It’s been an enormous week in the world of Jay-Z news and rumours. Wife Beyoncé giving birth to twins, reportedly named Shawn Jr. and Bea, obviously being the biggest news. There was also an adorable flurry of activity on Hov’s Twitter account, a succession of “I promise I’m not drunk” tweets shouting out seemingly every artist past and present in the rap game as well as finishing with a tribute to ‘the greatest rapper of all time’ Barack Obama, who also just inducted Hov into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (the first rapper in history to do so).
Nailing the ‘old person trying to use the Internet’ vibe was a humanising and funny addition to the recent scuttle of Jay-Z (hyphen newly and rightfully restored) news, which also included the announcement that all twelve albums in his discography have gone platinum. A truly remarkable feat.
Even here in Australia, music media lost it this week when Bluesfest hinted about a potential Jigga headline set for their 2018 event. “He is a beauty and it will be an absolute pleasure to bring him to Bluesfest. That only leaves around 99 artists to go”, teased Peter Noble.
And there’s the small matter of a new Jay-Z album coming on top of all that.
Its entire rollout process has been typically cryptic to say the least. Titled 4:44, it started with mysterious billboards popping up across the globe, then a trailer for a ‘Tidal movie’ (of course you already knew it was going to be Tidal exclusive) starring Lupita Nyong’o, Mahershala Ali and Danny Glover airing during the NBA finals.
Going the same route as other 21st century God-tier artists like Frank Ocean and wife Beyoncé, the new record is going to be a visual one.
4:44 will mark Jay-Z’s thirteenth studio album and his first since 2013’s absolutely tepid Magna Carta Holy Grail, an album made free for digital download for Samsung customers via the Jay-Z Magna Carta app, which is an utterly appalling sentence to attach to a record by one of the greatest rappers in history.
This was peak 2013 though, this version of Jay-Z a galaxy away from the gritty hustle of Reasonable Doubt, the coronation of The Blueprint and the euphoric celebration from atop the world with partner-in-crime Kanye West on Watch The Throne.
Magna Carta Holy Grail was billionaire businessman (no longer feeling like a business, man) Jay-Z, and it was palpable that he’d lost a step or two in the same way Kobe Bryant had. The pair mirrored each other somewhat, both hotheaded, swaggering upstarts in the 90s before conquering the game at the turn of the century, in 2013 finding themselves at the twilight of their respective careers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNlciK_2qCA
Magna Carta felt like what might have been a very anti-climactic ‘it’ for Jay-Z’s musical career. It barely played like a cohesive record, just a cheap and soullessly inorganic way to broaden the subscribership of Hov’s venture into music streaming, Tidal, and it’s easy to see why 4:44 might feel kind of the same. Its promotion has definitely been really similar, mysterious advertisements and this time with a partnership between Tidal and Sprint to boot because gross.
Look past the hamfisted marketing gimmicks though.
There’s been wild speculation around the title, Jay-Z’s known connection to the number 4 as well as a subtle nod to 44th President of the United States Barack Obama quickly being pointed out. It could be an Obama tribute album, “for 44” some have concluded. Given that Tweet from earlier in the week and Jay-Z and Beyonce’s close personal connection to the former President, it seems like almost a given that the album will at least touch on him at some point.
Then look at the actors starring in this Tidal movie. You’ve got two Oscar winners, Ali and Nyong’o (for Moonlight and 12 Years A Slave respectively), and the other is Danny fucking Glover. Three hugely important black actors starring on a visual album that might be centred around the first black president and soundtracked by one of the most successful black men of all time?
Don’t talk to me or my son again if you think this isn’t going to be must-see and hear.
The first snippet Adnis sheds just a little bit of light, a downtrodden sounding Hov almost mumbling “letter to my dad that I never wrote, speeches I prepared that I never spoke” while Ali goes to work on a boxing bag being held by Glover. We’ve not had a Jay-Z album since Obama left the Oval Office and was replaced by his polar opposite, Donald Trump. Ditto since the Black Lives Matter movement rightfully forced itself to the front of the global social consciousness. There will be plenty for Jay-Z to say on this album, and smart money says he won’t hold back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oLAtQ0YjwA
On the corner of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, not 15 minutes from where Shawn Carter spent his childhood in the Marcy Projects, is the house that he helped build: the Barclays Center. I’ve been lucky enough to have seen Jay-Z live once in my lifetime. It was his third concert in a series of eight to celebrate the grand opening of the arena in 2012,i and the relocation of its new occupants, the Nets, from New Jersey to Brooklyn. An NBA team Jay-Z had purchased a minority stake in and helped move to his hometown, he swaggered around the stage that night in a pair of custom made number 4 Nets jerseys, with “Brooklyn” splashed across the front of them and behind enough gold chains to finance an island nation. He looked like the undisputed King of New York City. The city was under new management.
The message was clear that night: here was a man who had clawed his way from being just another disenfranchised and disillusioned black kid in America to a billionaire and one of the most successful people in the world. This night was Jay-Z planting his flag at the top of Everest and the peak of both his artistic and professional careers. It was a shame to see him sell off his stake in the Nets just two years later and his entrepreneurial pursuits to clash so ungraciously with his music. The fire and determination that got him to the top seemed like they’d disappeared, replaced by a slick corporate sheen that felt completely wrong.
It’s why people might be right in suggesting it could be time to hang up the mic and focus on other ventures. Maybe Jay-Z is a better businessman than a rapper in 2017 and maybe 4:44 is the last we hear of Jay-Z the artist. If it is, expect it to be a swan song befitting of arguably the most prolific rapper to ever live and far and away the most successful. There’s no way he’d bow out on anything less… we all hope.
Nobody really remembers Kobe Bryant’s frankly godawful, injury-plagued final few seasons where he was a broken-down shell of his former self. What they do remember is him taking over one last time and lighting up the Staples Center for 60 points in his retirement game, going out on top. If 4:44 is Jay-Z’s 60 point game, we might be about to be hit with one of the best releases of the year.
Does the world need a new Jay-Z album? No, and it hasn’t for some time. But it seems like he’s got something much more important to say here than simply ‘subscribe to Tidal’, despite surface impressions. And if that’s the case, we should all be listening.
4:44 is out June 30th via Tidal.
Image: Flickr
Imagine if one year ago you were told that Frank Ocean would not only drop two albums, he’d start randomly releasing features and loosies at random for no reason. Seems pretty crazy, huh?
Sounds pretty crazy, right? Right. But Frank Ocean has now dropped his third song since releasing both Endless and Blonde last year. He’s just shared a new track titled Biking, featuring both Jay Z and Tyler, The Creator.
