Jay-Z & Linkin Park "Collision Course" (2004)

 

Delighted by the recent Rap Metal adjacent works of Hackivist, I found myself thinking back to this record, which I had barely paid attention too upon its release. Back then I probably had my mind deep in the world of Extreme Metal and nose turned up... But with age, a renewed fondness for the music of my teens now has me wide eyed getting into this collaboration by two of the industries biggest names of the era.

Born of MTV's Mash Ups show and masterminded by Mike Shinoda, the brief six track Collision Course sounds born of that spirit, the interchanging of instrumentals and accappelas between opposing musicians. As a collaboration its sounds just like that, however the enthusiasm shared between the two camps had Linkin Park and Jaz-Z meeting in the studio to re-record parts of Shinoda's arrangements to ensure quality.

It speaks volumes to the seamless nature, everything aligns sweetly. Crunky percussive kicks and snappy snares give the metallic aggression of the guitars a ground to the Hip Hop persona. Both Chester's moving cleans and raw screams match the Rap instrumentals, Mike's roll as a rapper obviously fits but its mostly Linkin Park who dominate the vibes with their songs taking up most the runtime.

Big Pimping and Izzo stand out as the cuts which hold onto their original beats but the other songs get overridden by the metallic energy when the guitars arrive. Its all fantastic but perhaps my emotional attachments have me reveling in nostalgia from these re-worked bangers. Points Of Authority and One Step Close overload 99 Problems for goosebumps inducing mania as Jay-Z drives the crossover with his raps.

I am ultimately left fascinated by this EP, a commercial peak at the end of an era when my two favorite genres rubbed shoulders. For all the Rap Metal I've adored, missing out on this was a major fumble. I can't get past how wonderful the chemistry is. It feels like an obvious mash up yet that doesn't hold it back where you might expect. Its like bottled lightning, perhaps amplified by my own personal excitement. Given the two toured this together, the accompanying DVD is now mandatory viewing for me.

Rating: 7/10

The Carters "Everything Is Love" (2018)

I was really excited for this album after hearing the hypnotic, Trap alike, attention grabbing Apeshit single. The prospect of this famous couple finally working together on a project was intriguing to say the least but its turned out to be a rather hollow record that lacks an exciting or distinct personality. Its vision is lackluster and fails miserably to get substance out of the duo. Its mediocre, its best moments are barely its own and the production has a range of talent involved but its instrumentals play it all safe.

Admittedly I'm unacquainted with Beyonce's music beyond hearing Desinys Child on MTV as a teen. Her singing on the record is loaded with flamboyant inflections that flavor every word sung with a spice but whatever shes expressing with her voice, I feel a complete emotional disconnect from. As well as singing she dips in with some half way raps and deliveries that feel a step behind the curb, as if playing catch up with trending styles in the Hip Hop sound. This reigns especially true with the adoption of the "skrt skrt" and other trendy lyrics, styles and vocalizations heard in the first half of the album before the two settle into a rhythm.

Jay-Z doesn't come into his own until the records second half. At first hes a quiet presence behind Beyonce who takes the lime light. One of his first raps has him spitting a weak repetition of rhyming words on the hook, nice nice nice, night night night, lights lights lights, ice ice ice. Its a bore and a lot of his lyrical themes fail to jump of the page however by the records final songs he drops some tighter verses but by then the album has lost me. Its a shame, they really don't spark anything unique together, it sounds almost routine at its inception.

The records best moments come on Still with a classic hook borrowed and reworked from Dr. Dre and unsurprisingly it does little other than remind you of how good of a record 2001 was. Its second stride of promise is on the single track Apeshit, which boasts strong Mumble Rap and Trap influences on the instrumental. It wasn't produced by Travis Scott but you can hear his influence and that of the Migos. Nothing more than reflecting the scene but it was pulled of well. Ultimately there is little to this record that's innovative or exciting. Feels like the two came together to do what they know rather than explore their musicality and chemistry.

Favorite Track: Apeshit

Rating: 4/10

Jay-Z "4:44" (2017)

As it says on the album cover, this is billionaire rapper Jay-Z's thirteenth studio album. Originally released as a Tidal exclusive, the album went platinum swiftly no thanks to business deal resulting in a bulk purchase to push it over the edge. This put me off giving the record a try, that and the play duration which is just thirty six minutes, significantly shorter for a rapper from the compact disc generation, usually filling the CD to the brim with cuts. Impressions are just that, from the opening track "Kill Jay-Z" you realize your in for an introspective journey. With the arrival of his twins, Jay is has a lot of reflecting to do on the lifestyle of his past and many of the decisions he now finds questionable. Its packaged as a collection of raw thoughts, rapped to his former self as he closes the door on that chapter, an interesting window into the life and mind of the self made man.

