Jay-Z — In My Lifetime, Vol. 1
After the death of Biggie, the title of “King Of New York” was left vacant. Jay-Z’s second LP was his attempt to claim the title, but he wasn’t quite there yet.
Longevity is something rare in the rap world, especially now. With so much music being pushed out like never before, some rappers are hot today and gone tomorrow. In the case of Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, he’s a Hip-Hop anomaly. His first album “Reasonable Doubt” was released back in 1996 and today he’s one of the most famous artists on the face of the earth. As the years have gone on, people still remain excited to hear more from the Brooklyn native. After the death of Biggie in 1997, New York had a void and a throne to fill. One person who wanted it and claimed that the “city is mine”, was Jay. Hov’s need for commercial success, was perhaps something he believed he needed to support his claim.
“Reasonable Doubt” may be a classic album, but high chart success is not what the album achieved upon release, it didn’t reach platinum status until 2002 and within the “shiny suit era” ruled by Diddy and Mase, this spawned Jay-Z’s second LP to include singles such as “The City Is Mine” with Blackstreet, “(Always Be My) Sunshine” with Babyface and Foxy Brown.
The intro record “A Million and One Questions/Rhyme No More” is probably one of the best intros I’ve ever heard and its two songs in one. Produced by the legendary DJ Premier he uses his classic sampling techniques and scratches to provide Hov a fantastic instrumental, whilst Hov shines bright lyrically as he raps about his life after his debut and his handling with fame.
“I got mouths to feed ’til they put flowers on me, and kiss my cold cheek, chicks crying like I was Cochise”
An album highly criticised by Jay himself, as he describes “Vol. 1” as “the one that got away”, the singles from the album have been criticised for cheap attempts to obtain chart success. In hindsight this is extremely harsh, as “The City Is Mine” and “Sunshine” are records that may not compete with Jigga’s future hit records, however they’re not garbage. Though the same cannot be said for “I Know What Girls Like”, as the Lil Kim assisted track is the worst song by far on the whole album, as the chorus is terrible and Jay dumbs down his lyricism.
““I’m from where the hammers rung, news cameras never come, you and your mans hung in every verse in your rhyme, where the grams is slung”.”
Compared to “Reasonable Doubt”, Jay’s second LP may not be classic, however there’s certainly classic material within the album. Some of Jigga’s finest works came out of this album, from the gritty sonics of “Streets is Watching” to the smooth and melodic gem that is “Imaginary Player”. The last track, “You Must Love Me”, is one of Jay-Z’s most personal tracks'; as he raps about his regrets, mistakes and guilt. The biggest highlight off the album is “Where I’m From”, a menacing and haunting beat from the members of Bad Boy’s production team The Hitmen, D-Dot and Amen-Ra; Hov sharpens his pen game to provide vivid imagery of where he grew up, the Marcy Projects. Even after two decades since the album’s release “Where I’m From” still provides you the same goose bumps no matter how many times you hear it.
In conclusion, “Vol. 1” may not be top 3 within Jay’s discography, however that doesn’t mean it’s not a good album. It embodies Jigga’s trial and error of becoming the artist he is known today. An artist who is capable of making music for everybody from street records, club hits to songs that non Hip-Hop fans can even enjoy. This has allowed him to have the second most number one albums in Billboard history, at the time of writing. His attempt for chart success, may not of been successful in 1997, however apart from “I Know What Girls Like” his pop record attempts were still sonically pleasing to me. Hov is too harsh on this album, it’s not “the one that got away”, it’s a good album in its own right.