The song was announced a few hours earlier, when a trailer appeared online ahead of the third episode of Frank’s Blonded Radio on Apple’s Beats 1. As promised, the track premiered during the show.
This is a really beautiful song. It’s great to hear Hov on the intro, even if his verse is a little underwhelming. Meanwhile, Tyler’s verse is an absolute showstopper, and Frank’s melodies are sublime, backed by little more than piano and acoustic guitar throughout.
Back in February, Calvin Harris dropped a new song, Slide, featuring Frank Ocean and Migos. Frank then dropped his own new track, Chanel.
Edit: the link to Biking has been removed. However, you can listen to the whole radio program here, with Biking coming in at 1:35:25.
Edit 2: The official Odd Future Soundcloud has posted the track:
Listen to the full playlist from the latest Blonded Radio below.
Read more: Listen to Frank Ocean’s “Nikes” Pitched Down
While it may have come as an untimely celebration following Bey’s disappointing Album Of The Year loss at this year’s Grammys (awarded to Adele’s 25), DJ Khaled’s latest tune featuring hip-hop’s power couple Beyoncé and Jay Z is still an extremely welcome release.
Only half a year since the release of his ninth, and most successful studio album Major Key, Shining is already serving as a glimpse into his Khaled’s forthcoming album, Grateful. According to Jay’s engineer Young Guru, the track was actually recorded the night before The Grammy awards, presumably at the Carter household’s home studio.
Performing over a fast-paced, sub-bass and orchestral-driven instrumental, Shining is the first time we’ve heard the couple on the same track since back in 2013 and they don’t disappoint. Queen Bey flows similarly to the likes of her LEMONADE single Formation, half-rapping half-singing, she chants about winning in the industry for the last 20 years with nothing short of the highest level of bravado and grace. Khaled’s idiosyncratic ad-libs are obviously frustrating and monotonous throughout the entire track, but luckily they don’t diminish the talents of the couple on the track, including an entertaining verse from Jay Z.
Rapping about their recently announced twins in his signature ‘made it’ style that he pulls off so well, he even goes on to reignite the beef he and Drake have shared in the previous years. Subtly referencing him in numerous lines, it’s not exactly the meanest diss in hip-hop history, but it could certainly spark another feud between two of the genre’s most prominent figures. “I know you ain’t out here talkin’ numbers, right?/I know you ain’t out here talkin’ summers, right?/I know you ain’t walkin’ ’round talkin’ down/Sayin’ boss shit when you a runner, right?”.
It feels like a star-studded track of this nature should have made more of an impact, and while I’m not disappointed, I’m certainly not blown away either. What Shining has managed to achieve though is reigniting the rumours of that mysterious Jay/Bey collaboration album, and that is certainly something I’m not complaining about.
https://youtu.be/nD92-vOEUG8
Image: Digital Spy
Lemonade superstar Beyoncé has announced a new double project with husband Jay Z: twins!
The artist announced the news via Instagram, sharing an image of herself veiled in front of a backdrop of flowers, with her hands resting on her pregnant belly. The caption reads, “We would like to share our love and happiness. We have been blessed two times over. We are incredibly grateful that our family will be growing by two, and we thank you for your well wishes. – The Carters”
Beyoncé and Jay Z’s first child, Blue Ivy Carter, was born in 2012.
The pair have been incredibly busy of late, with Lemonade being the most acclaimed album of 2016. Just yesterday it was revealed that Jay Z has been in the studio with Zaytoven working on a new project, so we can only assume that we’ll hear a new track or two before he dives into daddy duties.
Image: Instagram
Billed as the final studio album of Jay Z, 13 years and 5 albums later, any retrospective of the The Black Album simply has to be examined through the lens of this clever marketing ploy.
Writing in 2017 as a member of a sophisticated consumer public who has lived through countless faux-John Farnham retirements, it’s difficult to imagine that people in 2003 genuinely believed that this would be Hova’s last album.
However both the public and critics alike might be forgiven for falling for such an obvious sales tactic given the seeming sincerity of the gesture. The album is littered with misty-eyed references to retirement and the closing chapter of the Jay Z story. On December 4th Jay Z tells his audience they may not truly know what they’ve got till it’s gone – “maybe you’ll love me when I fade to black.” The hook in Moment of Clarity cleverly links the titles of Jay Z’s prodigious body of work, noting his “Blueprint beginning to that Black Album ending.” The strangely melancholic Allure shows a rare vulnerability in the typically braggadocios MC. Hov is practically teary-eyed when he listlessly sighs “shit, I know how this move ends, still I play, the starring role in Hovita’s Way.”
In fact, many contemporary critics noted that whether or not The Black Album really was Jay Z’s final album was irrelevant. Regardless, the album is thematically fixated with the concept of closure and resolution. From the unique perspective of looking back on his career, Jay Z is magnanimous, honest and raw. Jay Z has always been hip-hop’s Philosopher-King, but the Black Album comes from a place of true enlightenment. The pettiness that is the sad staple of all gangsta rap is stripped bare here. Previously the mastermind of gold standard diss track The Takeover, a lofty Hova instead dismisses his nameless competitors on Dirt off Your Shoulder and What More Can I Say? The end of Jay Z’s career gives him a unique ‘Moment of Clarity’ – no longer the embittered hustler, Jay Z is finally able to forgive his heroin addict father; “save a place in heaven till the next time we meet forever.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz_-VaTHpc8
Upon the release of The Black Album in 2003, you could practically hear the cacophony of critics, a mournful lament that not only did it “show Jay Z at his very best, it showed that he was getting even better.” Only now are we beginning to confront the concept of the ageing hip-hop Titan, what with most of the genre’s living heroes pushing 40 or more. Once the voice of disaffected youth the world over, the cartoonish voices Eminem had performed for decades felt strangely feeble on The Marshall Mathers LP 2. In the long road to completing Tha Carter V, Lil Wayne has been beleaguered with health scares and political controversy. Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) just released what Pitchfork described as “by far the worst thing he’s ever released.” Biggie and Tupac are legendary because they died young, before they had a chance to age, wane in skill, and generally make poor career choices. People might think very differently if in 2016 a 400 pound Biggie Smalls was putting out his 9th studio album out via Mailchimp with three Skrillex features and several accompanying apps.
