Oh yeah. To this day I feel a just a tiny bit uneasy whenever I listen to a song by 50 because, you know, Muder Inc. for life.
Girls, Girls, Girls. The vocals that sound like Michael really are him and it's not a sample. He was there.
Also Slick Rick (according to Wikipedia anyway, but I assume it’s true, too lazy to check the booklet), like Tip and Biz credited in the liner notes, and Chante Moore, like Michael uncredited. It's one hell of a song in that regard.
For me personally, the top five is Blueprint, Black Album, 4:44, Reasonable Doubt and Vol. 2. Also, I got Kingdom Come when it was new by accident. I bought a used copy of Bobby by Bobby Brown for 2€ and when I opened it at home the Kingdom Come disc was in the case. I had listened two both in the store (remember that?) so I figured that is how it happened.
A classic. Think I like Black over Blue but still full of incredible songs. Gonna go: Black Blue RD American Gangster Vol 2 I guess
The thing with Jays album is he has some of the BEST singles in hip hop, but he surrounds them with a lot of average stuff on the albums.
To be fair that was the default for popular rappers for a long time. It wasn’t/isn’t an album genre. In that context Jay actually has quite a few albums that are good throughout.
I never remember much about the Black Album. Apart from 99 Problems, I never remember the songs and i've listened to it a good 3 or 4 times at this point. Need to sit down and have a proper listen at some point.
Looked at the track listing after I wrote that and said "oh yeah, Dirt Off Your Shoulder is on there too" haha
Reasonable Doubt is my favorite, but this is a close second. Black Album and American Gangster are also amazing
I never heard this album (aside from maybe a single or two here or there at a party in high school or a movie or something). Gonna spin this tomorrow. Edit: I think I’ve listened to one Jay-Z album in my life and i was in fifth grade and it was the edited version from Wal-Mart. Rap / hip hop has never really been my thing, but Jay-Z has REALLY never been my thing. For some reason I just always forget about him and never got around to checking his discography out.