "Encore" and "Public Service Announcement", all those joints were straight-hop. So I'm figuring dude is gonna definitely hit us with a similar joint to bolster the dope song.
...but this dude goes and starts kissin NASCAR a$$ and ruining a true-hop body-move (the wave) by turning it in to some whimsical, gay, twinkle-in-my-eye gesture. The throw-up in my mouth tasted so horrible.
And I ride with Jay...I really do. We all rode with dude back in 1996 with Reasonable Doubt...but as soon as the following year, when his first single to his new album was with Foxy and Babyface and he's wearin some wack suit and standing awkwardly behind Foxy as she rubs that fat rear on his crotch...as soon as that happened, a lot of real-dudes and true-hop fans started jumpin ship. Not me though...I argued incessantly with my judgemental, hop-protector friends non-stop. Defended this dude all the time. At the end of the day, I thought he was dope and forgave a lot of his overt trespasses as he chased popularity.
Then Blueprint came and I stopped needing to do that, which all culminated with the Black Album where even his harshest critics finally gave dude his due. The point is, Jay has stooped to some corny lows over the years and I was never like, "Dude, I'm through with you." But thats the point I was at with his Budweiser-Nascar stunt he pulled.
But then I heard this joint: http://www.allhiphop.com/player/default.asp?id=jay-z-live_at_hot_97.mp3&track=HOT%2097%20Freestyle&artist=Jay-Z
Not only is Jay emceeing at a profoundly supreme level, but his message is not only powerful, but responsible in a way that makes you appreciate that he's the most powerful man in hophop and gives you the idea that he appreciates that, too. He's kickin it about the trials of being that dude and how the combative forces are at his neck, he's tellin youngsters to forget diamonds and buy land. There is an empowering spirit there.
Look, no one will ever be Russell Simmons. Russ is an American icon and the reason for hiphop. And he continues to trailblaze and offer opportunities and educate and all that. Russ is THAT nigga. Jay is reaching that level, though. He runs the most powerful label in hiphop, he's doin humanitarian things like Russ...all that. But what gives Jay even more leverage than Russ is that he's an artist. Russ could only approach things from a biz standpoint. Jay can do that -- and seems to have the acumen for it -- but he can also inspire throough his music. thats HUGE. plus, Jay is a trendsetter in his own right. Russ could produce and offer trendsetters a platform, but Jay can do that AND set trends himself, since he is a cultural personality and phenomenon in his own right.
I'm gonna allow Jay that NASCAR gaff. I'm just gonna bite my lip when I see his budweiser commercial during NFL games, because this freestyle just restored some faith that dude is on the grind and 'bout it (uhhhh). I'm back on the ship.
posted by Twistinado @ 3:42 PM
1 Comments:
At 11:50 AM,
Anonymous said…
He is just a figure head at Def Jam. He is not doing anything at all. He is running Def Jam, and doing nothing with it. Who was the last Def Jam artist to drop an album...since Jay was running it. No, Nas album, we aint even get an LL album...and where are the new hot emcees that Def Jam is known for finding and bringing to the masses? He has done nothing with the label, dude is the exec. on the hotest debue in years (Lupe) but he not on Def Jam. Arguably the greatest of all time (Nas) is signed to the label, but since it happened we have not heard a sound from him. Instead, we get a new Jay album on the Roc, wtf.
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