JAY-Z TRACKS / NEPTUNES TRACKS REDUX / I JUST WANNA POLL U (BALLOT 2 ME) voting closes June 16th

So last October, V79 ran a Neptunes tracks poll, but around the time the voting deadline was closing, he stopped posting to ilx, and appears to be still out there on the internet but not posting here or responding to any messages regarding the poll. So, with my Jay-Z poll coming up in the queue, I thought I’d be a good time to attempt to get the Neptunes poll back on track, too, since there’d likely be a lot of the same people voting in both. But, of course, you can vote in one and not the other, it doesn’t matter, but I’d appreciate if you’re particularly interested in one at least throwing a top 10 together for the other.

Since some of you already sent V79 ballots, I will keep it simple – if you re-send me what you already sent him, that will be counted. If you want to vote now for the first time, or revise your ballot from before, that’s fine too. Up to 35 favorite Neptunes tracks (please vote for at least 10), ranked or unranked (you can number your ballot, but if you don’t, please specify ranked or unranked). Any discussion of the Neptunes discography should probably take place in the thread that already exists, just because we already talked about a lot of stuff there last year and it’d be easier to pick up the conversation again there: The Official ILM THE NEPTUNES Poll (#27 In Series) - Voting & Campaigning Thread (VOTING STILL OPEN)

With that business out of the way, this thread is primarily for the Jay-Z tracks poll, and discussion of his catalog. You can vote for up to 35 tracks (and at least 10), just like the Neptunes poll, to keep it simple. There are also 2 subpolls:

-top 5 favorite Jay-Z albums

-top 5 tracks you love, but not for Jay (i.e. it has a great beat or hook or verse by another rapper, but Jay doesn’t really add much of value to it and/or it would be just as good or better without him).

Send all ballots to shipley.al at gmail dot com. The deadline is midnight (wherever you are) at the end of Sunday, June 16th. This is a firm deadline with the Neptunes poll, which I will roll results out for first, but I may informally let Jay-Z ballots trickle in for a few days after that or set a new deadline (no promises, though, get them in by the 16th if you can).

I didn't use the vaunted ilx poll spreadsheet when I did the Timbaland poll, but maybe I should give it a try, can someone send it to me?

Unexpectedly excited for this Jay-Z poll! I feel like on a track-specific basis there's a lot to talk about.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmhW_PgsyKKodGZkUi14NV9mYUZ2bUhyV29QU3hBV3c#gid=0

That's the spreadsheet saved as a Googledocs file -- I think you can "download as" to get a local copy on your machine, but working on the web went fine for me on the Miles poll.

yeah his catalog is just insanely rich. I'm gonna start talking about some songs I consider underrated (will only post YouTubes if I feel like a lot of people haven't heard them).

Scarface's "Get Out" is my favorite Jay-Z feature that nobody ever talks about, amazing song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlyMbRgWC9g

have already received Ismael and Jeff W's re-submitted Neptunes ballots! hope you guys do Jay ballots too!

I'm in for both, just need to re-submit the Neps and get working on Jay.

for your consideration: "Best Of Me Part 2," imo Jay's best R&B collab ever

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQqwLPKYbok

OH MAN YEAH

6 Neptunes ballots in already and just got the first Jay-Z ballot a little while ago! keep 'em comin'!

can i vote for can i get open?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kcCcyPi-2A

all features and collabs are fair game (i mean, more substantial cameos than "Hawaiian Sophie," anyway).

bubblin in dublin

im quite drunk and ready to listen to jay verses on random. :D

can't wait to mean mug everyone who votes for post-retirement junk

i dunno, we'll see. i'm kind of skeptical about much of that stuff having a relatively strong consensus. only thing i'm voting for post-2003 will prob be the "Diamonds" remix, maybe "New Day" or "Dear Summer" too if i feel like it.

Forgot to mention how much I like the title "I JUST WANNA POLL U (BALLOT 2 ME)"

I can even here Pharrell singing "ballot to me / but don't bullshit me"

well i had to reference jay AND the neptunes and i wasn't gonna quote "change clothes" or "blue magic" over here

some dude do you have like a link to a list of neptunes-eligible stuff?

there's some discogs linked in the OG poll thread: The Official ILM THE NEPTUNES Poll (#27 In Series) - Voting & Campaigning Thread (VOTING STILL OPEN)

I'm being pretty loose about anything Pharrell and/or Chad had anything to do with, including "Rump Shaker" and "Get Lucky"

some dude do you have like a link to a list of neptunes-eligible stuff?

