2nd King Of JerkishBehavior: Jay-Z
The 1st time I heard Jay-Z rap it was Ain't No f/ Foxy Brown but I wasn't quite sold on his greatness because I only listened to the singles at the time. When I revisited Jay's music for a 2nd time, I was ready especially when I saw the "Hard Knock Life" video with the quarter water & Bentley in the hood. I was hella hype the next day at school and ending up borrowing Jigga's "Volume 2" album from one of my boys in high school and dubbed (the old school tape-deck way) it. After listening to that whole cd, I knew I had found my favorite rapper and I went on to cop his whole back catalog (I somehow got "Reasonable Doubt" in an uneven trade for Timbaland "Tim's Bio" cd). Jay-Z is the short list of musician/artists' out there whose cd I will buy the 1st day it comes out no matter what because I know I won't be disappointed with the music. Jay's stories about hustling was so vivid and real that you couldn't help but get reeled in. He talked about the good, bad, and ugly side of the game and gave you a whole inside look into the psyche of a hustler. Jay always has the sickest metaphors in the game and he also has the secret gems that you won't catch right off the back but after a couple listens or years down the line you pick up on them like damn how did I miss that line. The truth and reality in the Jay's music is what makes him stand apart from everyone else in that you can relate to whatever he is rapping about. Jay Z is the greatest rapper alive because he isn't compared to other rappers in the game and he is only compared to his previous works so whenever you're competing against yourself and not your peers that is the true meaning of greatness.
Jay always talked about that fly ish that was exclusive that was ahead of the present time/trend where once people finally was able to obtain it, he was done with it and onto some next level fly ish which is the personification of cool. So if you didn't know what to wear or what was hot in the streets you could just put on a Jigga song and find out. Jay is the epitomy of a tastemaker where he can make or break any trend at his whim and make the world follow suit (Mitchell & Ness or Cristal anyone?). The fact that he took exceptional rapping ability at the age 27 (you're never too old to GET MONEY) and created nothing into an almost billion dollar empire in many different arenas because of his entrepreneurial spirit which makes Jay-Z, the 2nd king of JerkishBehavior.
5 Jerkish Behavior Moments
1. Jay-Z was the first rap artist to perform and headline at Glastonbury Festival in London (a major music
festival) and lead singer Noel Gallagher from the band Oasis questioned the merit of Jay headlining this event. What does Jay do? He comes out singing Oasis's most popular song "Wonderwall" while playing the guitar then afterwards he went his hit song "I got 99 problems but a b**ch ain't one" , Jerkishbehavior at its finest.
Sidebar: Jay made Wonderwall appear on Billboard's Top 100 charts after his performance and the song was 10 years old, WOW.
2.Jay-Z stopped the whole throwback jersey trend then told cats to throw on a button-up and grow up. Every time David Stern (The commissioner of the NBA) sees him he says "You know this fuckin guy right here? He ruined my fuckin jersey business." Who does that?
3. Jay-Z is married to one of the most beautiful, baddest, and talented women in the world in Beyonce and until this he has yet to publicly claim her as his chick, JERK!!!
4. Jigga once rhymed "I'm raping Def Jam til I'm the 100 million man" on his 2001 classic album "Blueprint". Seven years later, he went from being the President of Def Jam Records to signing a deal for his own record label "Roc Nation" for $150 million!!! Greatness speaks things into existence.
5. Jay-Z has the record for most albums to ever debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 with 11 #1 albums which moved the legendary Elvis to 2nd place and what makes this feat even more incredible and crazy is that Jay never had #1 single as a solo artist on the charts (Update: Empire State Of Mind is his first #1 single).
JBRD: 12/1/09
the G.O.A.T.
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