Jay Z fans irritate me mostly because of the fact that they insist their idol posseses more lyrical prowess than Nas; and although the beef between Jay Z and Nas is over…….it lives in my heart everytime I hear Shawn Carter on the radio. The reason why someone is allowed to be overrrated so heavily is because of his immense fan base. The absolutely VAST amount of people that listen to and download Jay Z records is astounding, and allows him to get away with alot of things…..because so many people justify it. Tupac is not the greatest rapper of all time, but Americans are allowed to believe that because everywhere you turn is a Tupac fan that will defend that statement. The same thing happens with Jay Z, and if people aren’t exposed to any alternative, they can’t defend against these statements by the masses that “Jay Z is the best to ever do it”
The main complaint other than the fact he is overrated, isn’t his lyrical ability. He is actually a very good rapper, but what pisses me off is not skill but inconsistency. If someone tells Jay Z to rock rap with an incredibly fast Das Efx rhyme scheme and prove himself as a capable lyrical emcee next to Large Professor and Big L, he would do it. If someone told him to use soul samples and make calm, feel good music, drink Cristal, and wear suits and fur hats on yachts, he would do it. If someone told him to wear hoodies, jerseys, baggy jeans, and Timberlands while making hardcore hood tracks, he would do it. If someone told him to make atmosoheric radio pop rap hits, wear Louis Vuitton sneakers, sunglasses, and smile all the damn time, he would do it. You can’t say “this sounds like a Jay Z song” because he has absolutely no distinctive style. He’s a generic face that changes to follow what’s trending at the time. And when he compromises his original style to do what’s “cool”, he sells records and gains more new fans.
But being a musical performer shouldn’t be about gaining new fans, it should be about retaining old ones. Eminem is a perfect example of someone who targets a completely different demographic then when he first debuted. Originially he had real hip hop heads, fans of Mos Def and Common that would defend him. Now he has thirteen year old white girls that think he’s cute. So his original fans don’t back him up anymore…….and if that happens what’s the point? What is the point of incredible record sales, fame, and popularity if you alienate the people who first got you to that position? What’s the point of being an artist if you don’t have a specific style? Why would you want to alter a good thing, when you could have lifelong fans of your music for decades that never change? I don’t understand it, because a Raekwon fan that has been listening to Wu Tang since 1992 is success……………….not a fucking platinum album. And the only reason people are on Jay’s dick is because they haven’t been exposed to real hip hop.
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