50 Cent names Jay-Z as most overrated rapper

[LAC/EASTSIDE]

The Blueprint > any Eminem album

Ironic. Eminem actually killed Jay-Z on Blueprint lol. That shit was a shutout. I guess Jay didn't have a choice but to put it out because I wouldn't even put that track on the album after getting murdered like that lol.

[LAC/EASTSIDE]

Name me rappers with three classic Hip Hop albums.

YOU think they are classics. There's a difference brah! Imo he only has ONE to be considered classic.

[M Dogg™]

jayz is the most overrated, dudes hiphop career is equal to a female artists. track record and all. his wife and wifes sister got more street cred then him, and they grew up with Jesus.
hes the meryil streep of hiphop.

i never believed anything he said, maybe it was the way he rapped.... but he wrote the book for artist like Aubrey DRAKE to come into the game.
you  dont have to pay dues, you dont have to have street smarts, just lie and higher security detail. Puffy tried to do this with BIGGIE but BIG wasnt feelling it, by then it was to late..... money is a muffuccah...
Drakes latest 0 to 100 track, he said we can do it on your turf, REALLY..... i doubt drake ever even met up with the bullies at the flag pole of his Canadian school, eh ?

most overrrated rapper Performers jayz, and drake.

 

PREACH!!!!

Jay-Z is the most over-rated.  And there is no "BUT" to that statement.. there is no, "BUT I liked his first album but he sucks now" or "but I have a lot of his cd's and like some of his songs".... No if, ands, or buts, about it.

And don't think I'm being a hater because I am 32 damn years old.  I was around and a huge hip-hop head in 96 when this dude first came out and he wasn't even popular enough to have haters.  His joint with Foxy Brown was the first joint I heard and right away I took him as some sort of back-up groupie for Foxy Brown.  Like a sort of Spliff Starr for Foxy Brown.  No joke.  I just thought he was like her back-up dude or some shit like that...

Then when he came out with what I consider his best song, "Can't Knock the Hustle" with Mary J. Blige, I was taping songs off the radio and I had left the RECORD button on too long and accidentally taped that track after Do or Die "Po Pimp".  So it got left on the tape and I would always hear that song after I would listen to "Po Pimp" before I could get to the tape player and fast forward or rewind.

NOW THAT WAS HIS BEST SONG.  And I even used to fast forward over his shit.   And this was way before dude had HATERS.  Dude just sounded like a regular NY rapper, with very little charisma or originality to stand out from all the other golden age rappers of the mid-90's.

...so I always thought this dude was average at best.  I even bought his second album because I liked the joint "Sunshine" with Foxy Brown and I had a thing for Foxy Brown.  So I tried to listen to the album and I wasn't feeling it at all.   I was shocked when "Hard Knock Life" came out and dude was talking about retirement, and people were saying he was one of the greatest, and making a big deal about that shit like he was a legend or something... I couldn't believe it, and being so young I was stupid enough to buy into the hype a bit and pick up the album.  It sounded good one time through and then the second time through it was wack and I never bumped the album again after that.  



 

I agree. Growing up during those days as well, I  didn't know ONE cat who owned a Jay-Z cd. Not one! Most of his fame and hype he has now, came from outside the music industry. He's overrated for sure.

I will be honest, I bought the Black Album. I didn't even buy Blueprint, I copied it from my friends, and my wife and I got together she had it, so I used her CD. LOL. But as I've said, consistent, had a formula that works, but he is not the all time great everyone makes him out to be. He is not top 10.

Scarface most underrated. Not one bad official album in his career.

only releases that were just alright were Balls & My Word and My Homies 2 but he didn't sign off on those

You ever heard any of Scarface? Mr. Scarface is Back, The World is Mine, The Diary, The Untouchable, My Homies, The Last of a Dying Breed, The Fix? Those all are damn great albums, and The Diary and the Fix to me are personal classics. Mr. Scarface is Back and the World is Mine are two great albums that I can listen to over and over when I'm in an old school mood and I'm tired of NWA. The Untouchable and My Homies are good, they fit that time period and they have some great songs on those albums too. Scarface is constant and way too underrated.

