Jay-Z - Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life

Shawn Carter's 1997 release In My Lifetime, Vol. 1's title implied that there would be further so-called "volume" albums to come, and since he had now officially (in his mind) taken up the position of "King of New York" (a distinction that, at the time this album came out in late 1998, probably belonged solely to DMX and not Hov), there was no question of another release. By now, Jay-Z was gaining more and more hype around the world, helped by his radio hit single "Can I Get A..." with Ja Rule and Amil, released for the Rush Hour soundtrack earlier in 1998, and by the time he dropped the lead single for this album "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)", he was pretty much a household name, for the Americans at least. This track was heard on the radio from Boston to Bangladesh, and everywhere in between, and as such, Jay decided to capitalise off of this by naming his album after the track, an album that, predictably, charted at no. 1 on the Billboard charts. This was something that would become a trend throughout the rest of Jay's career, as he slowly but surely transitioned from the cool, young drug dealer into the old, fat bloke jumping into a swimming pool.

Now, it's all well and good appealing to the casual radio audience, but to really maintain any kind of longevity in the rap game, you have to appeal to the hip-hop heads as well, and Jay knew that he hadn't entirely succeeded in that area on his last effort, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1. Therefore, he effectively ditched the Bad Boy/Hitmen team for all but one track on this album, instead opting for some of the more respected producers in the game - DJ Premier, Mark the 45 King, Erick Sermon - as well as some (back then at least) up-and-coming producers that he thought he would mesh well with, such as Timbaland (known at the time for his work with Missy Elliott) and Swizz Beatz (known at the time for his work with DMX). He also got rid of the Babyface and BlackStreet type features, and included names such as DMX, The LOX, Too $hort (who admittedly showed up on the last album too) and, most importantly, Big Jaz, the man who got Jay into the game in the first place, yet sadly had an absence of verses on the last LP (although he did produce "Rap Game/Crack Game"). He also invented some new nicknames for himself, the now notorious "Jigga" and "Jay-Hovah" pseudonyms, which are hilariously listed out on the back of the booklet as if each was an executive producer. So, boom-bap and hardcore producers and no R&B features in sight. A recipe for success, then?

Well... no.

1. Intro - Hand It Down (feat. Memphis Bleek) (prod. Premier)

So, Jay's planning on retiring AGAIN? How many times is he going to do this in his career? This track starts with an interpolation from that same film scene sampled at the end of Ghostface Killah's "The Soul Controller" from Carlito's Way. After this and the obligatory "OK! I'M RELOADED!!", the only DJ Premier beat kicks in, and Jay gives it all to Memphis Bleek for some reason. I guess the concept of this is that Jay is handing down his position in the game to Bleek, quite the step down it must be said. Memphis does OK on here, and his vocal samples from Jay's own "Coming Of Age" sound nice, but if Jay had blessed this Preemo gem, then the song would have been better.

2. Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem) (prod. Mark 45 King)

The aforementioned lead single, and, yeah, it's a classic. The vocal sample from the film Annie in the chorus is legendary, and Jay flows very nicely over this dope Mark the 45 King beat. I like the way he actually predicts his future here, too - "and drop albums non-stop for ya, nigga" is something Jay would actually do, up to 2003 at least. Shame Marshall Mathers couldn't keep a similar promise he made on his song "Criminal". Threatening to "murder everything moving" is probably not the best thing to state on your lead radio single, but otherwise, this is easily one of Jay's best singles, and it shits all over "(Always Be My) Sunshine".

3. If I Should Die (feat. Da Ranjahz) (prod. Swizz Beats)

Bloody hell this beat is annoying. You could listen to this on mute and it would still give you a headache. It does allow for the rappers to spit some nice flows, though, and Da Ranjahz (whoever the hell they are) actually sound pretty nice on here, even though they don't have many stand out traits. Also, "and how was Kennedy killed?" is one of the stupidest questions one could ask. Everyone knows how he died! He was shot! This song could have been good, but it's too long, and the beat is annoying as shit.

