Jay Z puts it down (and has over the course of his career) on American Gangster. It’s not for me to judge whether it’s a classic or not, but anytime you can put a CD in your car (and yes, I bought my copy) and play it from the front to the back without needing to skip tracks, that’s a classic.

For those who think the Joe Buddens (and no disrespect to Budden) of the world are better than Jay Z, you’ve lost your minds. That automatically tells me that those individuals need to go back and revisit the Hip Hop History Books. Comparing Jay to almost any of the so-called “hot” rappers of today is a damn insult to not only Jay, but the history of hip hop itself. It kills me when people get on these sites and hate on someone because they’re “too” successful. What the hell is too successful? She he rap for free? Keep it grimy and stay living in the Marcy Projects? Would you respect him then? Would he be better received if he was broke and still hustling?

I think it’s a shame that Jay had to go back to rapping about drugs when that’s not him anymore. “I’m more Frank Lucas than Ludacris/Luda is my dude/so I ain’t trying to dis/And Frank Lucas is cool, but I ain’t trying to snitch.” I love the lyrics and the reference, but Jay Z is no more a gangster than any of you are music moguls. However, in order for him to be successful at his job he’s been forced to talk about being a hustler. In Kingdom Come he let us in and talked about his success and we said the album sucked. He hasn’t been in the game for more than 11 years now. Seriously people, the next time you want to hate on someone, hate on the “real hustlers” that are still selling drugs to our people on a daily basis and blaming the fact that they didn’t get an education on the white man. I think it sucks that Jay felt pressured to talk about hustling again, but I feel worse that we as hip hop fans applied the choke hold.

At the end of the day, Jays making music. He’s an entertainer. If you don’t like his work, that’s your right not to. But please, for the sake of the rest of us that do enjoy him, stop hating. He doesn’t make you buy his music. Stick to your Soulja Boy Dance. And when Jay finally does retire in a couple of years (if not sooner), let’s see where the state of hip hop is a few years later…it’s a damn shame my people refuse to celebrate another black man’s success.

This album is right up there with Reasonable Doubt Blueprint and Illmatic……I F#$kin Love IT!

We(black people) need to watch what we put out. . . jay z is real as the s*It he talks about. take a class or 2 you will be able to understand him. . .maybe

Lovelyone
Detroit, MI