[TraceOneInfinite Flat Earther 96']

I agree. Growing up during those days as well, I  didn't know ONE cat who owned a Jay-Z cd. Not one! Most of his fame and hype he has now, came from outside the music industry. He's overrated for sure.

Word... Fucc what Cham got to say.  He's a baby, he grew up believing the hype that Jay-Z was one of the all time greats.

MDogg... you old enough to remember 96 when Jay first came out.  What were your first impressions?  Didn't he seem like he was doing backup for Foxy and riding her coat-tails?  

I know you wasn't feeling that shit in 96' or even the next year with his second album around late 97.  Then without proving a damn thing dudes just started hyping him like he was the greatest in 98' and it snowballed from there.  But nobody I knew was giving props to Jay-Z in 96' and 97'.  In my opinion he never proved himself.  He got famous and got props without ever actually earning it.  That's called hype and good advertising.

[Chamillitary Click]

Lol, the albums I'm referring to as Jay's classics are all over a decade old.

Jay is top ten no matter how you slice it.

[Mr. Theo]

Name me rappers with three classic Hip Hop albums.

The term classic gets thrown around a lot. A classic can't be replicated, it's why it's a classic. True hip-hop classics like Illmatic, The Chronic, Paid in Full, that's very hard to do. But for the sake of just listing 4 mic quality albums and calling them classics, I'll bit. But honestly, I only call 5 mic albums classics, and very few of these albums listed I'd truly call classic, but as I said, I'd bit.

Run DMC - Run DMC, King of Rock, Raising Hell
Eric B and Rakim - Paid in Full, Follow the Leader, Don't Sweat the Technique
Boogie Down Production - Criminal Minded, By All Means Necessary, The Blueprint of Hip-Hop
Ice Cube - Amerikkka'z Most Wanted, Lethal Injection, the Predator
2Pac - Me Against the World, All Eyez on Me, Makaveli
Nas - Illmatic, It Was Written, Stillmatic
The Roots - Illadelph Halflife, Things Fall Apart, How I Got Over
Kanye West - College Dropout, Late Registration, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

And if you want to add Jay-Z, like Snoop I count only 2 classics, but that's 2 more classics than many other rappers. A few rappers I think have 2 classics

LL Cool J - Radio, Mama Said Knock You Out
Big Daddy Kane - Long Live the Kane, It’s a Big Daddy Thing
Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Fear of a Black Planet
Kool G Rap - Road to Riches, Live and Let Die
Tribe Called Quest - People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, The Low End Theory
Dr. Dre - The Chronic, 2001
Redman - Whut? Thee Album, Muddy Waters
Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle, The Last Meal
Wu Tang Clan - 36 Chambers, Wu Tang Forever
The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die, Life After Death
Common - Resurrection, Be
Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint
Outkast - Aquemini, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
DMX - It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, …And Then There Was X
Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP, The Eminem Show

WAY too many to list with one classic.

See, here is the thing. I wouldn't even argue with you that Jay-Z is a great ARTIST. It's what I think 2Pac did better than anyone else. Create hooks, find the right beat, make a great track with above average lyrics about fly shit and you got Jay-Z. And there is nothing wrong with it. Jay-Z is like the Tim Duncan of rap, you know night in and night out exactly what you are getting from Tim Duncan, 20 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assist and 2 block shots a game. And his stats season to season don't vary too much from that. Every Jay-Z album you know exactly what you are getting, some very hot beats, catchy courses you'll be humming all day, some pretty good word play about fly shit you want to buy and he's flow is smooth enough that you can listen to a whole album front to back as background music and really vibe out to that shit. Jay has his niche. But to put him top 10 greatest rappers ever, that's overrating him.

