Jay-Z (Hova)

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I think some people may be baffled by my recent behaviour, of that I have little to add, I will say that I do listen almost exclusively now to Hip Hop and particularly a great deal of Jay-Z's music. Booche seemed genuinely stumped when I spoke to him last that I really loved Jay that much. Jay's 'Rap's Grateful Dead' and he's not fucking joking. If you need a heady endorsement think on the fact that Trey literally said of S. Carter that if he was alive in another generation he would have been something like Beethoven. I actually think someone like William Shakespeare is a better reference point and having read much of Shakespeare I find a great deal that is compelling and even superior in Jay-Z's music.

I can't really explain how this song makes me feel but it is very similar to If One Of Us Should Fall- both songs notably deal with 'losing one'.

Jay-Z - Lost Ones

I heard muthaffuckers sayin’ they made Hov…

Made Hov say ‘OK, so, make another Hov’…

Niggas wasn’t playin’ they day role

So we parted ways like Ben and J-Lo

I shoulda been did it, but I been in a daze though

I put friends over business end of the day though

But when friends…business interest is day-glo

Ain’t nuffin left to say though, I guess we forgot what we came for

Shoulda stayed in food and beverage, too much flossing

Too much Sam Rothstein, I ain’t a bitch but I gotta divorce them

Hov had to get the shallow shit up off him

And I ain’t even want to be famous

Niggas is brainless to unnecessarily go through these changes

And I don’t even know how I came to this

Except that fame is the worst drug known to man

It’s stronger than heroin, when you can look in the mirror like ‘there I amâ€

And still not see what you become

I know I’m guilty of it too, but not like them

You lost one...

Chorus

Edited March 10, 2007 by Guest

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Izzo (H.O.V.A.)

The line "H to the Izz-O, V to the Izz-A" is a slang method of spelling out H.O.V.A. It was a trizzend in the rizzap community to put "izz" in words.

"Hova" refers to what Jay-Z calls his "God Name," which is "Jay-Hova," as in Jehovah.

Jay-Z raps about himself throughout the song. It is a short summary of his life, including how he sold crack in Brooklyn and showed his entrepenurial streak by going to Virginia and Maryland to peddle drugs there for a bigger profit. Proceeds from drug dealing allowed him to finance his first album and start Roc-A-Fella Records.

In this, Jay-Z says he is "Not Guilty," referring to an incident in December, 1999 where he was accused of stabbing a record producer at a New York City nightclub. After this came out, he was found guilty and sentenced to probation.

This samples "I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5. It was produced by Kanye West, who does a lot of sampling on his tracks.

West also produced Jay-Z's "Takeover," which sampled The Doors' "Five To One," and Twista's "Slow Jamz," which samples Luther Vandross' "A House Is Not A Home."

The coach of the Michigan State basketball team is named Tom Izzo. His players sing this to him to drive him nuts.

[The Chameleon]

Hey I love the Jigga man the much as the next man. But let's not get carried away.

He is important to the development of modern rap and has one of the best flows in the game...but putting him on the level of Beethoven or Shakespear is wack!

Lay off the crunk juice.

as for rap's Grateful Dead? I fail to see the similarities.

I mean does Jay have legions of fans that trade his shows follow him on tour and document his setlists?

I don't get the comparison.

Jigga///what!

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You may be right you might be wrong. Trey compared him to Beethoven, I happen to agree. I've heard and had tenured academics, for instance at the Shakespeare Made in Canada festival - the curator actually, agree that Jay Z is of that stature. If anything the trick is that Shakespeare actually affected all levels of society - the rabble on the floor (general admission) of the Globe Theater, the well heeled society patrons, kinds, queens, prime ministers, presidents. Shakespeare's legacy is of course far more pronounced but in his lifetime...

Jay's life aspiration is to be CEO of General Electric. It really is. Thing is if it weren't for inherent racism I don't know that he couldn't pull it off... Chairman of the board, Greatest Rapper Alive, founder Roc A Fella records, founder Roc A Wear, current CEO Def Jam Records. Holla At Your Boy.

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Dirt Off Your Shoulder