Hip-hop is a culture deeply connected with bravado, dissidence and youth. It’s rare for a rapper to choose to make a final album – the marketplace will generally make that decision for you (think: 50 Cent). The Black Album is rare in that it allows Jay Z to go out on his own terms, guns blazing. The worlds of Coppola and Scorsese are littered with canny gangsters who have no choice but to pull off one last perfect heist before they abandon the life of crime for good. Of course, the big grab is always challenging, dangerous and in the end, always elegantly executed. There’s little surprise that Jay Z, the Frank Lucas of rap, also wanted his final score to be risky yet flawless. Jay Z chooses to go out with a bang, and not with a whimper. He’s quitting while he’s ahead: “Jay’s status appears to be at an all-time high,” he wheezes on the Roots-esque live jam Encore, “the perfect time to say goodbye.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlYCq5zpCOI
Gangsta rap is a genre that I love so dearly that it has seeped into me on a molecular level. Nonetheless, it still never fails to appal me for its mind-blowing repetitiveness. While underground rappers have experimented with narratives and perspectives, hip-hop on the whole is only ever concerned with two things – rising from poverty and then living a lifestyle of sickening decadence. It is without doubt the most overplayed theme in all kinds of music ever – possibly even more than the theme of falling in love. But nobody does this simple trick better than Jay Z. Of course, the most brilliant thing about the ‘last album’ angle is that it makes this repetition completely justifiable. This is a retrospective. A recap on his life and career. And any kind of reflection is inherently going to involve a discussion of how he rose from poverty to sickening decadence. The Black Album is a 55-minute flashback episode. Like a home movie, it has a nostalgic feel to it. And Jay Z is right. We will miss him when he’s gone. Whilst it might be repetitive, let’s enjoy this brief replay, because there truly may never be anything better again.
Although an actual sequel to Jay Z’s canonical The Blueprint was released as early as 2002, The Black Album is its true successor in every sense. The Black Album breaks few barriers, instead preserving the status quo set by Jay Z himself only 2 years before. But I’ve misspoken. Because The Blueprint is so much more than just the ‘status quo,’ it is a 15-track offering that epitomises and encapsulates the entire genre; the benchmark, the apex, and the high-watermark of rap. Should fans be satisfied with such obvious repetition?
It’s an obstacle that Kendrick Lamar similarly encountered in 2012. What do you do when your unofficial bootleg EP is so perfect, that it is bound to eclipse anything that you could possibly create with a record label, money and a team of producers behind you? The Interscope-produced Good Kid, m.A.A.d City is largely a regurgitation of the independent Section 80. But this was so much more than cheap imitation. Hip-hop was left with two masterful cuts from the same cloth. Like Elmyr de Hory, sometimes there is greater skill in executing a perfect replica than a weak original.
If The Blueprint was not broken, than Jay Z did not try to fix it with The Black Album. And if you have the formula, the recipe, the very blueprint for perfection in your hands – than why not recreate it time and time again?
The Black Album follows the formula set by The Blueprint to its very step. Jay Z’s army of producers carefully copy the crisp bold sound that made The Blueprint so fucking listenable – 70’s soul samples, with clean, vibrant drums. The Black Album has The Blueprint’s appetite for vigour and warmth. Arguably, The Black Album refines the recipe to produce something slightly more brittle, dark and dangerous.
There’s no doubt that no one tells the ‘rags to riches’ story better than Jay Z. Having memorised every line, he has little interest in deviating from the script. “I got a hustler’s spirit, n*gga, period,” he says on Public Service Announcement. If only Jay Z was always this concise. Remarkably, Jay Z would go on to recycle this same story again and again over another four studio albums – with no possible end in sight.
The fact of the matter is that Jay Z’s second, even third best attempt, is still so much better than anything offered by any of his 2003 contemporaries. And even if it’s only a shadow of The Blueprint, well, even a shadow of the Eiffel Tower is better than the actual Federation Square.
Of course it’s no secret that the God MC is only as good as the mortal producers who toil to build his pyramids. Like the Olympics, a Jay Z record is always an assembly of the world’s best producers, showcasing their talent on a much larger platform than they could ever enjoy independently.
Of course all kudos must begin first with Jay Z who struggled to hip-hop supremacy and then lit the beacon that would call forth the world’s best beatmakers. But by 2003 Jay Z had first dibs on the finest cuts produced globally – the offal left to 50 Cent or Lil Wayne. In fact The Black Album was originally marketed as a 12-track affair, with each song produced by a different world-class producer. This gimmick was unworkable and quickly abandoned, but the message stood: Come forth, come forth ye great producers of this Earth and lay your offerings before the feet of the King. And when Just Blaze, Rick Rubin and the Neptunes are all falling over themselves to provide you with music – hell, even the Soundcloud rappers from your hometown could put out a Billboard top 40 track.
The overall feeling of The Black Album is steered by Blueprint veteran beatmakers Just Blaze and Kanye West, who occupy almost one third of the album. Their use of soul samples and bold vibrant beats infect The Black Album with the magic of that earlier work. Timbaland is perhaps the only producer who does not conform to the Blueprint mould of the holistic fleshy sound. His wavering synthesiser on Dirt off Your Shoulders has a piss-weak insipid Fruity Loops feel to it. In 2016, with our love of banging and twirling trap drums, it’s hard to believe this song ever passed for a ‘club banger.’ Pharrell’s Neptunes do what they do best on Change Clothes, creating saccharine funk with warm melodies and Williams’ recognisable crooning falsetto.
Eminem’s Moment of Clarity is often derided by critics as a lazy mash-up of the Renegade and Lose Yourself beats. Notwithstanding this, its darker energy is a welcome change of pace. Moment of Clarity certainly seems far more at home on something called The Black Album than anything produced by the Neptunes, ever. Yet without a shadow of a doubt, it’s the inclusion of OG beatmaker Rick Rubin that provides the album with its freshest moment. 99 Problems pays homage to the rock-rap heavy metal boombox sound of early 80’s hip-hop pioneered by Rubin himself, and popularised by the Beastie Boys. It’s as if Rubin set out to create the perfect song to be experienced on the ghetto blaster, the sudden burst of electric guitar and cowbell, feel as if some B-Boy has just jacked up the volume for his favourite track without any kind of warning. The fact that Jay Z manages to ride this erratic and raucous beat is a credit to his lyrical dexterity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEHSRgwvbcI
While comparisons with The Blueprint are endless, ultimately both albums have the same aim: the future classic. They are truly timeless albums in a sea of dated mediocrity. Clean, crisp and substantive, it is simply mindboggling to believe these albums are 15 years old. The album title itself connects the African-American legacy with the most famous musicians of all time.