Though I am glad the Jay-Z as GOAT movement is over as well. With the great outpouring of music from Nas in his late career, I think he has more than proven he is the GOAT, as no one can touch the level of music he put out for as long as he did.

Quik got 3 classics too..

If you consider Kanye's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" a classic, you should consider Jay-Z "American Gangster" too..this shit is vintage classic.

[M Dogg™]

I agree. Growing up during those days as well, I  didn't know ONE cat who owned a Jay-Z cd. Not one! Most of his fame and hype he has now, came from outside the music industry. He's overrated for sure.

Word... Fucc what Cham got to say.  He's a baby, he grew up believing the hype that Jay-Z was one of the all time greats.

MDogg... you old enough to remember 96 when Jay first came out.  What were your first impressions?  Didn't he seem like he was doing backup for Foxy and riding her coat-tails?  

I know you wasn't feeling that shit in 96' or even the next year with his second album around late 97.  Then without proving a damn thing dudes just started hyping him like he was the greatest in 98' and it snowballed from there.  But nobody I knew was giving props to Jay-Z in 96' and 97'.  In my opinion he never proved himself.  He got famous and got props without ever actually earning it.  That's called hype and good advertising.

I remember 1996, didn't even know who 'Pac was dissing in Bomb First. I was like, who the fuck is Jay-Z? I heard of Nas, I heard of Mobb Deep, but Jay-Z? When I heard Reasonable Doubt to listen to Brooklyn's Finest (I heard rumor that they dissed 'Pac on that track so I had to listen), I was like, that's alright. It grew on me over the years, but no one I knew just heard it and said Jay-Z was the best rapper or even close. It was a solid album that is now known as Jay-Z's debut. Then Jay had his first trilogy, which all of them were meh. Vol. 2 was the best on, and off that people were trying to crown him best rapper alive. I think because of the effect Biggie had, and Jay was obviously Biggie's right hand man that people who loved Biggie wanted to love Jay-Z. And Jay was very smart about it, he stuck to what worked for Biggie, drug dealing stories, rapping about fly shit and good word play. He was never as great of a lyrist as Biggie, but he had a better ear for beats. Biggie had Puff Daddy who filtered the beat he rapped on, because Biggie was going to turn down half the beats on his albums because they were too soft. Imagine Biggie becoming a star without Juicy, it wouldn't have happened. But Jay-Z had that going for him. He made whole albums with radio ready beats, which wasn't heard of then, as you had 2-3 radio tracks and the rest was some real street shit to keep your street cred. I don't put Jay in the top 10 rappers, but I will say he is smart as hell.

Lol, the albums I'm referring to as Jay's classics are all over a decade old.

Jay is top ten no matter how you slice it.

Can't agree with that. I mean off the top, Nas, Rakim, 2Pac, Scarface, Ice Cube, Ghostface Killah, Eminem, Notorious B.I.G., Big Daddy Kane, Andre 3000, Kool G Rap, Common and Black Thought are all better than Jay-Z. More than 10 rappers.

Name me rappers with three classic Hip Hop albums.

The term classic gets thrown around a lot. A classic can't be replicated, it's why it's a classic. True hip-hop classics like Illmatic, The Chronic, Paid in Full, that's very hard to do. But for the sake of just listing 4 mic quality albums and calling them classics, I'll bit. But honestly, I only call 5 mic albums classics, and very few of these albums listed I'd truly call classic, but as I said, I'd bit.

Run DMC - Run DMC, King of Rock, Raising Hell
Eric B and Rakim - Paid in Full, Follow the Leader, Don't Sweat the Technique
Boogie Down Production - Criminal Minded, By All Means Necessary, The Blueprint of Hip-Hop
Ice Cube - Amerikkka'z Most Wanted, Lethal Injection, the Predator
2Pac - Me Against the World, All Eyez on Me, Makaveli
Nas - Illmatic, It Was Written, Stillmatic
The Roots - Illadelph Halflife, Things Fall Apart, How I Got Over
Kanye West - College Dropout, Late Registration, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

