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>>In fact, to further my point, the only guest MC on the >album >>was Eminem, who arguably WAS the industry's #1 cash cow at >>that time.... >> >>Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question, though. > >Jay came in (officially) trying to replicate the success of >Illmatic and Ready To Die, putting together the home team and >some NYC heavy hitters on production, forging the bond with >Biggie right off the bat to boot. > >After he had a hit with "Ain't No..." he followed up w/Vol. 1, >the first of a number of albums (and songs) that followed >closely what was "hot" rounded down to the very last cent. >Vol. 2 being his biggest blockbuster, in no part due to the >contributions of Swizz and Timbaland, arguably the hottest >producers in rap in 1998. > >But if you look back.. in 2001? Soul samples were seen as >passe in the mainstream. Even Timbo's contribution was a lil >off what he was known to put out at the time. "Girls, Girls, >Girls" as a single? Not even one track from his friends, the >Neptunes (who basically guaranteed a hit back then, esp. for >him)? No one else (outside of Timbo) that was well-known? >Daring to show some bit of frustration and/or slight ("Ain't >No Love"?) > >Jay has always had high profile guests on his albums, from >Biggie, to DMX, to UGK. He had also successfully put out a >couple of artists following the same formula he had used on >himself (Beans and Bleek.. clown if you want but I do believe >Bleek did do well his first couple of times out). But this >time around, Jay reduced it to only one (if you don't count >Q-Tip, Slick Rick, and Biz Markie on "Girls, Girls, Girls"). >And for as much as it was business, Jay putting Eminem on his >record was risky... especially considering that was ammo for >Nas in response to "Takeover", not to mention him possibly >being overshadowed by his one guest appearance. > >Even though "H To The Izzo" seemed to take off, it still felt >like, from what you knew of Jay-Z you were, for the first time >in years, flying in blind. > >Contrast with THE BLACK ALBUM; it was a lyrical clinic from >Jay with quotables for days, but in retrospect, it was very >formulaic (everything seemed carefully choreographed, from >beginning to end... and though he strayed from his original >plans, he at least brought the Neptunes back). > >BLUEPRINT really felt like Jay was taking the kind of risk his >success had finally afforded him...it wasn't so much an "F.U." >of defiance, but rather an artistic statement that spoke to >the slight he spoke on in THE BLACK ALBUM regarding his >critical response in certain circles. He was a critical >darling for many years, but he wanted that "underground" love, >that a Nas or a Mobb Deep could still get despite the stumbles >if not full-on fails in their discographies... (he's even >admitted this several times). > >Well, to them, he said "F.U." (to Nas and Mobb directly, he >actually said so). > >In doing so, he set trends and actually "made" a couple of >careers (Kanye and Just Blaze, in particular). > >I think that's the only time Jay actually did something like >that in his career and had it "stick". Every time since (the >retirement, the Budweiser, the "death" of Autotune)... he's >either backtracked or what have you. The ever-underappreciated >AMERICAN GANGSTER is close, but it has the benefit of >following one of his worst albums ever.
But, you said it yourself, this is better described as a moment of risky defiance in his OWN career than it is an "FU" to the industry, IMO.
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"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415
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