Jay-Z...Is That Your Boy?

Shaun Carter was born December 4th weighing in at 10 pounds 8oz. He was the last of my four children the only one who didn't give me any pain when I gave birth to him and that's how I knew he that he was a special child.

And so begins the cut "December 4th" by Jay-Z off the hip hop classic The Black Album which I am bumping right now on this very December 4th 2009. Clearly the album title is a nod to The Beatles The White Album and even more clear is the fact that like The White Album has its status as one of the great rock n' roll albums of all time, The Black Album is one of the best hip hop albums of all time.



I came in late on the Jay-Z fandom. When Jay-Z hit the scene I was not interested. I was so stuck in my time of early '90s hip hop like Tribe, De La, and Pharcyde that anything that even threatened the pedestal that I placed those bands on I would look at with a crooked eye. That's a bad habit I had. Too many people tell me to listen something and I immediately look for the problems with it. "Man screw Jay-Z. You like rappers who use Annie samples huh? Must be how you was raised." Finally someone gave me a copy of The Black Album and I wasn't hearing Jimi, I was listening to Jimi.

I didn't go crazy and buy every Jay-Z album. I just couldn't stop listening to The Black Album. I played "Encore" so much I would mime the opening horns in my terrible Miles Davis impression (it's really bad) no matter where I was listening to it, the shower, the club, the train. Any song on that album causes a reaction. You get that Jay-Z swagger when you hear "What More Can I Say", "Dirt Off Your Shoulder", "99 Problems" and the track list goes on and on. I have to mention "My 1st Song". That's how you end an album. That song has Rolling Stones status when it comes to ending an album. Listen to the album Exile On Main St. by the Stones and when you get to the final track "Soul Survivor" you feel like you've taken a musical trip with them. The same goes for "My 1st Song".

Then Jay-Z retired and he lost me again. I thought "Who retires from hip hop?". Policemen retire, boxers retire, Carlitos Brigante retired. Rappers don't retire, they just stop rapping until something else comes along. So I bid my adieu to Jay-Z for awhile yet again. And what does Jay-Z do? He comes out of retirement and drops this on me:



To everyone who was around me when "Show Me What You Got" dropped I apologize for playing it to death...PSYCH! You must be out'cho mind if that song don't get you to moving. Play it at a house party the next time you can and see what the reaction is. Shoulders bouncing and heads bobbing. That's what it do.

Now I'm on the lookout for what Jay-Z is gonna do next. What's he gonna do? How will he follow up that monster cut (Kingdom Come as an album is a'ight but "Show Me What You Got" on its own is ridiggilous.)? He makes the soundtrack to Denzel's American Gangster. Yeah that was the sound of my brain exploding.

"I Know" is the best song on that album. You can make your arguments but you'll be making them to a cardboard cut out of me cause ain't nothing you can say that will convince me.

So what then? Time goes by. Then I get a gift in an email a little while back that said The Blueprint 3. Download here. What did I do? I do what any intelligent music loving person would do, I downloaded it and this comes banging out my speakers:



That's what Jay was talking about and that's what I been talking about ever since. Think back to the exact moment when you first heard that opening beat drop on "What We Talkin' About". What happened? My neck dropped back right away followed by a "Daaaaaaamn!" How many of you got the album? How many times have you sung "Empire State Of Mind" in your own Alicia Keys impression (it's probably better than my Miles Davis impression)? How many of you said Thank You Jay-Z for The Blueprint 3? You should today. It's Jay-Z's birthday. It's December 4th.