Jay-Z is hip-hop’s most strategic legend, and Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life may well be its most strategic classic. While not his greatest album or most beloved, it’s the project that best embodies him, defined by meticulous calculation and measured balance of competing elements.
In 1998, hip-hop was adrift. Still reeling from the murders of its two biggest icons, Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G., rap music was moving more CDs than ever, but lacked a clear direction. Puff Daddy’s shiny suit era was in full swing, churning out jiggy dance floor anthems to keep the east coast Harlem shaking. The sunset of the west coast’s G-Funk era, it’s gangsta fairytales suddenly rendered a little too real, made way for a southern invasion of irresistible bounce, but little lyrical weight. A genre historically driven by larger-than-life stars found itself facing a sky of dwarfs. Vol. 2 is Jay-Z’s carefully modulated play to assume hip-hop’s vacant throne and position himself as the standard bearer; the captain at the reins, steering the genre into a new millennium. MORE
How do you guys feel about this album 20 years later? Where does it line up in Jays discography?
I just tried to contact spotify about the issue and was wondering if anyone knew a better way. I used their mobile contact method and filed it under broken track/album. Its pissing me off because ALL of his other albums are on in their unedited form so I feel like this is not intentional. Its hard to listen to money, cash, hoes edited.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoLRpCtwfiQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWUfYobrbkI
Jay-Z is hip-hop’s most strategic legend, and Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life may well be its most strategic classic. While not his greatest album or most beloved, it’s the project that best embodies him, defined by meticulous calculation and measured balance of competing elements.
In 1998, hip-hop was adrift. Still reeling from the murders of its two biggest icons, Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G., rap music was moving more CDs than ever, but lacked a clear direction. Puff Daddy’s shiny suit era was in full swing, churning out jiggy dance floor anthems to keep the east coast Harlem shaking. The sunset of the west coast’s G-Funk era, it’s gangsta fairytales suddenly rendered a little too real, made way for a southern invasion of irresistible bounce, but little lyrical weight. A genre historically driven by larger-than-life stars found itself facing a sky of dwarfs. Vol. 2 is Jay-Z’s carefully modulated play to assume hip-hop’s vacant throne and position himself as the standard bearer; the captain at the reins, steering the genre into a new millennium. MORE