Where The Beatles had their White Album, Jay Z lays claim to a darker but no less significant work of art with his Black Album. In many respects the very reason hip-hop has been so unchanged in over a decade is because it was Jay Z himself who set this benchmark. The paradigm that all rappers have sought to either emulate or blatantly copy. In so many respects The Black Album is a shameless sequel – the Grease 2 of hip-hop. But listeners will not feel exploited. They might feel nostalgia. They will feel reverent, empowered, left in awe by the God MC.
One of the biggest business success stories for 2016 was the rise of Uber, with millions of people now opting for the cheaper form of car transportation over cabs.
However, we mustn’t forget that the rich and elite of the world need a cost-effective mode of transport so they can fly between holiday islands quickly and conveniently – the common hire car will simply not do!
Thankfully, artists such as Jay Z exist.
The rapper/entrepreneur/business, man has expanded his empire into multiple territories over the past two decades, perhaps most famously with his uh… disastrous TIDAL streaming service.
However, if the world of music streaming is beyond his control (Apple seems to have caught onto something here), his latest investment fits the decadent image of hip-hop like a glove, with the rapper cashing in on the new JetSmarter service, an Uber-like service for private jets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31xa0CLbcls
According to Tech Crunch, the service has raised $105 million in Series C funding, despite having a pre-value of $1.5 billion should the service want to expand globally.
According to CEO Sergey Petrossov, the funding will be used to expand the service into Asia and Latin America, with the app currently operating in select points in the US only.
The app allows clients to book their own private jet via the JetShuttle service and even hire an entire plane if they have the funds; however, unlike regular Uber not just anybody can download the app and book a flight to the Bahamas.
People wishing to use the app will have to undergo a “small background check” as well as fork out a $15,000 “core” membership fee.
While Jay-Z was an early backer of the project, new investors include Abu Dhabi-based equity fund JetEdge and London’s KZ Capital.
“We scale from the community” said Mr Petrossov. “We use predictive maps and algorithms to find where the demand is, so that we will never over-supply the market, and can just meet the amount of demand we have.”
Fingers crossed the app doesn’t meet the same fate as previous Jay-Z investments.
Image: HOT 97.1 SVG
Jay Z has recently signed a “first-look deal” with legendary film studio, The Weinstein Company. A singularly powerful meeting of the music and film industries, the confirmed collaboration has been followed by the announcement of their first projects together.
One of the most anticipated project to come from this deal will be an upcoming biopic about the comedian Richard Pryor, produced by Jay Z with TWC. The long-rumoured film is believed to be titled Is It Something I Said?, sharing its name with Pryor’s 1975 live album. Currently slated to be directed by Lee Daniels, production is due to begin in early 2017.
During a recent press conference, Jay Z and TWC announced that they will be producing Time; a docu-series for Spike TV about Kalief Browder. A young man from the Bronx, Browder was imprisoned at Rikers Island for three years following his arrest for allegedly stealing a backpack aged just 16. Browder tragically committed suicide just a couple of years following his release,. Having been placed in solitary confinement during his incarceration, his death sparked concerns over isolationist policies for juvenile offenders.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDGrQQFVjPA]
Jay Z will act as an executive producer for Time for TWC, and the six part series will be directed by Jenner Furst. At the press conference, Jay Z told how Browder’s story had come to his attention through an article in the New Yorker, and how he met with Browder shortly before he committed suicide. “He told me he was going to college,” Jay Z told reporters, “I wanted to give him words of encouragement.”
Image: Today In Hip-Hop
With the bite and grit of a woman scorned, Lady Gaga’s comeback single was released last week to much fanfare – mostly because Kevin Parker and Mark Ronson co-wrote and produced it. Though the song itself has received mixed feedback from critics and fans alike (a lot of people seem to be overlooking the fact that it is Gaga’s song and will be on her upcoming fifth album when they screech “less Gaga! More Kevin!” but I digress), it’s a clever career move for all involved. The Tame Impala mastermind recently told Triple J about his thought process when the offer first came up: “It was amazing, really really good. One of those life/career-defining times. It started out sort of like a career move. Like, ‘I’ll get in on that.’ But it quickly became something so personal and so meaningful for everyone involved. I’m just happy it’s all out in the open now. Now I can not tell secrets anymore.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB94lvJbETE
And he isn’t the only one. A pop collaboration of such a magnitude can breathe new life into a career, boost a newer artist into the spotlight, bring two (or more!) distinctive voices together, help one make the transition from boy/girl band into solo super stardom. Or, it can fail miserably and fizzle out. Here, we take a look ten other life/career defining (for better or for worse) pop collaborations of recent memory – from Gaga to Gwen, there have been a few.
Bang Bang – Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HDdjwpPM3Y
A Lady Marmalade for the 2010s, Bang Bang had it all. The seasoned, jazzy vocals of Jessie J’s are bolstered by those of the current princess of pop, Ariana Grande. However perhaps the most important element of all, and something that could be considered a genre all it’s own, the track features what is known as Nicki’s Verse. Once again, Minaj steals the show, to the tune of a wildly energetic rhythm and immediately infectious earworm riff.
Lady Marmalade – Lil’ Kim, Christina Aguilera, Mya & Pink
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puKhmJEIw3I
You can’t mention Bang Bang without Lady Marmalade, the last great multi-female pop-rap collab. Originally released in 1974, it was always intended to be performed by a vocal ensemble. However, upon featuring on the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, it this version will forever endure as The One when it comes to pop collabs. Having sat at no. 1 for five weeks after its release, you would have thought it was written with no one other than Christina Aguilera, Mýa, Pink and Lil’ Kim in mind.
The Boy is Mine – Brandy & Monica
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va1Y6uAgNJY
So iconic was this Brandy and Monica collaboration that it’s recently been given the sample treatment along with Destiny’s Child. Nothing beats the original though: two fierce as fuck women in what at first seems to be a girl-hating anthem but turns out to be an exposé of a good for nothing, two timing cheater. Honestly, with the way their voices work together on The Boy Is Mine, it’s a wonder Monica and Brandy didn’t release an entire album together, Then again, too much of a good thing may have meant have taken away some of the shine.
Telephone – Lady Gaga & Beyoncé
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVBsypHzF3U
Kevin Parker isn’t the only major artist who saw an opportunity in collaborating with Lady Gaga. This 2010 hookup resulted in one of the biggest, most important pop collaborations of both artist’s careers. Originally written by Gaga for one Britney Spears, the song was released as part of Gaga’s Grammy nominated album The Fame Monster the year before Bey dropped 4. It pushed Beyoncé into a new light, everything from her double time verse to the masterpiece of a music video were highly calculated moves that helped her build upon the Sasha Fierce attitude while bringing together two pop powerhouses who might have otherwise seemed to be on opposing sides of the genre.
