Jay-Z - 4:44 (June 30,2017) Album • Page 4

I agree with that, he does sound bored, but it could be the fact hes 48 now idk.

 

Haha, I'm totally can't blame the almost 50-year old billionaire on his 13th album for sounding a little less enthused

 

He 100% has weird flow on certain songs.

Idk why people are going so hard on this, it's an okay album and an above par 10s Jay album. Lyrics are super personal, sure, but there's still a ton of dumbass recent Jay lines on this


I like it more than his last few, but it definitely has flaws and falls in the mid level of hip hop releases this year

 

Sounds hungry as hell on the end of Smile tho

 

What people are hearing as unenthused I'd argue is more conversational than anything

 

This. I think those moments come across as "raw" rather than bored or dry, to me at least.

 

People had a super low bar for a Jay-Z album in 2017 and this exceeded it. Only reason it's SO hyped imo. I agree that it's good but nothing incredible.

 

and to be fair, it's spurring a ton of articles/reactions based on what he talks about. A ton of revelations about his family's notoriously secretive life

 

Kanye does this shit too it's real annoying

 

Better than his last few but that's not saying much. Probably won't revisit this much.

 

I mean I think this is legitimately good, not just because it's better than the last few. It's unique within his discography.

 

About to listen to Reasonable Doubt for the first time...working my way up to this. Never heard a full Jay project but fixing that

 

good lord, you're seriously going to listen to all 13 for the first time?

 

Unless you're super committed don't do all 13 to start, he has a fair few filler albums. I'd check out Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint, The Black Album and American Gangster for a decent overview of Jay-Z.

 

Lol, when I'm getting into artists for the first time I always just do everything, good or bad (unless they have like 20+ albums). It usually kind of bugs me if I skip something, I feel like I'm missing something, and I also disagree with popular opinion a lot (for example I'm actually quite excited for The Blueprint 3 because it has a ton of features I like). For now I do plan on just going chronologically but I guess that's subject to change if it's really that big of an undertaking

 

I can't imagine listening to Reasonable Doubt for the first time and just moving on. I think I played it for a week straight after first hearing it.

 

I've gone through this once, it didn't blow me away really but it's solid. Decent enough to give it future plays, and then it might grow on me more.

 

I agree with Matt, but that's a great way to approach it. Especially with "classic" artists/bands, I don't think enough people go into discographies with an open mind like that. A lot of my favorite records are ones I never would have found if I'd followed the consensus.

 

'4:44' Producer No I.D. Talks Pushing Jay-Z, Creating '500 Ideas'

A lot of really interesting stuff in there but for "news":

 

This is quite solid tbh!

 

I feel like people always leave out Vol. 2 when they speak about his worthwhile albums. I enjoy that one a lot still

 

He had an "every other" thing going with his albums for most of his career, where every other album was really solid. If you don't count La Famlila as a solo album

Reasonable Doubt, Vol 2, Blueprint, Black Album, American Gangster

 

"I could've bought a place in Dumbo before it was Dumbo
For like 2 million
That same building today is worth 25 million
Guess how I'm feeling? Dumbo"

 

The line about the album being ripped off Tidal is great lmao

 

I'll give this album the personal feel and being better than the past few but listening to some Jay oldies over the weekend, this is still relatively underwhelming and awkward at points. Beats especially lacking. Not bad but still underwhelming aside from a few