― Lamp, Wednesday, June 5, 2013 8:28 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Also here is a pretty comprehensive spotify list for Neptunes
http://open.spotify.com/user/sutrarama/playlist/687z3my4nlvZyU0mkZdsYF

I'm creating a Jay list right now as well.

Here is the Jay Z playlist, quite a few features on there too
http://open.spotify.com/user/theshipment/playlist/3I9MS3uvPcPzBJqGqySnuX

Not on the playlist but I think I'll be a little sad if this doesn't make it on the final countdown somewhere
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XPZSbdyPKk
Just noticed that TYler ThE Crator stole his whole steeze from Jay in this video.

i missed the neptunes poll first time round (well, until it was well under way) - might be an opportune moment to jump in on that! and def in for jay-z. pre-emptive side-eye at anyone including more than one track from the last 8 years

aw i forgot i did that neptunes playlist. i did a swiss beatz one as well and was gonna do a bunch of producers.

We can include Get Lucky? I'll have to tweak my ballot then.

doubt it

I'm being pretty loose about anything Pharrell and/or Chad had anything to do with, including "Rump Shaker" and "Get Lucky"

I mean, it feels odd because he didn't produce it but if some dude says it counts then it counts.

oh shit didnt see that! yeah i thought it was productions only

I mean, Pharrell did co-write "Get Lucky," so I'm allowing it, but if people don't feel it's 'canon' they're welcome to ignore it. Probably lots of people will vote for "Hella Good," and that's technically not a Neptunes track -- iirc Chad and Pharrell co-wrote and played synths but Nellee Hooper produced it.

i dunno, we'll see. i'm kind of skeptical about much of that stuff having a relatively strong consensus. only thing i'm voting for post-2003 will prob be the "Diamonds" remix, maybe "New Day" or "Dear Summer" too if i feel like it.

― some dude, Thursday, 6 June 2013 04:15 (8 hours ago) Bookmark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIqsw2mndx4

I guess "Ignorant Shit" could be considered post-03 too, but I always knew it as a Black Album outtake, def voting for that.

I love Rump Shaker but always think of it as a Teddy Riley jam

same here. i'm just leaving the decision of its inclusion up to the electorate.

Pharrell now has 2 top 10 songs at the same time. Last time that happened was in May 2003 (JT's "Rock Your Body" and Snoop's "Beautiful").

damn

bump

still heartbroken that "Hey Papi" didn't place in the Timbaland poll, let's get it right this time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar6yL37XifU

I mean, Pharrell did co-write "Get Lucky," so I'm allowing it, but if people don't feel it's 'canon' they're welcome to ignore it

Eeh, this is an unwelcome spanner in the works. Get Lucky can go spin but Lose Yourself To Dance would be my no.1 if I voted for it. Damn you V79 for not wrapping this up earlier.

i honestly would be surprised if either gets more than a couple votes, i'm just saying i'm leaving the door open

Yeah I'm not even really considering those.

Should we take the Neps talk to the Neps thread though?

This Jay balloting is harder than i thought cos i have so much love for the non-hits and low key stuff.

i'm not gonna police the separation of topics too much, unless it starts to veer into territory already covered in the o.g. Neptunes thread

please ban "get lucky" from the poll

i say leave it in and then let's do a kickstarter for contracts on the voters lives

controversy sells, please keep bumping the thread for this completely irrelevant furor

so i have the preliminary tally done, which looks pretty damn exciting i have to say, but i am welcoming any additional ballots until the rollout begins. it'll be a top 30, with 10 a day starting on probably Tuesday or Wednesday, so feel free to vote until then.

this is speaking of Neps only for now right?

yes, only Neptunes rollout. i'm not gonna close voting on the Jay poll for a while, needs a lot more ballots to justify doing a rollout of.

al I will definitely do a jay-z ballot.

to that end can anyone recommend the most essential non-album jay-z tracks for my consideration and edification?

including features, or just solo tracks not on albums?

both!

well i'm clarifying what tim was asking for

i too would appreciate a list of your favorites that includes both

a lot of y'all still m.i.a. with neptunes ballots, c'mon k3v/lex/spottie/dylan/rtc/deej/rev don't flake out y'all, get me up to 20 voters

Has V79 voted?