My Boo – Usher & Alicia Keys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPgf2meEX1w
Originally left off the final track listing to the record, My Boo was leaked online along with three other previously unreleased tracks from Usher’s 2004 the album before being added to the expanded version of Confessions. Having previously collaborated with Alicia Keys on If I Ain’t Got You, producer Jermaine Dupri wanted to tap further into the musical relationship between two of the biggest names in r&b and pop at the time and to say it worked out well would be an understatement. It went on to be the fourth single from the album and was the highest debut of them all, coming in at number twenty nine upon its release.
Where Are Ü Now – Justin Bieber, Shrillex & Diplo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nntGTK2Fhb0
Justin Bieber, Pop’s comeback kid of 2015 knows a thing or two about collaborations. He’s worked with Queen Nicki and his 2015 album featured Big Sean, Halsey and Travi$ Scott to name but a few. Commercially however, one of the biggest standout pop collabs of the past year came from his partnering with Shrillex and Diplo for the second single from the duo’s debut album. The song blew up airwaves (including a brief moment where Justin Bieber was actually aired on triple J) before it went on to be included on Bieber’s Purpose. Officially marking his return, Where Are U Now almost singlehandedly reintroduced the world to the slick, new, adult Biebs that went on to cultivate an entire new generation of fans.
California Gurls – Katy Perry & Snoop Dogg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F57P9C4SAW4
Snoop has had his fair share of collabs – we could have made a list with his alone. However, of recent memory, his appearing on Katy Perry‘s California Gurls sticks out as one of the most wtf collaborations conjured up by executives somewhere no doubt. Still, something about it worked because it earned Perry her second US no. 1 hit and Snoop his third as it went on to reach the top spot in ten other countries and received a Grammy nod.
Suit & Tie – Justin Timberlake & Jay Z
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUsVbTj2AY
Marking the end of his musical hiatus, Suit & Tie was the first single off Justin Timberlake’s 20/20 Experience – a critically acclaimed commercial juggernaut of an album that sparked a near two-year tour. The Jay Z-featuring Suit & Tie surpassed Timberlake’s own record for the most sales in its first week, with the slightly out of time beat and hazed-out drawl of a song sticking around as the hit of what seemed to be the entire year.
Dilemma – Nelly & Kelly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WYHDfJDPDc
Off Nelly’s album 2001 Nellyville and the lead single from Kelly Rowland’s debut solo album, Simply Deep, released later the same year, this track won the duo a Grammy award. While Rowland’s career hasn’t reached the heights of her fellow child of destiny, Beyoncé, this was the track that showed her to be much more than essentially a featured backup singer for Bey’s. While Beyoncé has her plethora of collaborations and Michelle sings the Lord’s praise in her new career as a gospel singer, neither can stake claim on Dilemma, practically the most enduring collaboration track of the early 2000s with a (now meme-worthy) video to go along with it. I.C.O.N.I.C.
Let Me Blow Ya Mind/and Rich Girl – Gwen Stefani & Eve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt88GMJmVk0
During her early-mid-2000s peak, Eve was nothing short of a collab-extraordinaire. But if there was one partnership that proved to be a cut above the rest, it was when she hopped on a track with No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani. Off Eve’s sophomore album, Let Me Blow Ya Mind gave us the first insight into what was truly a match made in pop heaven (or maybe it was hell, because that video was badass AF for the time, even if you did wonder what happened to Gwen’s car once Dre broke the duo out of jail). They followed it up three years later on Stefani’s debut solo album, the Dr Dre produced track Rich Girl. While it was fun and easy enough to go along with, the song (a last minute addition to Stefani’s Love. Angel. Music. Baby) didn’t come anywhere near reaching the bar set with let Me Blow Ya mind.
Image: Consequence of Sound
Hip-hop is very much dependent on the ‘guest verse’ and the success of a hip-hop song will often hinge on whether it has that little ‘feat.’ tacked on at the end. In most other genres the lyrics are sung, and this naturally involves a range of notes and tones. Rapping, at its most basic level, involves listening to someone talk over a backing track. It can be extremely dull to listen to the same voice drone over an instrumental for 80 minutes. Enter the ‘guest’ rapper. A slight change in tone, pace or intonation can be all that is needed to breathe new life into a track.
Hip-hop, however, is also naturally about competition. The danger in depending on a support act is that the support act might upstage the main event. In an industry built on braggadocio and rivalry, there might be nothing more embarrassing than being bested on your own turf. Killed on your own track. Or as Nas famously put it, “murdered on your own shit.” We take a look back at hip-hop’s best scene-stealing cameos.
Track: Scenario Remix, 1992
Host: A Tribe Called Quest
Guest: Busta Rhymes
Charge: Manslaughter
Priors: Ghostface Killah on Iron Maiden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6TLWqn82J4
A Tribe Called Quest were the masters of the “hippity-hop” / Rappers Delight style of old-school early 90’s rap. Simple, bouncy rhymes that flowed naturally and landed right on beat. Dinco D’s verse is emblematic of early 90s hip-hop, almost whimsical with a child-like quality “true blue! Scooby Doo, whoopee doo!” Enter the Leaders of the New School and Busta Rhymes. Because of Busta’s representation of the “new school” the Scenario Remix feels like the passing of the torch. And whilst Busta Rhyme’s verse is hardly revolutionary, (and still contained some of the rhythmic hallmarks of the era) it paved the way for a more frenetic, relentless rapping style that would come to dominate the late 00s.
It’s almost as if the Tribe caught a glimpse of their own death. Busta Rhymes is formally announced by Q-Tip and then given a small bridge to start warming up. He is handpicked for the last verse, the perfect opportunity to provide the finishing blow. “Watch as I combine all the juice from the mind” Busta starts. This is the perfect explanation for the complex neurochemistry that is about to begin. Busta delivers a barbarian flow, wild and booming, as we’re introduced to his trademarks roads. He crams syllables into beats “vo-cab-u-lary’s necessary / when digging in-to my library.”
Busta’s verse is so iconic that it is one of the most sampled all of time. Afrika Bambaata used the line “heel up, wheel up, bring it back come rewind” in Zulu War Chant. Nicki Minaj transformed Busta’s most famous guttural bark “rawr rawr like a dungeon dragon” into an entire song. And who could forget the truly bizarre rework of Busta’s “chickity-choco the chocolate chicken” into the Barenaked Ladies’ “chickity China the Chinese chicken” in 1998 one-hit wonder One Week. Busta Rhymes is a manic assassin, spraying rounds and making messy casualties of legends Phife Dawg and Q-Tip. As the closing act for hip-hop’s greatest posse cut, Busta K.O’s it and alludes to the future of a more sophisticated art form.
