VERSION 2.0

For quite some time, Jay-Z has been regarded as one of the illest emcees out of New York, along with many others. His "PURE CLASSIC" (yeah I said it) debut album entitled Reasonable Doubt exploded on the hip hop scene in 1996 with passion. It's amazing lyricism, storytelling and poetic subject matter, and deep production fueled it into being a near-perfect album. However, soon after, young Shawn Carter began his slow decent into commercialism with his sophomore album: Volume 1 - In My Lifetime. Released in 1997, this was extremely dissapointing to the hip-hop heads who dug into Reasonable Doubt rapidly, and it turned a lot of fans off from Jay-Z. However, instead of hearing his fans pleas, Jay-Z became greedy and decided to go all-out to sell records and further exploit himself. So he released the one album that truly crossed him over into mainstream commercial pop music in 1998, entitled Volume 2 - Hard Knock Life. Anybody who considers this album anything CLOSE to being classic deserves to have their genitalia severed and fed introversly to them. Cluttered with some of the worst hip-hop music I have ever heard, this song is a travesty and slap in the face as to what hip-hop truly is.



Track List & Rating

1. Intro / Hand It Down f/ Memphis Bleek (*****)
2. Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem) (*****)
3. If I Should Die f/ Da Ranjahz (****)
4. Ride Or Die (*)
5. Nigga What, Nigga Who f/ Big Jaz-O (****)
6. Money, Cash, Hoes f/ DMX (*)
7. A Week Ago f/ Too Short (****)
8. Coming Of Age (Da Sequel) f/ Memphis Bleek (*)
9. Can I Get A... f/ Amil and Ja Rule (**)
10. Paper Chase f/ Foxy Brown (*)
11. Reservoir Dogs f/ The Lox, Beanie Siegel, Sauce Money (*)
12. It's Like That f/ Kid Capri (**)
13. It's Alright f/ Memphis Bleek (*)
14. Money Ain't A Thang f/ Jermaine Dupri (**&)



Volume 2: Hard Knock Life kicks off with "Intro / Hand It Down", which finds the same Scarface-wannabe popping up to introduce the album. Fans who heard Jay-Z's first two albums should instantly recognize him. Immediately after, we are given an unbelievably ill beat produced by DJ Premier himself. However, instead of finding Jiggaman himself spitting over this ill beat, we're given a less than stellar rehashing known as Memphis Bleek. For those who don't know, Memphis Bleek is one of those untalented members of Rocafella Records, whom Jay-Z considers "the future". Spitting a below average verse over a dope beat is one of those things that burns me up, and that is exactly what is happening here. Still, the beat's so good Bleek sounds better than normal, something Primo is known to do.

The lead-single, and the song many find responsible for Jay-Z's break into mainstream pop success is next, and it's the infamous "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)". The famous sample from "Annie" soon pulsates the speakers, which I am positive most of you have heard in the past. The beat on the contrary, is quite good. It's pounding bass and high-key piano is instantly recognizable and pretty fun. Jay-Z's lyricism is rather nice, and sadly won't be as good as this anywhere else on the album (except maybe the next song). Jay-Z spits a mixture of his trademark egotistical braggadiocio, mixed with introspective street poetry which is quite good. Jay-Z seemingly speaks from the streets and from the heart (though I'm not too sure about the latter), and crafts an enjoyable song with well-written lyrics and a damn good flow.

"I flow for chicks wishin, they ain't have to strip to pay tuition, I see you vision mama, I put my money on the longshots, All my ballers that's born to clock, Now I'ma be on top whether I perform or not, I went from lukewarm to hot; sleepin on futons and cots, to King Size, dream machines, the green fives, I've seen pies let the thing between my eyes analyze life's ills, Then I put it down type braile, I'm tight grill with the phony, rappers y'all might feel we homies, I'm like still, y'all don't know me, sh*t!, I'm tight grill when my situation ain't improvin, I'm tryin to murder everything movin, feel me?!".

"If I Should Die" finds Jay-Z adapting subject matter which he rarely touches on, which is his death. Giving us a posthumous joint where he finds himself describing and narrating his life, all the way up to his career and the troubles of the streets. His lyricism is pretty good, but nothing matching what he spat on his classic debut album. Half Dead and Mais from Da Ranjahz drop by to spit some pretty tight verse, even though it has it's share of "gangsta-ism". As for the beat, it uses a fast violin loop and keyboard, backed by a drum loop. The song isn't bad at all, but it could've been a LOT better.

The commercialism begins right away with "Ride Or Die", which is so unbelievably boring. The beat is uninspired and insipid, and Jay-Z's hook singing and awful, uninspired lyricism does NOTHING but put me to sleep. As expected, Jay-Z spits his typical "I am richer than you and I can have you killed when I want" sort of egotistical crap. Honestly, this song got on my nerves right from the onset, and the freaking lyrics are terrible. I mean, just hearing Jay-Z say "ready for war" over and over again is degrating. It's obvious from this song that the rest of the album is going to go downhill, and I honestly had no clue as to just HOW low it would go.

