Talk:Jay-Z

Musical Controversy

- Jay-z has been known to steal lines from other rappers, even stuff dated back to the 1950's. Most his lines came from another crack-hustler rapper Notorious BIG. Even though Notorious B.I.G. didn't even like Jay-Z, the camel continues to steal lines and make a success off other rappers including Tupac, Snoop Dogg, Big-L, Nas, Rakim, and K.R.S. One and has been documented on southern DJ Dat's mix and has been recently brought to light by a feud with the extremely handsome rapper Cam'ron. In the mix, a series of about thirty different examples oultine and prove how Jay-Z stole lines, sometimes word for word and used them in his own songs. Even his album names such as Kingdom Done, The Blueprint and The Black Album stole naming schemes from the Beatle's The White Album, the comic book Kingdom Come, and K.R.S. One's Blueprint. Many people attribute to this as Jay-Z being inept to create orignal material of his own. Hardcore fans, dismiss all notions and have been in denial ever since. As Kingdom Come (Kingdom Done) dropped approximatley -75% sales after the following week of release; it is beleived by many on the internet that this is caused by "extreme stannery", as coined by popular hip-hop sites, and proves that Jay-Z's sales had been inflated and even when reviews such as the reputable Pitchfork Media point out Kingdom Come was lackluster at best, his fans will stll buy his low quality and bitten material.

Why is this being removed? It's factual information and is critical to his biography.

Got any reliable sources for this? --Wafulz 03:41, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

It's coming, and when I do get the sources this piece will be included in the main article.

charlie rose show

who took the mention of jay-z aspiring to be CEO of GE on the charlie rose show off? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ihateswine (talk • contribs) 01:35, 16 January 2007 (UTC).

a tidbit

is there someone who can make a correction to the page concering Jay-Z's date of birth? in the main paragraph it has his birth year listed as 1969 but to the right on the page it's 1976. It's clear he wasn't born in 76', he was clearly 18-20 in those Jaz songs (and even in the few videos he's in with Jaz)

- horace.

NOT the first to discuss drug dealing

the article states that in the early years of his career, jay was "one of the first to stress the life of a drug dealer (glories, repercussions, regrets and all)."

this is far from true. in fact his whole take on the drug dealing lifestyle was very much inspired by raekwon's "only built 4 cuban linx" album which was far more innovative with regards to rapping about the drug trade.

~~ Ok, so whats the problem? It said he was one of the earliest rappers to talk about dealing, not the first, and as far as more inovative, that's your oppinion...

~~ There are hip-hop songs that predate Jay-Z by a good decade that discuss drugs and drug-dealing. So "one of the first" is definitely wrong. Es-won 12:49, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Question

How can you put some samples ( or the whole number ) on the site? Do you need to uploade it from a site or can you uploade it from your own PC ?

Please tell me ( if i'm wron ) where i should ask this question Thanks for helpin'

Jay-Z's trial

No mention of when he stabbed Un?

added it. hateless 21:12, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

Biting, anyone?

In my humble opinion, it's absurd not to mention Jay-Z's numerous biting. There was a section about that, but now, it's lost. I find it HILARIOUS that Cam'ron's profile has more stuff about Jay-Z biting than Jay-Z's own. I DEMAND that the biting section be brought back to this profile.

I second that. 65.195.133.120 14:50, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

MAybe, but it should be called "Rapper's Jay-Z has paid homage to, by exposing their lyrical prowess to millions of fans that never would have heard it. The real heads know the references and its sick to get a glimpse into Jay-Z, the hip hop FAN. great writers quote great writers.

Es-Won The more you listen to hi-hop, you realize NOTHING is original, most of it comes from rappers from the 70s and 80s most of you've never even heard about. So mentioning it in a specific rapper's bio is ABSURD. Es-won 12:52, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

new material

Can anyone provide a reference that backs up that Jay Z is planning a new record? Otherwise I might rephrase that last sentence in the first paragraph to downgrade that to a rumor... --MrGears 15:30, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

^I don't even think it can be classified as a rumor. A few people asked him if he would and he just brushed aside the question.

-+- Jay Z is releasing an album titled "Kingdom Come" around November 21 or so69.205.168.208 10:20, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Jay-Z's Legacy

I deleted the part about Jay-Z's 'legacy', because it was poorly written and had no neutral point of view (Jay-Z is regarded to be the best rapper alive).

It has re-appeared, I'm one for deletion as well. I don't believe it wasthe writer's own work... sounds like copy from a magazine. Also, it does not have a formal tone to it. If anybody else agrees, remove at will.--Jamott 18:03, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

I agree, it is poorly written and probably not the writer's own work.

