JAY-Z has finally been inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and it brings about an interesting albeit seemingly simple question… What are the best songs in Jay’s catalogue? While every fan has a different opinion we’ve decided to list the 7 most career-defining songs in JAY-Z’s catalogue.
1. Hard Knock Life
Before Hard Knock Life, rap historians describe Jay’s career as being in a state of limbo. Biggie passed away, critics were slamming Vol. 1 for not being as thorough as Reasonable Doubt, and Jay-Z was considering retirement if this album didn’t work out; if all else failed Bleek was to be the new and improved Jay (Bleek had bars too).
In an era where competition was so fierce, Jay figured out the formula to success in music and dropped the monster lead single Hard Knock Life. That became the first moment, and certainly not the last, where JAY-Z impacted pop culture.
2. Big Pimpin’
Enough can’t be said about In My Lifetime Vol. 3 and its standout single Big Pimpin’. Big Pimpin is a career defining song for JAY-Z for several reasons, the least of which not being that Big Pimpin’ showed that JAY’Z perfected the formula. The hook was infectious, the music was exotic, and the features from southern rap duo UGK culminated in a perfect storm; a Monster jam that has incredible staying power — it still rings off in a club. No longer was Jay rapping in double time, and rather than giving us the lyrical wizardry that made Reasonable Doubt classic he dumbed down for his audience and in the process doubled his dollars… You can criticize him for it but the fans yell ‘Holla.’
3. The Takeover
No Jay-Z list is official without mentioning the Takeover. It was released at a time where New York ran rap music and fans had to wait months, sometimes years, for beefs to resolve (Thank God we have the internet now). Jay’s Friction with Nas dominated the streets and airwaves in the early 2000’s and with the release of The Blueprint in 2001 hip-hop fans were gifted with one of the best diss tracks and album cuts in rap history; the Takeover. While Nas’ Ether remains to this date one of the most scathing diss records of all time the Takeover showed us that R.O.C. was running the rap shit
4. P.S.A.
My fellow Americans, P.S.A. is one of the many standout tracks from the Black Album and iconic in many respects. It’s a staple in Jay’s live and on top of that, P.S.A. Birthed one of the most famous opening lines of a verse in rap history “Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself My name is Hov”
With P.S.A. Jay made it clear that his presence in the game would be missed, if only for a short time.
5. Show Me What You Got
This is where JAY-Z aficionados are gonna disagree with us… But hear us out. Show Me What You Got was Jay-Z’s FIRST post retirement record. Because of that, it’s instantly the barometer — rather a glimpse of what fans were to expect going forward and it’s the answer so many questions. Had Jay lost a step? Is he back for real? Where do he go after the Black Album?
In an era dominated by Lil Wayne, the proclaimed best rapper alive, Show Me What You Got answered all of the questions concerning Jay’s intentions. I mean, rappers HAD to get off the throne… The king was back.
6. Empire State of Mind
Rewind to 2009: Drake is killing the airwaves with Best I Ever Had, Successful etc.… J. Cole is relatively unknown rapper on Roc Nation.. Every rappers using auto-tune and then BAM! Jay-Z drops Death of Autotune and announced The Blueprint 3 shortly after!
What happened next was unexpected… You would think that the Drake assisted Off That would top the charts, or perhaps the Kid Cudi assisted Already Home. Maybe On to the Next One shuts down the summer. However the opposite happened. Out of left-field Empire State of Mind began to pick up steam and it went on to become Jay’s first number 1 single.
7. Holy Grail
Would you want A Jay-Z album in 2013? Absolutely! Keep in mind, Elvis has left the building and now Jigga’s on The Beatles ass which couldn’t be more exciting. More than anything, Holy Grail proved that Jay still had the ability to craft a quality single for radio, and that although he’s in his mid-40’s, 20 years in the rap game, he hasn’t lost a step — rather he’s picked up a few useful ones along the way. Hopefully we’ll get another Holy Grail-esqe Justin Timberlake colloboration on Jay’s next album; Only time will tell, right?
That’s our list guys! If you disagree or have a track to add drop a comment below and let’s debate!