4. Ride Or Die (prod. Steven "Stevie J" Jordan)

The only song on here provided by one of The Hitmen, and it's actually good, even if the repetitive hook heavily encourages the listener to use the CD as a meat slicer. Jay sounds a little more chilled out on here, and the beat is quite menacing. Shawn also appears to be dissing someone on this track, and although it's unclear, the line "I probably make more money off your album than you" narrows it down somewhat (remember, this was well before Jay took over Def Jam, and so people like Method Man and Ghostface Killah weren't handing over their sweet, sweet dough over to Jay quite yet, and the list of those who were was probably minuscule at the time).

5. Nigga What, Nigga Who (Originator 99) (feat. Big Jaz) (prod. Timbaland)

Those that like to research hip-hop history, and are fans of Shawn Carter, may have heard songs from the early '90s such as "The Originators", where Jay-Z appears to have taken an inadvisable amount of caffeine, or perhaps is being held at gunpoint and being asked to say as much as he possibly can within one minute. These old speedy tracks are what inspired the speedier flow of this track, the first of many Jay-Z/Timbaland collaborations to make it to Hov albums. This is also the final collaboration between Jay and Jaz, as the latter took Jay's appalling lines at the end of the second verse here to be a sign that Jay wasn't a very nice human being (I would make the same assumption - just LOOK at that content), and decided to leave his side and later on diss the shit out of him, which was nice of him. I do like this, though - Jay sounds slick, the beat is great, and Jaz-O sounds pretty excellent. Amil's uncredited vocals are horrific, though, a trend that will continue on the next couple Jay albums.

6. Money, Cash, Hoes (feat. DMX) (prod. Swizz Beats)

One of the more notorious tracks on this album, and it's also one of the best. The chorus is repetitive, but catchy, unlike the one on "Ride Or Die", which makes you want to reach into the speaker, pull out Jay's enormous lips, and give them a good old stomping. DMX's ad-libbing on said chorus is also quite hilarious. The beat on here is kind of annoying, but Jay's verses and especially X's performance make up for that. "Fuck, all, ya'll, haters, blow dick" is just a good line, as is "I know they gon' criticise the hook on this song, like I give a fuck, I'm just a crook on this song". That "fuck you, pay me" skit on the end was nice as well. The Game later attempted to remake this song on his soap opera-length album Drillmatic: Heart vs. Mind that he dropped a few years ago, and we'll talk about THAT stupid idea at a later date.

7. A Week Ago (feat. Too $hort) (prod. J-Runnah)

The second $hort Dawg feature on a Jay album, and this one is a hell of a lot better than the snooze-fest that was "Real Niggas". Too $hort thankfully only performs on the hook here, as Jay handles the verses that address the issues with snitching in the streets. The beat on this one, produced by one of the few producers on here that are pretty much unknown, is quite powerful, and Jay's verses are easily the most interesting on this album, which has been suspiciously short of substance so far. The "you rat bastard" at the end is hilarious too.

8. Coming Of Age (Da Sequel) (feat. Memphis Bleek) (prod. Swizz Beats)

Bleek is back, and for what is easily one of the worst tracks on this album. The beat on here is fucking terrible, and the verses, that detail Memphis and Jay's anger at each other as they are coming up in the game following the events of the original "Coming Of Age", are not enough to take away from this. The hook, which is screamed by Bleek at an ear-piercing volume, is also godawful. What the fuck is up with Swizz Beatz on this thing? Maybe he was upset that the "z" at the end of the word "Beatz" in his name is spelt wrongly in the booklet (as "beats").

9. Can I Get A... (feat. Amil (of Major Coins) & Ja Rule) (prod. Irv Gotti & Lil' Rob)

Since this song made for the Rush Hour soundtrack was so successful, Jay decided the best thing to do in order to get this album selling some more units was to chuck the track onto the album. Why this was such a hit, though, I don't know. The hook is quite bloody annoying, and Ja Rule delivers the first of many terrible verses that he would tarnish the rap game with throughout the next six years or so (this was the first hit track he appeared on, I believe). I will confess that I like this beat a LOT, though - but Ja Rule, and the predictably terrible Amil, as well as the dismal hook, mean that this track remains as one of Jay's weakest hit singles.

10. Paper Chase (feat. Foxy Brown) (prod. Timbaland)

Foxy Brown's first correctly listed credit on a Jay album is also her last credit full stop - in fact, she went surprisingly cold with both Jay AND her other chum Nas, around the time the two started their infamous beef. Weird that. Timbaland's second and final beat on the project is actually really smooth, and Jay and Foxy both sound solid - I like this a lot more than I did when I first listened to the album. The hook is all kinds of dismal, though, and this track severely lacks in replay value. And what the fuck is up with Foxy's horror-movie style laughing? 