Particularly solo tracks not on albums, but definitely both.

i thought you were set on the neptunes. i don't have much to add with my list but i'll make one tonight.

i'm never 'set' as long as these polls have less than half the voters of polls for bullshit like [insert band name here]

Timbaland

lol, well yeah it is annoying to have so many fewer voters than i had for Timbaland. after discussing all these guys on ILM for over a decade it shouldn't be that hard to get participation on polls of their discographies, but there's a lot more 'too cool for school' happening here than in threads about '80s alternarock bands or w/e.

is izzy saying timbaland is bullshit?

of the 80something artists on that list of polls, i've never heard of a third of them (stephen merritt? spacemen 3???), half i've never knowingly heard music by and only know them thru ilm mentions (cocteau twins, st etienne, fairport convention, the fall, the cure), the rest are semi-legit but why bother (led zeppelin/rolling stones/beatles or the fucking KINKS??? i forget the name of the one kinks song i know) or i dunno, i don't think i'm that young or that the median age of ilm has creeped up rapidly but shit like u2, i don't get it.

nah he was just pointing out i got 2x as many ballots for the Timbaland poll a couple years back.

timbaland on ilm is a grand tradition, though, everyone setting aside their u2 and cure albums to note how how timbaland is changing the musical landscape, then returning to their contemplation of the joshua tree, only returning to him when they need an explanation for any unusual sounds in any post-2005 rap music (that can't be explained by comparisons to nine inch nails or french dance records).

*furiously contemplates the joshua tree*

dude I haven't voted in any of these single-artist polls!

It's a production team, not a single artist :)

i mean if you're reading this thread and not voting that's exactly what i mean by 'too cool for school.' drop a POX in my inbox ffs, it would take literally two minutes.

Submitted my Neps ballot. Left off about 15 tracks that I'm sad about leaving off.

your ballot was awesome!

by which i mean "the most like mine"

i mean if you're reading this thread and not voting that's exactly what i mean by 'too cool for school.' drop a POX in my inbox ffs, it would take literally two minutes.

― some dude, Saturday, June 22, 2013 1:55 PM Bookmark

No, I get anal about this shit! I'd be thinking about it for the next two weeks.

you've had two weeks six months

i was kind of lost on the neptunes. like, "what happened to that boy" at number one, "beautiful" at number two, then list some clipse songs. i was never really feeling the particular mid decade neptunes sound they came with on their big tracks not for malice&pusha (altho "beautiful" is exactly that sound right?).

but look, i still got a ballot in.

yeah it's appreciated!

baby, i'm not always there when you call

i'm sitting here crying R&B thug tears for the song your ballot just knocked out of the top 30, though (xp)

why are ilm polls so carefullly controlled? what would happen if i set up shop on a renegade 2 chainz poll or something?

i was one of the main people behind the organization of all that, mainly because there's such a copycat thread mentality on ilx, and as soon as people figured out they could do these kinds of ballot polls, i pictured them just taking over New Answers for a few months and becoming unbearable. which wouldn't have been the end of the world, and i acknowledge it's faintly ridiculous to structure it all so much, but in retrospect i think it's been a good thing, it's kind of nice to have a routine to it, i think people would've burned out on these things a while ago if it'd been total mob rule.

only a top 30? cool, so there's no way my #1 made it then.

no complaints though (lol). i'm psyched this is finally happening.

not at all, heh. i'm not a fan of countdowns that start at records that got 1 or 2 votes, so setting at 30 raises the bar to like like at least 5 votes to get in. (xp)

wow, last 2 ballots totally shook up the top 5, this is still pretty easy to influence!

by which i mean "the most like mine"

― some dude, Saturday, June 22, 2013 3:37 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

http://a3.twimg.com/profile_images/780356413/DR-ALBUM_COVER_WEB1.jpg

REV, DO A BALLOT

26-30 is kinda lame now, maybe i'll just do a top 25.

I tried 25 for The Doors, felt it was a bit short tbh. It does cut out any interminable trawling through x-and-friend's pet favourite, but otoh you're into the big ones immediately with no real time for everyone to get warmed up. 40's probably about right imo.

Also 25 doesn't split well over multiple days.

yeah i was mostly kidding, will def be 30. mayyybe if i feel like it i'll do 40 i dunno. will definitely unveil at least the top 50 after the countdown is over -- 164 songs received votes

standing now at 18 ballots, will accept any stragglers who send something to me today, though, would love to get up to 20.

alright, got in one more ballot from thewufs, gonna officially close polling for the final count and start rolling out results today! stay tuned!

how many jay-z ballots?

sorry for not voting in neptunes, I kinda missed their heyday as a pop fan & didn't think you'd just want a ballot with "Hot in Herre", "Southern Hospitality", "Freetime", "Grindin", & "Milkshake". but if you do let me know!

hey i don't care what anyone votes for. but oh well, count's over, don't sweat it!

only got like 7 or 8 Jay-Z ballots, gonna set a new deadline for that sometime in July.

NEPTUNES TRACKS POLL - RESULTS NOW!