The great critical and commercial success of his debut album convinces Jay-Z to put aside his retirement plans and continue his career as a rapper in the music industry. After signing with Def Jam, an EP was supposed to be released in the spring of 1997, however, after the death of his friend The Notorious B.I.G., he abandoned the idea and focused on his second LP.
Hova calls on Puff Daddy's production team The Hitmen to handle the beats of his new album, leaving little room for the esteemed beatmakers who made the music of his debut album famous, including DJ Premier and Ski Beatz, who get two beats each on this album. Buckwild shares a beat with Stevie J, Big Jaz and Teddy Riley produce a track each. Among the guests, Sauce Money and Foxy Brown are the only artists to remain from last year, they are joined by Blackstreet, Babyface, Lil Kim and Too Short.
In short, this is a crossover pop album by Jay-Z, during which the boy provides a more mature lyricism than before, moving away from the mafia traits of the debut and moving more towards boasting, offering some of the best flows of his career, he's truly inspired and manages to carve several gems. After the intro, a skit in which, as in the debut, "Carlito's Way" (1993) is paid homage, Premier creates a classic for "A Million and One Question": magnificent sample from "Let Me Go" by Latimore, sample from the magnificent voice of Aaliyah, robust bass line, echoing piano keys, dusty, dirty, midtempo, thick drum, resounding rhythm. Unstoppable delivery by Jay-Z, in one of his best tracks of the decade.
"Rhyme No More" is the third part of the opening track and is another sublime musical carpet from Preemo that slightly accelerates a sample of "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" by Isaac Hayes combining a thick, lean, midtempo hard drum, phat bass, simple riff and fresh scratches to support the interpreter's fluid rapping. "Streets Is Watching" is another pearl: dry, hard, heavy, midtempo drum, dotted bass, stabbed strings, dark and tense mood, fresh flowing delivery from Jay-Z on an excellent production by DJ Ski. The other track from Premier is also among the high points of the tape, with a direct sequel to a track from "Reasonable Doubt".
The production I appreciate the most from Hitmen is "Where I'm From", where Amen-Ra & D-Dot create a cinematic musical painting, maybe almost more of a thriller / noir video game, in any case they do a good job: sparse midtempo drum, rough bass in the background, quite curious sample from "Let Your Hair Down" by Yvonne Fair. Hova flows with a tighter style here. During the rest of the CD, the author aims for the charts, spitting bars together with Puff Daddy, Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, Babyface, Sauce Money and Too Short on mainstream, glossy, excessively smooth and insipid productions by Hitmen, including Amen-Ra, Puff Daddy, Prestige, Stevie J, Trackmasters, Dent, and Nashiem Myrick. Some songs work, others sound horrible, like "I Know What Girls Like". Three singles were released, "Who You Wit It" produced by DJ Ski, the international hit "(Always Be My) Sunshine" and "The City Is Mine" with Blackstreet, a song in which the boy replies to Nas by proclaiming himself the new king of New York and direct heir of the late Biggie Smalls.
Released by Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam, distributed by the major PolyGram, the album sold 138,000 physical copies in the first week, a notable response, even if the Brooklyn artist considered it disappointing: it was third in the Billboard 200, second among rap releases and also did well in the UK, becoming one of the best-selling albums of 1998 and obtaining platinum a year later. The lyrics, the rap and in general Jay-Z's performance were appreciated by critics, while the musical set built for the album was considered not up to the author's standards. The album cemented the bond between Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam and ushered in the "jiggy" era, gaining more success as a historical document than for its musical value.
Rating: 7/10.
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