Track: Renegade, 2000
Host: Jay-Z
Guest: Eminem
Charge: Murder
Priors: 50 Cent on Patiently Waiting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIaBx_2AzTk
In response to Jay-Z’s The Takeover Nas produced a diss track so hot that its burn was supernatural, Ether. In a track that implies Jay-Z was molested as a child, one line hit even harder: “Eminem murdered you on your own shit.” Thus Nas gave birth to the expression we now use when a guest verse is hotter than that of the original artist.
Nas was of course speaking of Renegade, the ill-fitting addition to Jay-Z’s The Blueprint. Renegade feels out of place because it was originally intended as collaboration between Eminem and Royce Da 5”9. Written in 2001, Renegade came at the beginning of Eminem’s burgeoning interest in music production. The haunting beat is pure Slim and maybe it’s the reason the Detroit prodigy was able to dethrone the God MC. Home-court advantage.
Renegade is a classic exercise in trading bars. Both rappers get two verses each and go line-for-line in the chorus. This kind of equality makes it very easy to compare the performance of the two rappers. Hova’s verses are representative of everything about The Blueprint, crisp and clean. Jay-Z respects the beat, landing perfectly with the iconic “motherfuckers / say that I’m foolish / I only talk about jewels do you / fools listen to music / or do you just skim through it?” Jay-Z peddles the narrative of his entire career; financial difficulties, a fatherless childhood, and being forced to sell drugs to survive – a winning formula. The only problem is that Eminem’s “Evil” is just so much more interesting than Jay-Z’s “Bad.” Both rappers are given the opportunity to sing the song’s chorus, it’s just that when Eminem screams “Renegade!” he really means it.
Eminem’s use of assonance is incredible – “who’s the king of these rude, ludicrous, lucrative lyrics?” Also, Em’s verse is almost unmatched for its crescendo-like quality, the subject matter and the quality of the rhymes getting more and more intense as he reaches this climax “go to war with the Mormons, take a bath with the Catholics in holy water, no wonder they tried to hold me under longer.” But did Eminem really murder Jay? Hov seems to think so, conceding defeat on A Star Is Born; “his flow on Renegade, fucking awesome, applaud him.”
This jousting was historically important. In 2000 the undisputed king of hip-hop was Jay-Z. Eminem was at most a shocking court jester. There was little doubt that his success would be a passing novelty. Five albums later and the world is still split on who is the GOAT, Eminem or Jay.
Track: Run This Town, 2009
Host: Jay-Z
Guest: Kanye West
Charge: Manslaughter
Priors: Drake on Pop Style
On Run This Town Kanye West gives us a glimpse of a magic trick he would perform again on Watch the Throne – sawing Jay-Z in half without ever lifting a finger. On Watch the Throne Kanye’s “less” beats Jay Z’s “more” time and time again. Kanye’s rhyme patterns are often simplistic. He falls into the habit of rhyming non-rhyming words. “Coke on her black skin made it striped like a zebra / I call that jungle fever.” But Kanye’s rhymes are moreish. They’re memorable. It’s his emphasis and Frank Sinatra-like enunciation. It’s his wit and effortlessness. It makes every line a punch line. The great mystery of this trick is that you know Jay-Z is the better rapper, but he’s not the rapper you want to hear more of.
Released in 2009 as a single off Jay-Z’s The Blueprint III, Ye’s verse comes at an established point in his career, but before My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy took him to “genius” level. Kanye’s verse is important because it’s the first real time he challenges his mentor. What we get is Kanye butchering his Big Brother on his own song with a breezy flow chocked full of witty one-liners. “I can spend my whole life goodwill hunting / only good gonna come is it’s good when I’m cumming” Ye’s verse is jam-packed with quotables – “we give a damn about the drama that your dude bring / I’m just trying to change the colour on your mood ring.”
In 2016, Kanye is still assassinating rappers without breaking a sweat. He absolutely phones in his verse on Schoolboy Q’s THat Part. The last 20 seconds of his verse is something like a ”freestyle” where he resorts to making sound effects and then laughing hysterically. But it’s listenable. Kanye’s verse on Pop Style is the benchmark for simple, witty rhymes that everyone can sing along to at pre-drinks – “they like Pablo, “why are all the windows tinted on your Tahoe?”
Something of a gracious loser, Jay-Z again conceded defeat. Well sort of. In an interview Jigga was asked whether Kanye had killed him on his own track, he said: “as long as I’ve been in the game, that’s gong to happen, once or twice or even three times.
Track: Skew It On The Bar-B, 1998
Host: Outkast
Guest: Raekwon
Charge: Manslaughter
Priors: Mobb Deep on Nighttime Vultures
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XU2o8p-Ixo
By 1998 Outkast had already shattered perceptions of the South as a hip-hop backwater. Nonetheless, the hip-hop intelligentsia had still decreed East-Coast boom bap as the benchmark of the genre. On their magnum opus Aquemini, Outkast invited Raekwon The Chef to join them on Skew It On The Bar-B, with the hopes of murdering the east-coast great on home turf.
Raekwon, used to the simple boom bap drums of the East Coast, might have been expected to struggle with Outkast’s melody and distinct Southern flavour. The Chef rises to the challenge. He embraces the style of the track, yet still delivers his trademark “ghetto Mafioso” flow.
It’s no easy feat to best a rapper regularly placed in the top five of all time list, but Raekwon manages to slay Andre the Giant on his own song. Andre 3000 comes with one of the most memorable opening verses of all time, “the common denominator, the n**ga numerator / never know the hater, n**gas cater to your ego.” Outkast love showing off their supersonic rhyming speeds and this track is no exception. The assonance in Andre’s verse is delectable.
The typically lethargic Rakewon is energised by the bouncy Organized Noize track. Matching the speed of Outkast without compromising his own style. Raekwon’s ability to adapt shows the versatility of his flow. But his choice of subject matter is safe territory, preferring the thematics of drug dealing and skirmishes with police than the extra-terrestrial nonsense of the Atlanta natives. Raekwon takes it to one of the greatest rappers all time, seamlessly rhyming off the same word for twelve whole bars, “hydro slide raw like fuck Ronaldo, fly ride though, shit lookin wild dope.” Raekwon milks this “o” sound, repeating it a full 25 times. Outkast hoped for an ambush but instead got killed in their own home.
