Jun 28, 2016

wtf, my hard knock life is tagged weird and wasn't setup on the tracklist right, i'll play it next and then go into ride or die from there

 

Jun 28, 2016

Yeah "Hard Knock Life" is such a perfect summer single. Love how he uses Big's flow.

 

Jun 28, 2016

 

Jun 28, 2016

 

Jun 28, 2016

Always found it interesting that Jay did that abbreviated third verse on "Hard Knock Life." Assume he was told by an A&R that it would be better for radio to cut the song a tiny bit short. He kind of did the same thing on "Izzo," but there he cuts the second verse in half and does a full third.

 

Jun 28, 2016

these weed carriers coming through with great verses so far

 

Jun 28, 2016

I love this title track

 

Jun 28, 2016

This sample is classic

 

Jun 28, 2016

Haha I always think that's funny. Everyone more or less kills this but Jesus, for Jay's big commercial play you would've thought he'd blow the budget.

 

Jun 28, 2016

so pumped, can't wait.

 

Jun 28, 2016

love how he openly brags about ghostwriting

 

Jun 28, 2016

I think w the benefit of hindsight Vol 2 tells you a lot about Jay. He could have front-loaded the album with all the singles, instead he sticks "If I Should Die" and "Ride or Die" between "Hard Knock Life" and "n----- What n----- Who." So then you step back and realize that he saw these two songs as album cuts, but they're so much more up-tempo and Bad Boy-influenced than literally anything on Reasonable Doubt. It was really a wholesale change in his mentality. There's no moment on Vol 2 where he steps back and makes a "You Must Love Me." Really paints RD as a genre exercise.

 

Jun 28, 2016

Wonder if the Ride or Die beat was a leftover from the Vol. 1 sessions. Doesn't really fit with the rest of the production on the album

 

Jun 28, 2016

holy s--- his flow is great on this song

 

Jun 28, 2016

n----- What n----- Who a classic

Jay could really pull off any flow

 

Jun 28, 2016

yall haters blow d-ck

 

Jun 28, 2016

I would say it is perfectly in line with the rest of the album, that's my point. Try mapping out the BPMs on this one compared to the first two.

 

Jun 28, 2016

Yeah Jay can rap way way way way more technically than he chooses to most of the time. Someone who profiled him a few years ago wrote about it, they were at a restaurant and he was like "I mean, you can always do s--- like..." and then did something that the writer struggled to even explain. So the whole Kweli thing from "Moment of Clarity" is kind of half of the point: never mind "lyrically," Jay could have been a technical wizard but he wanted to make big songs instead.

 

Jun 28, 2016

What is the point of Jaz being on this song? His verse isn't bad, but it's so brief

 

Jun 28, 2016

Goodfellas really top 3 Scorsese