I removed it. It doesn't have the neutrality nor formal tone that an encyclopedia article merits. If anything it reads like copy from Rolling Stone, Spin or The Source.--Jamott 21:27, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

Business Interests

Could someone please enter something about Jay-Z's many business interests (NJ Nets owner, Rocawear, Roc-a-fella Records, his NY club, etc.), as this guy is now more an entreprenauer than a musician. I'll do it if someone can post a URL of a good list of all his stakes. --Harro5 07:15, Apr 14, 2005 (UTC)

---

I get a little uneasy when the first sentence is "...is an African American rapper" I wouldnt have a problem if there was a standard, and everyone's race was firstly identified. "Bill Gates...a caucasian..." I don't know, it just seems kinda...weird.

Since 80% of Americans are Caucasian, non-Caucasian Americans (African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, etc.) are to be identified by ethnicity. That is general usage for pratically all encyclopedias. --b. Touch 15:51, 19 Feb 2005 (UTC)

• Just curious--is anyone planning on working on this article a bit for the Best of Both Worlds tour collapse and/or the mashup album with Linkin Park that's coming out soon? If not, I may or may not do it (depending on how work, school, sleep, and sanity are faring). By the way, please sign your stuff! --Billfred 00:26, 10 Nov 2004 (UTC)

• "began hustling on the streets of New York" What exactly is hustling? It's not defined in Wikipedia, Wiktionary, or my hardcopy dictionary. 12.217.180.16 02:13, 21 Nov 2004 (UTC)

hustling is something you do just to get by. in jay-z's case, his hustle was selling drugs. but hustling isn't nesscicerily selling drugs. for example, kanye west never sold drugs and he considers himself a hustler because he worked at the gap so he could keep the lights on.

Anonymous user (12.217.180.16) hustling is a urban slang term. Urban Dictionary has a definition of hustle. --Anonymous Cow 03:57, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

• "At the time of his retirement, no other rapper could match his street credibilty and his mainstream popularity." Took this statement out; unsupported speculation. --Western 09:07, 25 Nov 2004 (UTC)

• Wasn't he born in 1970? At the bottom there's a link to 1969 births. 11 Jan 05
• It is very important to mention that Jay-Z never sold as many records as Tupac and Eminem. This point seems to be misssing on the article. Even if he was listed on MTV as the greatest MC, it is not really valid. Tupac Shakur is by far the greatest one.

you definetly wrong about that. if its not jay-z, its definatly the notorious big. they said that when he died he had enough rhymes in his head to cover five albumes

Birthyear

There seems to be some dispute over when Jay-Z was born. I know I've seen several reverts back and forth. Can anybody cite a source? Tuf-Kat 02:08, Feb 24, 2005 (UTC)

His mom says his birthdate on december 4th on the black album

He was born in 1968. Cam'ron exposed that on his Disstrack "You Got To Love It". December 4 1968

Naw Jay was born December 4th 1969 Jay Z cleared it up on BET Jay Z and Nas Beyond the Beef he is 36 as of March 14, 2005 and want be 37 to the end of this year

On the subject of his early life, he shot his brother Eric when he was twelve over a watch or something to that effect. talk about street cred. Anyway, someone should do the research and put it in the article. Jay refuses to talk about it, but their are some veiled lyrical references. Unfortunately its not coming to me which song, but he talks about the act saying something about his "mind went blank" , then goes on to say that despite the attack, he was the first person his brother wanted to see in the hospital. I wonder if Jay will talk about it in "The Black Book" his eternally forthcoming autobiography. Oh yeah , mention that too. And is the stabbing of Lance "Un" Rivera in here in the beef section? "That nigga Un I scratched him, he went home without an aspirin".

I think the track you're referring to is You Must Love Me. I always thought that he had shot his girl becuase of the way the hook is sung, but after listening to it again, the gender is ambigious.72.137.224.24 09:03, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

ethnicity

is there a reason he is listed as just african american? why doesn't his asian heritage get a mention? maybe i've just missed some revert war about this, but this seems strange.

• This is the first time I've heard mention of him being asian. I did some searching and I saw arguments about it but nothing that really indicates one way or the other. Aves 01:32, 24 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Nas/Jay-Z Rivalry

According to the article, most radio personalities and the streets believed that Nas came out on top after the feud ended. I'm assuming a Nas fan must have added this line. I love Nas, but Jay-Z called him out because, according to him, Nas hadn't made a great album since Illmatic, while Jay-Z was rapidly rising. Nas' Stillmatic is not a bad album, but everything Jay-Z released from the Blueprint to the Black Album beat Nas album-for-album.

I guess it just seems really obvious that, all artistic considerations aside, Jay-Z came out as more popular than ever and Nas has been behind the scenes ever since. That feud completed Jay-Z's rise. I mean, he's the CEO of Def Jam now!!! I would just remove that line anyway. There's no need to say who won the feud. The two men ended the feud peacefully, and anyone who wants to see who "won" from a artistic or commercial standpoint can figure it out themselves.

