Introduction
This is my first album review and this is also my first hip hop review ever, so I feel like I must explain some things right away. First off, I must explain that this is my opinion and I don't care to be objective about this album in particular. After all I only like a certain type of hip hop. The hip hop that actually has bounce to it and a hard beat to groove to. I don't like that shit that has an r&b singer takeover and rappers trying to be singers all the sudden and vice versa etc. So that should prepare you for my humorous constructive criticism.
Likes
1. Heaven: It has a heavy beat and lyrics are ambiguously vague but they sound really cool "Question religion, question it all. Question existence until them questions are solved. Meanwhile this heretic I be out in Marrakesh.." What is clear in this song is that Jay is secular but I always thought that was obvious since most of his career he has seemed apathetic to any deep theological talk. He also barely even addresses the illuminati conspiracy, but seriously do we even care? I myself always assumed that he was just a rich egotistical capitalist. The chorus is actually pretty good "Have you ever been to Heaven?" It actually resonates really well in the head. The second verse is full of even more confusing lyrics that jump around everywhere which I believe is Jay's way of poking fun at the conspiracy theorists. It's very much in the same spirit of John Lennon's "Glass Onion" which Lennon later explained was a written to drive the conspiracy theorists crazy. Although the second verse is a hot mess I admire it's random creativity. To me it's evident that Jay is having fun with it.
2. Picasso Baby: Now I know what most of you are thinking "How can you like such a materialistic song?" I know it's materialistic as hell and the whole album for that matter is one big corporate commercial of Jay-Z talking about what he has. In this song I argue that he actually talks about what he "wants" and how his hunger is insatiable. It really dives into the faust ideology of man never being satisfied and always wanting more "I'm never satisfied, can't knock my hustle. I wanna Rothko, no I wanna brothel. No, I want a wife that fuck me like a prostitute." Can a man stop wanting more or making more records? Jay-Z's response is "I could if I would but I'm hot." One of the most direct answers one could give especially with the realization that it's true. Where the song fails is his inability to flow with the beat transition in where he blows it on annoying orgasm spasms. Eventually he picks up and recovers with the repercussions of being "hot" as he calls it. It's a common pop artist technique of firing back at their haters as if to say "if you don't like me then why do you give me so much attention?" Which holds some grain of truth to it. The lyrics are pretty good but the flow was mediocre. Why I hold this song as one of the best is because it has the best beat on the album. I prefer nasty grimy beats with little to no chorus and more rapping than singing. This is how I like my hip hop.
3. F.U.T.W: Another magnificent beat and some of the better lyrics on the album. The only problem is the lazy chorus. It just came off as too lazy for me and the flow of the music comes to a screeching halt. The chorus is effective in giving strength to the return of the verse but I think it sacrifices the groove and really tests my patience. Other than that the lyrics were solid because he is actually being a little bit motivational to those who want to make it "I'm from the bottom I know you can relate" This is typically a technique of selling the american capitalist dream. He continues to persuade his fans that he came from the same world and is nothing more than a success story therefore not an oppressor. In other words he's a rich man for and from the people trying to indeed "fuck up the world" of oppressors and status quo. This is what Jay-Z does best and he has done it so well throughout his career.
4. Versus: This reminds me a lot of old school Jay-Z. In particular it reminds me of "Friend of Foe '98" which is a short but sweet classic. But even that song exceeded the one minute mark. I can safely say that Jay-Z unjustly deprived one of the best beats on the album. Especially with the ending dis "your metaphors are about what your net worth is...hahaha" which just comes off as an elementary snobby shit line. Jay-Z swears he's wearing a wig with ruffles all the sudden.
Mediocre List
Tom Ford: The beat is pretty solid but his chorus is garbage and too much of it sounds like a contrived club banger.
Somewhere In America: The beat has promise but it's inability to really bang is where it falls into mediocrity.
Disappointments
Holy Grail: Justine Timberlake takes over the song so it pretty much turns into an R&B jam and as I explained that's 'the shit I don't like." At a certain point Justin's melody pretty much sounds like that Christina Perri "Jar of Hearts" song mixed in with a little bit of Travie Mccoy "I Want to Be a Billionaire" and that is certainly some "shit I don't like." I need to seriously thank Chief Keef for coming up with that line. It makes things so much easier.
Part II (One the Run): Seriously do I have to explain why I don't like this. The beginning introduction should already explain why I don't like shit like this.
Crown, FuckWithMeYouKnowlGotlt and pretty much the rest of the album: Because the rest of the album kind of sounds the same. These songs sound like they're trying to be club bangers more than anything else. Nas is wasted on a terribly gimmicky song. The Rick Ross song deserves to be on the disappointment list simply for me having to write that stupid ass title in the first place -- the beat is okay in the beginning but eventually becomes boring and the song becomes repetitive with very little rapping throughout. The rest of the album plays out with a lot of horsing around. "Nickels and Dimes" is not bad but the beat is so extremely boring and light that I don't really care what Jay is saying. The chorus sounds pretty lazy and repetitive as well. "Oceans" was one of the songs that I was looking forward to because of the prolific Frank Ocean being featured on it. But in all honesty Ocean doesn't really shine thru in this one for me. In the Yeezus album Ocean has one of the greatest moments but I can't say the same thing about this appearance. Every other song I kind of slept on... even after hearing them about three times.
Last Word
I think it's a descent album. The production of glossy beats are it's biggest strength. But it's biggest downfall is Jay-Z's lyrical content. He just doesn't have the flow anymore, nor the delivery (which is pretty much the same thing) or the actual material to really keep me interested. He sounds lazy throughout most of it. It's like as if rushing the production to be finished on the day of it's Samsung release really forced Jay-Z to submit spontaneous ad lib lyrics. It seems that maybe he does need to think about retirement now. I mean it would be logical since he is the richest rap star in the world and owns a sports team now. He really doesn't need to rap anymore if you ask me. Maybe he should concentrate on giving all these crisp Timbaland productions to someone like J. Cole who has shown us that he does indeed have sharp delivery in comparison to Kanye or Jay-Z now. If he would have lent some of these bangers to J. Cole we might have actually received a great album this summer. Point being Jay's peak is clearly over and he needs to pave the way for the new talent he has under his label. After all he is a business man. A "Watch the Throne Part 2" will most likely be made and make him more millions, but after that he needs to use that money for his retirement.
I give this a 3 out of 5 stars.
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