Track: Diamonds from Sierra Leone Remix, 2005
Host: Kanye West
Guest: Jay Z
Charge: Murder in the First Degree
Priors: Pusha T on Drug Dealers Anonymous
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92FCRmggNqQ
Given that Kanye and Jay’s relationship was far from perfect in the early stages of Kanye’s career, the track does contain a sense of the Def Jam President putting the young upstart in his place. From the beginning, Jay-Z seems dismissive of his protégé, ‘leave this to the professionals’ he implies; “yup, I got it from here, Ye damn.”
On the Diamonds from Sierra Leone Remix Yeezy does a decent job of tackling dense issues on an already superb track. Kanye explores the conflict diamond trade with some serviceable rhymes, but Jay-Z’s verse is truly memorable. If nothing else, it gave us the homophone that is the ultimate slogan for Jay-Z’s entire career: “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man!” With a basketball team, a clothing line, his own brand of cognac and an entire identity built around entrepreneurship, the catechism perfectly captures the phenomenon that is ‘Jay-Z.’
The master of multiple meanings, Jay-Z’s verse contains one of the densest quadruple entendres with “the pressure’s on, but guess who ain’t gonna crack?” In a time before Rap Genius, unpacking this line would have required reference to Jay Z’s autobiography and lyric bible, Decoded The line simultaneously refers to four things: the pressure of keeping Roc-A-Fella afloat after a falling out with co-founders Dame Dash and Kareem “Biggs” Burke, the high pressure conditions in the Earth’s mantle necessary for the creation of diamonds, the natural pressures that come with selling crack cocaine. In the following line Jay-Z says “haha, pardon me, I had to laugh at that.”: His own wit has caused him to ‘crack up’ laughing.
Early in his career, Kanye showed a degree of humility that would not be seen again after 2009. Big Brother deals with how Kanye’s admiration for Jay-Z inspired him to work harder. Despite his best efforts, he concedes that on “that Diamonds Remix, I swore I’d spazz / then my big brother came through and kicked my ass.”
Track: International Player’s Anthem, 2007
Host: UGK
Guest: Andre 3000
Charge: Murder in the First Degree
Priors: Jay-Z on 30 Somethin’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awMIbA34MT8
UGK’s International Player’s Anthem and its classic video clip centres around the wedding of Andre 3000 and the admonitions of his friends, who warn him against abandoning the single life. Andre might provide the guest verse, but it is Andre’s wedding, Andre’s story, and Andre’s verse that you remember from this anthem.
Forever a master of “Storytellin’” this verse is exceptional for its vivid narrative, covering everything from communicating to ex-lovers to fidelity and revenge. It’s a rare hip-hop ode to monogamy, Andre acknowledging that a married life means foregoing the sea of women that surround him. Andre adopts a spoken word style suited to the confessional rap. Andre uses that classic Outkast technique of splitting up words so the rhyme arrives on beat, “reconsider, read some liter-rature on the subject” and “fuck it / you know we got your back like chiroprac-tic.” This verse also contains a killer double entendre “I’m so like a pimp / I’m glad it’s night.” Both a reference to the peak business hours for pimping and the soul of Gladys Knight And The Pips
This verse in 2007 almost kicked off the trend of Andre 3000 channelling his numerous talents into measly guest verses. Whilst we have to be thankful for Andre’s killer verses on Lloyd’s Dedication to my Ex, Beyoncé’s Party, and Frank Ocean’s Pink Matter, these verses may have slaked Andre’s urge to rap, and it might be the reason we haven’t had a solo album from him since The Love Below.
The curious thing about International Player’s Anthem is that Andre really provides more of an ‘intro’ or ‘opening monologue’ than a ‘verse.’ The bass drops when Pimp C takes the mic, and the song is completely transformed into a crunk banger. Pimp C and Bun B ride the fast pace of the new song, and provide its ‘anthem’ element. Even when ‘warming up’ Andre 3000 is spitting fire.
Track: Shadowboxin, 1995
Host: GZA
Guest: Method Man
Charge: Murder in the First Degree
Priors: LL Cool J on 4, 3, 2, 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7kAk5dTsj0
Liquid Swords by the Wu-Tang Clan’s GZA is still considered to be one of hip-hop’s finest displays of lyricism. An old-school disciple of quality rhymes, the GZA was the architect responsible for putting together some of the finest rhymes ever pressed on wax. Getting Method Man to jump on Shadowboxin’ was a calculated decision, Meth complementing the feel of the track perfectly. Method Man and GZA box, but it is the former who comes out on top, besting the Genius at the top of his game.
In retrospect, the verse is trademark Method Man. Meth’s flow has a Dr. Seuss-like quality to it, shifting between nonsense words and pop-culture references (“ticallion stallion, chinky-eye and snot-nosed”). The comparisons between Busta Rhymes are fair, not only for the guttural noises (“everything huh in any shape form or fashion / now everybody talking bout they blasting hmmmm) but for the sheer range of his subject matter and vocabulary (“slip the cardiac arrest me, exorcist Hip Hop possess me.”)
The hip-hop world knew right away that Method Man had brought his A-game, earning the prestigious “Hip Hop Quotable of the Month” for his verse in the December 1995 issue of The Source.
It might not be correct to classify this as a ‘guest verse’ since Method Man anchors the entire track, with his talents being put front and centre in contributing both the first and last verses. Legend has it that the middle verse from GZA was an afterthought; a fun opportunity to jump onto an already hot track. Again, the GZA knew he had been bested, conceding in an interview that it “always seemed more like Meth’s track” with his verse as “filler.” But it’s unfair to dismiss the GZA’s verse as mere “filler,” dropping an unreal line with “my sword still remain imperial / before I blast the mic, RZA scratch off the serial.”
Track: Beautiful Bliss, 2009
Host: Wale
Guest: J. Cole
Charge: Pre-meditated Murder
Priors: Jay-Z on A Star Is Born
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lirCKMj-cis
What makes this murder so particularly twisted and cruel is the sense of betrayal, of thwarted dreams and a stolen birthright that came with it. In 2009 Wale signed with Interscope and was being touted as the next big thing. His debut album Attention Deficit sold poorly, despite favourable reviews from critics. This album was supposed to be the real debut of Wale, but what we got instead was the debut of J. Cole.
Wale invited up and coming rapper J. Cole to put down a guest verse on the otherwise forgettable Beautiful Bliss. Like Renegade, the name of the song has become synonymous with guest-on-host murder.
