By Kim Voynar Voynar@moviecitynews.com
Jay-Z, Lyrical Genius?
Off movie topics for a moment and onto music … been in an Eminem phase for the past couple days thanks to Tom Hall rapping the hell out of “Lose Yourself” at the karaoke party at Sarasota (and y’all, Tom Hall can rap the hell out of some Eminem), but I finally got tired of that and migrated over to Jay-Z’s The Black Album, one of my standby albums to listen to when I’m in need of energy or stumped with a writing hurdle.
I was looking up a lyric in 99 Problems, and the first comment in the comment section, written by “lee” on 4/10/11, caught my eye, and then once I read it I had to go back and read it again. It’s pretty brilliantly written, particularly for a comment on a lyrics page. Check out this bit:
And only if you have been in a hole may you be excused for not being aware of Jay-z evolution. Haven’t you heard his new shit? “i make music for the world”. He HAS moved away from his predecessors. What I’m trying to verbalize is that you are inept on both accounts. Jay-z is currently rapping about what he knows; riches, so you’re lacking in current information. Listen to the Blueprint 3; it’s not as good as Reasonable Doubt or the original Blueprint, but it will educate your ass. And 2, he’s FROM the hood baby, if he ever wants to return to that, he’s got shit to draw from. So perhaps a little reflection is in order, i don’t blame you for being misinformed, i pity you.
I have no idea who “lee” is, but hell yeah. He’s got a great writing voice, you can practically hear the words in your head as if they’re being recited as a spoken word piece. They have the rhythm of a lyricist to them.
If you scroll on through the rest of the comments and ignore the occasional dumbass, taken as a whole it’s all a pretty interesting conversation on the social relevance of Jay-Z’s 99 Problems lyrics. Fascinating, even if you’re not Jay-Z fan.