One of the more recognizable Jay-Z singles has to be the DMX featuring "Money, Cash, Hoes". This is unarguably THE most annoying song created by either artist (then again, "Big Pimpin" was terrible). The over-synthesized, jiggy provides a very idiotic atmosphere, only saved by the pounding bass which I would life if it were stripped down and separated to a different song. Jay-Z's rhymes are about as simplistic and stupid as you can possibly get ("J-A-Y, I flow sick, Fuck all y'all haters, blow dick"), and the subject matter is exactly what underground fans despise. The three things that makes commercial rap so juvenile and childish: materialism and misogony, which happens to be what Jay-Z and DMX are celebrating. I respected DMX's work on his debut album, but he is awful on this song. There is NOTHING here of any sort of intelligence or complexity whatsoever. Virtually all of the storytelling and knowledge that Jay-Z possessed on his debut album is gone and it is replaced with him flossing his money and all of the women that he has. No doubt the stupidest part of this song is the fact that both rappers go off topic, specially DMX as he raps about his "anger" and "violence", which has nothing at all to do with the subject matter AT ALL. This has to be DMX's worst performance OF HIS CAREER. Skip this one, I beg of you.

"A Week Ago" is a huge improvement. Jay-Z gives us a storytelling track reminiscent of Reasonable Doubt, as he gives us a narrative about growing up in the streets and being forced to hustle. He raps more specifically about a friend of his who betrayed him, which ended in violence as expected. The beat is nicely fitting, and Jay-Z's storytelling lyrics were quite good, but nothing extraordinary or groundbreaking. Too Short drops in to give us the chorus and the last verse, which is sort of... i dunno... whack. It's a shame that Too Short is exactly what prevented the song from getting a higher rating. Oh well, this album was never promised to be good.

In mid 1998, "Can I Get A..." was an immense hit for Jay-Z. Jay-Z uses the tired old subject matter which we hear from an artist EVERY year: "would you still love me if I wasn't rich". This song redefines the word "garbage". Jay-Z is probably the only person who comes off rather strong on here, with a powerful flow and admittingly nice lyrics, even though they are sort of self-centered (what else can you expect from Jiggleman? That wasn't a typo). Honestly, I believe Jay-Z is right, I DO NOT think a woman would stick around with him if he didn't have his riches and own his company. His verse is followed by, unarguably, THE worst female rapper to ever touch a microphone, Amil. Thank goodness that Jay-Z canned her in 2000, because she was unbelievably whack. Her high-pitched voice is the most annoying thing, probably in history. It's sort of messed up because I'm not even finished. Myself, as well as many others, consider this song a travesty because it is the song what single-handedly put Ja Rule's name on the map and made him officially mainstream and placed him on the radio. Ja Rule is the kind of individual whom I wish was shot in his face with a bazooka for even THINKING that he has any sort of rapping skill. All you hear on this song is the same old tired, played-out cliches and lines over and over again. Besides that, the sloppy format of the song is tiring, and only Jigga's lines, the chorus, and beat make it SOMEWHAT listenable. Then again, I rarely forgive whackness.

Producer Kid Capri drops in and delivers a DAMN good beat on "It's Like That". Jay-Z comes off relatively strong, even though his flow is choppy and his lyrics are flashy, egotistical, gangsta, and materialistic. Jay-Z's lyrics are admittingly decent, but I am convinced could be much better, specially when compared to his debut album. His delivery is boring, but not as boring as would be expected. I guess the word I am looking for is "average", or perhaps slightly below. However, Jay-Z's lyrics are overshadowed by Kid Capri's extremely dope beat. The minimalistic use of guitar and bass, along with scratching, sounds beautiful on wax and for some strange reason, I REALLY like the melody provided here. It is simple and minimalistic, but VERY catchy, giving it the sound of a deep underground record. Listen to this just for the beat.

Jay-Z ends the album on, you guessed it, a whack note with "Money ain't A Thang". If you don't know what the song is about, just read the title a few times, and call yourself an idiot. Yes, that's right, another very materialistic song, as well as the fifth single from this album. Yeah, it's whack, i dont think i need to get any deeper, BUT, there is ONE line in particular which I REALLY like and consider quite clever wordplay: "said she love my necklace, started relaxin, now thats the fuck i call a chain reaction". The rest of the song is horrible, and Jermaine Dupri's (a.k.a. JD) appearance here just makes it worse. A horrible ending to arguably, Jay-Z's worst album.

It is unbelievable to believe that an album could be so horrible as this one is. I mean heck, I always knew that Jay-Z was whack after his sophomore album, but my goodness, this album takes the cake for being terrible. But of course, Shawn Carter IS the definition of a sellout rapper and this album proves it, yet again. To finish this off, Volume 2: Hard Knock Life is less than good, it's complete and utter crap. I thought nothing could be worse than Volume 1: In My Lifetime, and I was wrong yet again. The mediocre lyricism, oversynthesized beats, and awful subject matter become a cancer, digging deeply into your body until you are a withered corpse. Jay-Z deserves to be mutilated and burried with a bunch of severed penises...

1 Star







SIMILAR ALBUMS:

Jay-Z - Volume 1: In My Lifetime

Jay-Z - Volume 3: The Life and Times of S. Carter

Jay-Z - Dynasty: Roc La Familia

Jay-Z - The Blueprint



Recommended: No