And if you want to add Jay-Z, like Snoop I count only 2 classics, but that's 2 more classics than many other rappers. A few rappers I think have 2 classics

LL Cool J - Radio, Mama Said Knock You Out
Big Daddy Kane - Long Live the Kane, It’s a Big Daddy Thing
Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Fear of a Black Planet
Kool G Rap - Road to Riches, Live and Let Die
Tribe Called Quest - People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, The Low End Theory
Dr. Dre - The Chronic, 2001
Redman - Whut? Thee Album, Muddy Waters
Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle, The Last Meal
Wu Tang Clan - 36 Chambers, Wu Tang Forever
The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die, Life After Death
Common - Resurrection, Be
Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint
Outkast - Aquemini, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
DMX - It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, …And Then There Was X
Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP, The Eminem Show

WAY too many to list with one classic.

See, here is the thing. I wouldn't even argue with you that Jay-Z is a great ARTIST. It's what I think 2Pac did better than anyone else. Create hooks, find the right beat, make a great track with above average lyrics about fly shit and you got Jay-Z. And there is nothing wrong with it. Jay-Z is like the Tim Duncan of rap, you know night in and night out exactly what you are getting from Tim Duncan, 20 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assist and 2 block shots a game. And his stats season to season don't vary too much from that. Every Jay-Z album you know exactly what you are getting, some very hot beats, catchy courses you'll be humming all day, some pretty good word play about fly shit you want to buy and he's flow is smooth enough that you can listen to a whole album front to back as background music and really vibe out to that shit. Jay has his niche. But to put him top 10 greatest rappers ever, that's overrating him.

Though I am glad the Jay-Z as GOAT movement is over as well. With the great outpouring of music from Nas in his late career, I think he has more than proven he is the GOAT, as no one can touch the level of music he put out for as long as he did.

Quik got 3 classics too..

If you consider Kanye's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" a classic, you should consider Jay-Z "American Gangster" too..this shit is vintage classic.

I got a copy own American Gangster. It's a good album. I'd give it a solid 4 mics. I only put Kanye's album as a classic because almost every hip-hop publication gave it either 5 mics, or 5 stars or XXL's. Personally, it's a good solid album, but College Dropout and Late Registration were classics. When listing these albums, I used other people's ratings too. Or else I'd put No Limit Top Dogg as a classic album for Snoop. It was funny because I really liked Top Dogg more than Last Meal, but Last Meal got the better ratings.

[Blood$]

@M Dogg I think my post got misinterpreted, I meant those were his only "alright" albums because the rest of his are dope to classic lol Scarface in my top 5 

[Chamillitary Click]

I think y'all trippin'.

[LAC/EASTSIDE]

jayz is the most overrated, dudes hiphop career is equal to a female artists. track record and all. his wife and wifes sister got more street cred then him, and they grew up with Jesus.
hes the meryil streep of hiphop.

i never believed anything he said, maybe it was the way he rapped.... but he wrote the book for artist like Aubrey DRAKE to come into the game.
you  dont have to pay dues, you dont have to have street smarts, just lie and higher security detail. Puffy tried to do this with BIGGIE but BIG wasnt feelling it, by then it was to late..... money is a muffuccah...
Drakes latest 0 to 100 track, he said we can do it on your turf, REALLY..... i doubt drake ever even met up with the bullies at the flag pole of his Canadian school, eh ?

most overrrated rapper Performers jayz, and drake.

 

PREACH!!!!

Jay-Z is the most over-rated.  And there is no "BUT" to that statement.. there is no, "BUT I liked his first album but he sucks now" or "but I have a lot of his cd's and like some of his songs".... No if, ands, or buts, about it.

And don't think I'm being a hater because I am 32 damn years old.  I was around and a huge hip-hop head in 96 when this dude first came out and he wasn't even popular enough to have haters.  His joint with Foxy Brown was the first joint I heard and right away I took him as some sort of back-up groupie for Foxy Brown.  Like a sort of Spliff Starr for Foxy Brown.  No joke.  I just thought he was like her back-up dude or some shit like that...

