“1 million 2 million 3 million 20 million. And, as most of you have heard, his latest album “Magna Carta Holy Grail” really is quite pathetic in terms of hip hop standards. The Blueprint 3, although highly marketed, was just ehh as well. “Kingdom Come” was great for any average rapper but pretty bad by Jay Z standards, and “American Gangster” wasn’t much better. Some said the retirement was a publicity stunt, because 3 years later he was back, with arguably his worst album yet. It was a perfect ending to a short but near perfect career. Mainstream appeal, but not the pop-rap music that we see so much today. Another Billboard #1 album, and my personal favorite. Titled “The Black Album”, it was a bonafide hit. He was going to go out with a bang though, releasing one final album to cap off his legendary career. He was sick of music and was done for good. By 2003, Jay had conquered the rap game and was making moves outside of music, mainly with his clothing line Rocawear (where he made a ton of his money, by the way) and through other investments. Then “The Blueprint 2” which wasn’t considered the same classic as its predecessor but still a solid record. After that came “The Blueprint”, arguably the greatest hip hop album of all time. Taking a sample from the musical “Annie”, the song “Hard Knock Life” off his 3rd album was an instant hit. Even his debut studio album titled “Reasonable Doubt” released in 1996, although seen as a masterpiece today, didn’t go platinum until a few years after it released.Īfter Reasonable Doubt was Volume 1, but the turning point was Volume 2. It wasn’t until the shift of rap to a more hardcore style that allowed Jay Z flourish. He tried to get into rapping in the late 80s but wasn’t all that special (Check out Hawaiian Sophie if you don’t believe me, its pretty hilarious as Jay makes a cameo). Contrary to what he would have you believe, he wasn’t busy selling drugs either (I’ll save that for another time, though). In fact, he didn’t release his first album until the age of 26. Born and raised in the Marcy projects of Brooklyn, NY, young Shawn Carter wasn’t a rapping prodigy from a young age like one would think.
Anyways, today’s topic is going back to focus on the artist that is the richest, the most famous, and probably the best rap artist alive (some would argue the best dead or alive), the one and only… Sean Carter! Also known as HOV, or the God MC, or to most of you guys, Jay-Z. I was thinking of writing my paradigm shift paper on how hip hop has changed, but I feel like I’ve written enough (possibly too much) about hip hop in this blog.