For me, Jay-Z has always been a tough nut to crack. His debut is a classic and The Blueprint too but beyond two projects he has never really dazzled me with his raps or production style. On this record the lyrical content has a real pull as he lays out his internal feelings openly at an interesting point in his career, cruising beyond his peak of his success yet still striving for more as a businessman. He shares his motivations about leaving his wealth to his family and future generation, while talking about the sins of his father who shamed their family name. In another track he touches on his past and unfaithful behavior, questing what his daughters will think if and when they find out. The openness is quite the endearing quality for this record and it spans several tracks. One of which, "Moonlight" has Jay-Z poking fun at modern rappers with the "skrt skrt" and "trill" slang, saying they all sound alike.

Behind it soft, soulful, jazzy, mood setting, yet rather tame instrumentals appease the stage for the raps to take the main focus. Sample driven, with many pitch shifting loop manipulations, the style is far from edgy and natural progression for a 90s rapper. It attempts new tricks with the old techniques and for the most part is solid, laying down coherent tunes that line up with toned down, tame drum beats, making it an accessible experience for the average listener. 4:44 is a fine record with little to falter yet doesn't do much to dazzle beyond its subject matter solidifying an interesting point in his life, its a reasonable effort, its charm is in its honesty.

Rating: 6/10

Jay-Z "The Blueprint" (2001)

American rapper Jay-Z needs no introduction, a household name around the world he dominated Hip Hop in the naughties as an artist and a business man who's built a substantial amount of wealth. A true rags to riches story of a young man who went from drug dealer to international rap star. I've never found myself drawn to his music, however I adore the Mafioso Rap debut "Reasonable Doubt" he dropped in 96. Watching the movie "Dope" the lead character referred to this record as the end and "exclamation point" of the 90s era I love so much. Of course I promptly picked this one up and found a couple of familiar songs, "Izzo" I remembered from MTV in my youth and "Renegades", a menacing and dark duet with Eminem who drops a classic verse from the prime of his defining style.

So "The Blueprint" is hailed as a classic, and picking up a record like this its hard to avoid the acclaim and ratings the record received. It certainly set the bar high, but didn't get my blood pumping around the clock. That being said its a mighty fine record illuminated by production from Just Blaze and Kanye West who both make their breakthroughs with a fine set of instrumentals that was the highlight for me. It steps away from the radio rap of "Volume 3" and brings a soulful vibe to snappy beats with a variety of kits and themes to keep the track running fresh. The track "Girls, Girls, Girls" is a blinding moment on the record, Just Blaze sampling Tom Brock to perfection, a true example of what the art of sampling is about. Legends Q-Tip and Biz Markie dropping in with the hook borrowed from the oldskool Crash Crew while Jay-Z talks about his promiscuous lifestyle.

The record opens up with Jay-Z making his return statement before dropping into a diss track aimed at Nas and Mobb Deep, I know Nas's response "Ether" and "Takeover" pales in comparison but to give Jay-Z credit the raps are tight and creative but again the magic comes from the beat with its rumpus baseline and baron atmosphere characterized by samples between the kick snare and bass groove. Jay-Z's raps are alright, hes straightforward, easy to follow and light on the ears, but quite honestly he rarely does much to grab my attention. Sometimes a rapper just can't do it for you and its hard to put my finger on why. He did drop a couple of great lines though "I sell ice in the winter, I sell fire in hell, I am a hustler baby, I sell water to a well" is one that's stuck in my mind as well as his tragic mathematics on the diss track, somehow calculating four records in ten years is a two in ten average.

The only other times Jay was grabbing my attention was dropping references or recycling classic rap lines. The best rap came from Eminem on renegade, also with a fantastic hook chorus. I walk away from this record dazzled by the production, desiring more from the lyrical substance and understanding its reputation. Surprised I didn't find this one sooner but there is an ocean of music out there and the size of a name is rarely a hook to pull me in.

Favorite Tracks: Girls Girls Girls, U Don't Know, Holla' Hovita, Heart Of The City, Renegades

Rating: 8/10