Then when he came out with what I consider his best song, "Can't Knock the Hustle" with Mary J. Blige, I was taping songs off the radio and I had left the RECORD button on too long and accidentally taped that track after Do or Die "Po Pimp".  So it got left on the tape and I would always hear that song after I would listen to "Po Pimp" before I could get to the tape player and fast forward or rewind.

NOW THAT WAS HIS BEST SONG.  And I even used to fast forward over his shit.   And this was way before dude had HATERS.  Dude just sounded like a regular NY rapper, with very little charisma or originality to stand out from all the other golden age rappers of the mid-90's.

...so I always thought this dude was average at best.  I even bought his second album because I liked the joint "Sunshine" with Foxy Brown and I had a thing for Foxy Brown.  So I tried to listen to the album and I wasn't feeling it at all.   I was shocked when "Hard Knock Life" came out and dude was talking about retirement, and people were saying he was one of the greatest, and making a big deal about that shit like he was a legend or something... I couldn't believe it, and being so young I was stupid enough to buy into the hype a bit and pick up the album.  It sounded good one time through and then the second time through it was wack and I never bumped the album again after that.  



 

I agree. Growing up during those days as well, I  didn't know ONE cat who owned a Jay-Z cd. Not one! Most of his fame and hype he has now, came from outside the music industry. He's overrated for sure.

I will be honest, I bought the Black Album. I didn't even buy Blueprint, I copied it from my friends, and my wife and I got together she had it, so I used her CD. LOL. But as I've said, consistent, had a formula that works, but he is not the all time great everyone makes him out to be. He is not top 10.

Scarface most underrated. Not one bad official album in his career.

only releases that were just alright were Balls & My Word and My Homies 2 but he didn't sign off on those

You ever heard any of Scarface? Mr. Scarface is Back, The World is Mine, The Diary, The Untouchable, My Homies, The Last of a Dying Breed, The Fix? Those all are damn great albums, and The Diary and the Fix to me are personal classics. Mr. Scarface is Back and the World is Mine are two great albums that I can listen to over and over when I'm in an old school mood and I'm tired of NWA. The Untouchable and My Homies are good, they fit that time period and they have some great songs on those albums too. Scarface is constant and way too underrated.

For sure. I have a bunch of Jay-Z tracks. You explained it well. He has always been consistent. He has some dope tracks with dope beats in many of his albums. But to say he has several classic ALBUMS, is reaching. In order for an album to be a classic, it has to be dope from top to bottom. I think people started throwing around that classic shit too much to the point that people started buying that shit. I also noticed that the majority of cats claiming that, are the new kids on the block, who weren't heavy in the game back then. SO they have a different perspective. BS aside, growing up... Jay-Z was seen as a clown. Nobody took him serious. He was just another rapper to be honest. But I'm sure he was hyped up in NY much more than in LA.
I never really liked his style. I didn't  like his flow. He has always claimed that he freestyles his music. Treach from NbyN was once quoted saying "niggaz claiming they freestyle all their shit, well it sounds like they are and better start writing shit down" lol! Not sure if it was a shot at Jay but I wouldn't doubt it because Jay has always had a tendency to sound waaay the fuck off beat. He throws you the fuck off and cant ride a beat at times. But that's his style. I guess after doing that shit over and over and him feeding you that shit daily, you learned to like that shit lol. It's like you adapted or like an acquired taste lol. I will say that I think his first album is the sickest one. He wasn't fucking with that off beat shit at that point and it sounded vintage NY. The whole album was tight. That's the only one I personally give a pass for classic.

[Jimmy H.]

I know you wasn't feeling that shit in 96' or even the next year with his second album around late 97.  Then without proving a damn thing dudes just started hyping him like he was the greatest in 98' and it snowballed from there.  But nobody I knew was giving props to Jay-Z in 96' and 97'.  In my opinion he never proved himself.  He got famous and got props without ever actually earning it.  That's called hype and good advertising.