11. Reservoir Dogs (feat. The Lox, Beanie Siegel & Sauce Money) (prod. Erick Sermon, co-prod. Darold "POP" Trotter)

The first so-called "posse cut" to appear on a Jay album (which should be defined as a track with more than three rappers in my opinion, so therefore "Bring It On" doesn't quite count). Surprisingly, Erick Sermon came through and blessed this one, and you can tell, as this sounds VERY much like an average Sermon beat at the time. Notable for being both the first appearance by Jay's future replacement for Memphis Bleek as a sidekick, Beanie Sigel, and also the last appearance by his old friend Sauce Money on one of Jay's albums. This is one of the earlier LOX features, and as such Jada doesn't has his gruff voice yet, and also, they all sound great, especially Sheek. Apparently Styles dissed Jay on this one, similar to Craig Mack and B.I.G. on "Flava In Ya Ear (Remix)", only less effective, as Styles' repetitive opening lines are the worst moment of this song - well, except Beanie's line "y'all niggas nuts like testicles" of course, which is just SO predictable. Jay also kills it, making this easily one of the best tracks here. Classic posse cut.

12. It's Like That (feat. Kid Capri) (prod. Kid Capri)

Hova can always be counted on to end his album in a bit of a slower fashion, and as such, this. This song is probably the only one here that wouldn't have sounded out of place on one of Jay's first two albums (I feel like people don't acknowledge how this record as a whole doesn't sound anything like Jay's albums before), and that's a good thing, as I of course love those two records. This track is pretty chilled out, and aside from the female vocals on the hook, which are horrible, it works excellently as a smooth outro track. Definitely a highlight, although Kid Capri's shouting was entirely unnecessary.

The following tracks are listed as bonus tracks, as they both were made for other projects, not this one.

13. It's Alright (feat. Memphis Bleek) (prod. Damon Dash & Mahogany)

This was made for that Streets Is Watching soundtrack that Jay put out in early '98, but I can't see why it had to go on here - it sounds dismal. This beat is horrific, as is the hook, and neither Jay or Bleek come across as particularly interesting on this track. Definitely a misstep.

14. Money Ain't A Thang (feat. Jermaine Dupri) (prod. Jermaine Dupri)

The biggest hit single to Jermaine Dupri's album Life In 1472, released earlier in 1998. Aside from the fact that this should definitely not be here, as it's Jermaine Dupri's bloody song, I do quite enjoy this, even though Jermaine's annoying-ass voice gets in the way. The beat on here is fun, and the chorus, that interpolates lines from Jay's own "Can't Knock The Hustle", is also rather good. This track does get more and more dull as you run through it though, so be wary as you go into it.

So, was Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life the much-needed return to the streets that Jay obviously hoped it would be? Well, not really. First of all, this album, for the most part at least, sounds even more commercial and "jiggy" than In My Lifetime, Vol. 1, which is definitely NOT what Jay was going for. Perish the thought. The beats on here mostly sound ready-made for the clubs, and the ones that don't are either bloody SHIT, or the best on the whole album (see "A Week Ago", "It's Like That"). The hooks on this thing are also rarely enjoyable, and the run from tracks 8 to 10 is rather painful. The bonus tracks were also entirely unnecessary - it's like Jay was going for 14 tracks every album, but ran out of time to record, so just chucked two songs that everyone already had on the end. There are also way too many features on here - I come to a Jay album to hear Jay-Z, thanks, and so having only two solo tracks on the whole thing was definitely a mistake, even if some of the collaborations worked very nicely. Yes, there are more than a couple genuinely great songs on here, and there is also nothing on here that's outright horrific, so I'll give it that. However, this album is overall too boring, and there are too many bad hooks for me to ever recommend a listen. Check out some of the best tracks, for sure, but avoid the rest of this - there's a lot more worth to be found in Jay's catalogue than this effective compilation.

Best Tracks: Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem), Money, Cash, Hoes, A Week Ago, Reservoir Dogs, It's Like That

Worst Tracks: If I Should Die, Coming Of Age (Da Sequel), It's Alright

For other Jay-Z write-ups, make sure to click here