Legend has it that J. Cole was extremely conscious of the attention surrounding this mainstream feature and made a concerted effort to spazz. As a result, Cole’s verse is filled with vivid imagery, catchy punchlines and raw energy. On Beautiful Bliss J. Cole shows his hunger. “Ain’t nothing given, dog, it’s earned / if you just living, dog, you learn / I let you n*ggas see the light / I’m like the prison yard, I yearn.” J. Cole’s final exclamation “I’m from the Ville boy!” shows his intensity.
The cruelty of this murder is that Wale probably thought he was doing J. Cole a favour. Putting a young rapper on an album guaranteed to blow. What Wale could not have foreseen was that J. Cole would spit flames and then go on to forge a far more successful career in the exact same lane. Wale accidentally gave life to a terrifying rival in the alternative hip-hop scene. While Wale never lived up to his potential, his protégé showed early signs of becoming one of the greats.
Track: Monster, 2010
Host: Kanye West
Guest: Nicki Minaj
Charge: Triple Homicide
Priors: Big Sean on Dance (A$$)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGyIXJ4KG8U
File this under triple homicide. On Monster the “bride of Chucky” easily disposes of Kanye West, Jay-Z and (to a much lesser extent) Rick Ross. It’s more than the best verse on the track. Or even the best verse on the album. It simply must be considered one of the greatest verses of all time.
Nicki Minaj’s verse on Monster is even more shocking because it is effectively her debut. It’s true that Minaj had already had a strong summer on urban radio with her first single Your Love and an equally blistering verse on Trey Songz’ Bottoms Up. But it was Monster that brought Nicki to mainstream audiences and provided the perfect launching platform for her debut album Pink Friday, released just one-month later. Nicki says it best herself: “50K for a verse, no album out.” Believe the hype, this is an artist to invest in. Less than six years later and she has become a hip-hop institution and the frontrunner for the greatest female MC of all time.
Minaj’s energy and vibrancy make it abundantly clear that she will carry the torch for the next generation. She utterly shames the G.O.A.T. contender, the not-so-Young Hov. Her distinctive tones are a breath of fresh air on the very album that revitalized the whole genre. On an album as bright as MBDTF, Minaj manages to eclipse not just some of the best rappers on earth, but the best artists. Although it is one of the great humblebrags, Kanye West has it right when he describes it as “the best verse on the best hip-hop album of all time.”
Minaj does imagery like few others. The first few lines of her verse paint one of the most vivid in hip-hop (“I’m in that Tonka colour of Willy Wonka”). She takes aim at male-dominated industry (“you can be the King but Watch the Queen conquer”). She pays homage to her Trinidadian roots (“Tony Mattheron, dutty wine it, wylin”), boasting one of the many accents and voices at her disposal. A voice Minaj uses like an instrument, constantly altering between sickly sweet chirping, low growls and piercing screams, all in the one breath.
It is a credit to the quality of this verse that, despite its sheer complexity, everyone knows the words. It’s the kind of verse that you make the effort to learn. This is exactly what hip-hop is about. This is what you live for.
Track: Control, 2013
Host: Big Sean
Guest: Kendrick Lamar
Charge: Mass Murder
Priors: Pusha T on Nosetalgia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7zdMeZPkpY
No surprises here. This is an example of premeditated murder. An act of hip-hop terrorism, Kendrick Lamar’s verse was a calculated move to incite fear amongst the rap community.
Big Sean and Jay Electronica provide serviceable verses, but none can compare to K.Dot’s conscious intent to “blow up the internet.” Kendrick’s worldwide chest-thumping transformed a B-side reject from Big Sean’s sophomore album into a social media shitstorm. Lamar’s Twitter account saw a 510% increase in followers in the week following the track’s release and he gained 88,000 new fans on Facebook. Even the lesser artists that Kendrick shouted out received a boost in profile, with Mac Miller gaining 87,000 new followers. The official story is that it could not be included because the “sample didn’t’ clear.” Or maybe Big Sean didn’t want to give any more oxygen to Kendrick Lamar on his own album.
Hip-hop is inherently about bragging, but Kendrick’s boasts on Control border on sacrilegious. He places himself right at the beginning of a ‘barber shop’ lists of the G.O.A.T that includes Jay-Z, Nas, Eminem and Andre 3000. He claims to descend directly from 2pac, and most shockingly calls himself “the King of New York.” It’s testament to Kendrick’s skills that some of these claims don’t even seem that outlandish.
He adopts an unusually gruff voice that’s suited to the seriousness of the subject matter. “This is hip-hop and n**gas should know what time it is” he says, offering a warning and wake-up call to his competition. Kendrick’s verse is blistering and relentless. While the earlier bars contain some of the most quotable lines of all time, the final moments show off his skills as a lyricist, with vivid images and complex internal rhymes.
Nowadays, even the least subtle diss tracks have the good sense not to specifically mention the rapper’s name. On Control Kendrick methodically moves through the list of top rappers, articulating their stage names with his gravelly voice. “Big Sean, Jay Electron,’ Tyler, Mac Miller / I got love for you all but I’m tryna murder you n**gas.” You know that Kendrick wanted to see his name on lists like this when he specifically used the exact language Nas used to describe Eminem’s verse on Renegade.
Kendrick’s Control verse served to revitalise the competitive spirit of the genre. It called forth a wave of response tracks and incited more debate and discussion than any hip-hop track since.
Image: Discogs
Jay Z has released a dark, powerful new song called Spiritual, exclusively streaming on Tidal.
The song is accompanied by a note which explains the history of the song and its relevance today, following the tragic shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.
Read the note in full:
I made this song awhile ago, I never got to finish it.
Punch (TDE) told me I should drop it when Mike Brown died, sadly I told him, “this issue will always be relevant.” I’m hurt that I knew his death wouldn’t be the last……
I’m saddened and disappointed in THIS America – we should be further along.
WE ARE NOT.
I trust God and know everything that happens is for our greatest good, but man…. it’s tough right now.
Blessings to all the families that have lost loved ones to police brutality.
– j
“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.”
– Fredrick Douglas
The track is ominous and brooding, with a low, auto-tuned hook and an intensely personal verses about Jay Z’s live, his daughter, “We call her Blue, ‘cos it’s sad that, how can I be a dada, I never had that, shattered in a million pieces, where the glass at? I need a drink, shrink, or something.”
Listen to Jay Z’s new song below via Tidal.
The music world has reacted to these tragedies in a big way. You can read some artist responses here.
Image: TheNextWeb