This is some lame-ass logic to me.  Because an artist doesn't come out the gate with a strong impression for someone, he is incapable of making material that is great enough to change that impression? It sounds more the case of your ass being stubborn.  Got famous without earning it?  What does that even mean?  The way I see it.  Fame and success make you a target of hatred and envy.  If you can keep your head cool and maintain relevancy, that's earning it.  A lot of people fold when the temperature changes.

What kind of hype maintains itself over a fifteen-year period?  The guy's had ten consecutive #1 albums as a solo artist plus three as part of collaborative projects.  To call that "good advertising" further illustrates your inability to just give the situation its proper due.  If he's a mediocre talent as you seem to profess he is and he's doing numbers that kill everyone else's, that is some of the single greatest marketing in the world.

[TraceOneInfinite Flat Earther 96']

I remember 1996, didn't even know who 'Pac was dissing in Bomb First. I was like, who the fuck is Jay-Z? I heard of Nas, I heard of Mobb Deep, but Jay-Z? When I heard Reasonable Doubt to listen to Brooklyn's Finest (I heard rumor that they dissed 'Pac on that track so I had to listen), I was like, that's alright. It grew on me over the years, but no one I knew just heard it and said Jay-Z was the best rapper or even close. It was a solid album that is now known as Jay-Z's debut. Then Jay had his first trilogy, which all of them were meh. Vol. 2 was the best on, and off that people were trying to crown him best rapper alive.

See.. that says it all right there.  MDogg or anybody that was around before the hype machine started to build behind Jay-Z can attest to  the fact the Jay-Z was just another rapper.  Nobody thought he was great when they heard him before the hype.  They just kind of though, "ohh he's alright".  Then once the hype machine really got going behind Jay-Z dumbass mufuckaz who never developed a mind of their own started believing this hype.

What's funny is the revisionist history where the hype machine had people believing in retrospect that Reasonable Doubt was some sort of Illmatic.  That's bullshit.  When I first heard Nas rap I was a West Coast gangsta rap/Death Row fanatic, and I remember taking it as like a threat to the West because I could recognize it from jumpstreet that Nas was a major player on the East.  Before I knew about the hype around Nas, I saw his video on MTV and I could tell he was a giant on the East Coast, right up there with Biggie.

Didn't nobody feel that way about Jay-Z when Reasonable Doubt came out and now everyone is saying it's his greatest album.  That is proof that all the Jay-Z shit is hype that came later.

[Hack Wilson - real]

jayz is the most overrated, dudes hiphop career is equal to a female artists. track record and all. his wife and wifes sister got more street cred then him, and they grew up with Jesus.
hes the meryil streep of hiphop.

i never believed anything he said, maybe it was the way he rapped.... but he wrote the book for artist like Aubrey DRAKE to come into the game.
you  dont have to pay dues, you dont have to have street smarts, just lie and higher security detail. Puffy tried to do this with BIGGIE but BIG wasnt feelling it, by then it was to late..... money is a muffuccah...
Drakes latest 0 to 100 track, he said we can do it on your turf, REALLY..... i doubt drake ever even met up with the bullies at the flag pole of his Canadian school, eh ?

most overrrated rapper Performers jayz, and drake.

 

i agree with this but Jay isn't the only studio gangster.  the problem with him is how much of a snake he is...Nas named it all on Ether.  "Got the nerve to say you better than Big" and "eminem murdered you on your own shit"   and how he cheated on Beyonce with Robinson Cano.

[Jack Trippa 3z company ho]

Def the most overhyped rapper ever. Has had some great singles, but outside of RD and Blueprint doesn't have any albums worth a shit.

Hes been unlistenable since the black album. The only song I've liked of his since then is run this town and that's due to the beat.

[J. B A N A N A S]

The Black Album, Blueprint and Reasonable Doubt are undisputed classics

True.