 
|
|
|
 |
Photos From Jay-Z's Farewell Show
|
|
 |
Photos From The Interview
|
|
 |
Photos From Jay's Career
|
|
|
Browse Bands by Name
|
|
Or enter a band name below to search:
|
 Bands Main
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jay-Z's skills have been a gift and a curse: He's been so consistent over the past seven years, people expect a classic LP every time he drops an album. While Jay is not perfect all the time, fans and critics will tell you he certainly comes close in most of his efforts.
But what does Hov think? After years of having his music dissected and scrutinized, we finally let the Jiggaman rate his own albums, on a scale of 1-5. Here's what he had to say ...
Reasonable Doubt (1996): 5
"I had my whole life to make that. That's my favorite. It's gonna always be my favorite because it's the first."
In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1997): 4.5
"I love Volume 1. I just did it wrong. I shot [videos for] the wrong singles. I had 'Where I'm From,' 'Streets Is Watching,' 'Imaginary Player,' I just went about it wrong. I'm thinking with two different records I would've killed that."
"Streets Is Watching" soundtrack (1998): 4
"We did the 'Streets Is Watching' movie because we just wanted to give people a background on Roc-A-Fella, how it got started, the type of people that we are. We was in the middle ground. Everybody on the underground knew what we was about. On the commercial level they didn't really know what Roc-A-Fella was about. That was the inspiration for the movie and soundtrack."
Vol. 2 ... Hard Knock Life (1998): 5
"I love Volume 2. That's my biggest album ever. I was just in a zone. Everything was just poppin.' "
Vol. 3 ...The Life and Times of S. Carter (1999): 4
"Very solid. It's a more mature album. It's a little deeper than 'Money, Cash, Hoes' and a little deeper than 'Jigga What.' It's dealing with real issues."
The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2000): 4
"I talked about my life within that year. All the things that happened to me and the way people reacted to me, just off hearsay and off assumption. That album is so strong, so powerful."
The Blueprint (2001): 5
"The Blueprint was that foundation and everything was that one theme and it was sewed together. It's the blueprint of my life, the things that made me the way I am, that shaped me. It's all my beliefs and ideas. There's also a blueprint for rappers in this business."
The Best of Both Worlds (2002): 4
"One feeling that I have when I think about the album is blown opportunity. The whole reason the album came together was to do something creative that nobody really done before. Let's bring these two genres of music together and make something really crazy and let's go on tour and make history."
The Blueprint 2/2.1: The Gift and the Curse (2002): 3.5
"I'mma give that the lowest [rating]. Too many songs."
The Black Album (2003): 5
"My most introspective album."
— by Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Curtis Waller and MTV News staff
 Back to main (Jay-Z: What More Can I Say)
|
|
|
|
Photo: Roc-A-Fella
|
|
|
|
|
