Jay-Z across the waves

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The Killing Joke's New Album thread went wrong, and went off into talking about Jay-Z and Ally's foine review of The Blueprint

See, I'm with Ally all the way through the first sentence "It's difficult to argue that Jay-Z is an artist who needs to make a comeback", but lost after that, because at that point in time, Jay-Z's presence in the Andrewverse (and possibly parts of the east-of-the-atlantic-verse) was "that guy who did the Annie single a few years ago".

Even now he's one for three: I hated Bonnie & Clyde (apart from "don't let the necessary occur"), and only love Crazy In Love.

So, was Jay-Z only enormous in the US, or was I living in coal cellar 1996-2001?

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 13:40 (twenty-two years ago)

The third paragraph is a red herring - I know I have no taste, I'm just curious as to whether I'm startlingly ignorant as well.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 13:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Ain't No N****
Can I Get A...
Hard Knock Life
Anything
Big Pimpin'
I Just Wanna Love U (Give It To Me)

these at least were all middling to big UK hits between 1996 and 2001. if you listened to the radio in that period you're bound to recognise a couple of them. (altho it's prob not too controversial to say that it's only been post-'Blueprint' that he's had a very vocal non-hip hop audience, anywhere)

― pete b. (pete b.), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 13:57 (twenty-two years ago)

lots of hip hop fans liked jay z before the blueprint

― sean g, Tuesday, 15 July 2003 15:54 (twenty-two years ago)

yes, and lemonade was a popular drink, and it still is.

― pete b. (pete b.), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 16:08 (twenty-two years ago)

I missed a revival regarding one of the best reviews ever? (Yes, I know Ally gets all annoyed whenever I say that but IT IS TRUE.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 16:46 (twenty-two years ago)

well, Jay's peak in sales was his breakthrough, Hard Knock Life (4 million), but he's remained a pretty big seller ever since...Vol 3 would've probably been considered a disappointment in sales if "Big Pimpin'" hadn't come out as the 2nd single and helped it sell 3 million, and I think the Dynasty sold 3 too...in fact, I think The Blueprint may have only sold 2, or at least less than the previous albums, which means it wasn't much of a comeback, although it definitely was a big crossover hit and brought him an audience that hadn't given much of a shit about him before (i.e. critics and ILM types, who mostly went back to sleeping on him after that album). The Blueprint2 is certified triple platinum, although that's only in SoundScan's screwball equation that doubles sales figures for double CD's, which I think is really stupid...so basically it's sold somewhere between 1.5 and 2mil. which probably has something to do with him saying the next LP will be his last (although he's said that before at the height of his popularity).

basically, noone else in the rap game's put out as many consecutive albums with those kind of consistent sales. so even if other rappers have had individual albums with bigger sales, he's had the longest run at the top, the most hits, in the past few years, of anyone. so maybe in your esteem his stock goes up and down, but he's pretty much been at the top for a while now.

― Al (sitcom), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 20:24 (twenty-two years ago)

although I have no idea what his sales figures are like in the U.K., although I get the impression, mostly from ILM, that only the really big crossover hits (as listed above in pete b.'s post) made a dent over there.

― Al (sitcom), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 20:26 (twenty-two years ago)

jay-z releases a good album, then a mediocre-to-bad one, then another good album to make up for it. it is his cycle.

― jess (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 20:28 (twenty-two years ago)

meh. there definitely seems to be a cycle in his consistent and then filler-heavy album rotation, but i definitely wouldn't go as far as good/mediocre. I like the better halves of The Dynasty and The Gift & The Curse more than anything off The Blueprint.

― Al (sitcom), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 20:32 (twenty-two years ago)

dude what the fuck is wrong with british people

― trife (simon_tr), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 00:23 (twenty-two years ago)

"they say that I'm foolish, I only talk about jewels / do you fools listen to music or do you just skim through it?"

It sounds like most Brits only hear the singles. Blueprint was the only record I ever bought from bootleggers, because it was on the streets like 2 weeks before it came out and I just COULD NOT WAIT. I even like "Renegade." Anyway Ned's right, that's one of the best reviews I've ever read.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 00:53 (twenty-two years ago)

those that think hov thing is bling blingin / either havent heard the album or dont know english / they only know what the single is, and single / that out to be the meaning of what hes about

in second line replace 'dont know' with 'are'

― trife (simon_tr), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 01:04 (twenty-two years ago)

are you people high or something, NME thinks Jay-Z is God

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 01:31 (twenty-two years ago)

god mc, me, jay hova

― trife (simon_tr), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 01:32 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.nme.com/reviews/11055.htm

I think you'd have to comb through his U.S. press for a long time before you found something so effusive

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 01:41 (twenty-two years ago)

no you wouldnt, blueprint got five mics

― trife (simon_tr), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 01:56 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, blueprint got the most effusive praise I've seen a non-missy/eminem album get since biggie

― James Blount (James Blount), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 03:05 (twenty-two years ago)

point taken

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 03:29 (twenty-two years ago)

in the period in question the only bigger rapper in the uk was eminem. jay-z's profile over here was more or less the same as it was in the states, in proportion to the relative profiles of rap in general in both countries. are you just complaining that british people don't listen to as much hip hop as american people?

oh, wait. i see.

― pete b. (pete b.), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 08:16 (twenty-two years ago)

BRITISH RAP FANS LIKED JAY Z BEFORE THE BLUEPRINT.

― sean g, Wednesday, 16 July 2003 12:08 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah i think the blueprint was just his crossover into the nme and the wire terrain

― robin (robin), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 12:10 (twenty-two years ago)

AMERICAN POP FANS LIKED JAY-Z BEFORE THE BLUEPRINT (BEFORE HARD KNOCK LIFE EVEN)

― James Blount (James Blount), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 12:14 (twenty-two years ago)

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