I agree that this article needn't say who won. I don't think that it's possible to be sure who won. Tim Ivorson 10:54, 9 May 2005 (UTC)

I have concerns about that section as well. Unless sources can be provided, there should be no mention about which artist Street Personalities thought "won". Also I can't find any place where it specifically states that Nas and Jay-Z have officially ended their feud.

84.152.208.32 03:29, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I'm sorry, but Nas DID win the battle, and I like Jay-Z much better. According to a popular national radio show, voters could vote on who won. Many votes came in, and Nas got 52% of the votes, while Jigga got 48%. Plus, Nas's "Ether" was one of the greatest diss songs of all time, like it or not. While "Takeover" was quite good, but could not match the ferocity of "Ether". And in my opinion, Jay-Z's "Supa Ugly" clinched it. Supa Ugly is widely regarded as a very weak track and a horrible comeback to "Ether". Plus, Stillmatic got 5 mics from The Source. How is it just good? It's a classic? I enjoy Jay-Z better, but Nas is the better MC. With songs like "Just A Moment" on Street's Disciple, Nas proved that he still has excellent ability. Nas won the battle and Jay-Z did not. End of story.--24.13.69.221 21:23, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

As with all hip-hop "battles", there is not a numerical standard by which to gauge success (such as Nelly vs KRS-One, for another recent example). However, in the film Beef (2003), there is discussion in support of a Nas "victory". Clearly the logic that Jay-Z continued to succeed and was not impeeded by this defeat makes sense, but probably should not be used as a deciding factor. There should, however, be some statement as to the outcome, because without that the section is incomplete. Jay-Z was largely considered the "King of New York", and he lost his highest profile battle. --- V1rtue

---

Wikipedia is not a discussion forum for all things "Jay-Z". There are such places on the internet. This is a page to discuss the Jay-Z Wikipedia page, period. Weirdoactor 12:17, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

--- This section has it all wrong. Regardless of whoever 'won', Nas first had the 'Stillmatic' diss (not from the album) in which he calls Jay an "H to the izzo, M to the izzo". I'm not sure but i think the order of the other songs' releases are wrong in this article too. Someone qualified please? and not these fanboys... Es-won 13:00, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

nickname

where did he get his nckname, hova?--Jaysscholar 09:25, 22 September 2005 (UTC)

Hova is short for Jehovah, the name of God in the Old Testament. "God Hova" -Dave L

nobody knows?--Jaysscholar 01:23, 1 October 2005 (UTC)

Which nickname? See above. --Weirdoactor 22:15, 28 October 2005 (UTC)

Hova. It says it's a play on Jahova, but why?--Jaysscholar 03:03, 29 October 2005 (UTC)

Spellchecked "Later years" --Weirdoactor 22:15, 28 October 2005 (UTC)

because his the 'god of rap'?

I don't know the actual origin, but I know that in a magazine interview in either 2001 or 2002 he stated that he went by Hova because he had the "weight of the world" on his shoulders -- V1rtue

---

"God MC, me Jayhova." First time he said it was on the song Pregame with Sauce Money. --jcomp489

actually the lyric on that track is "codename, Jayhova/all praise me/y'all dont paint pictures/u all trace me" but thanks for the reference--Jaysscholar 04:30, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

actually, Jcomp489 referenced the wrong song. I believe me meant to quote the "Takeover" track: "The takeover, the break's over nigga

God MC, me, Jay-Hova" and Jay-Z mentions in the Breath Easy track on the Blueprint 2 album "I spring train in the winter Round early December Run suicide drills over and over With the weight of the world on my shoulder That's why they call me Hova..." He was also referencing his hard work in music and how hard he has worked. Y'all get your mind right! J/K Peace Y'all!

what is the z in jayz????? no one seems to know... is it zeesel or something, what does that mean

He got Jay-Z from the J and the Z train which ran through his neighborhood in brooklyn.

What about "Jigga"? I was told by a prison guard once that "Jigga" is a prison term for either guards in particular, or authority figures in general? Can anyone confirm/ debunk? [jookyhc]

i think that its nigga with the j from jay-z therfore it becomes jigga

• The nickname "Jigga" was given to him by the Notorious B.I.G.

OK, I don't know if you can back up either of those things -- I had always assumed "Jigga" was a reference to the racial slur "jiggaboo," or just "jigga," which is basically the same as "nigga" --MrGears 14:41, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

---

His nickname came from a variety of sources. First, his nickname as a drug dealer was Jazzy, he took the J-Z el, and his friend's name is Big Jaz (Jaz-O). Take your pick. MOD 23:31, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

I always thought that jigga was nigga but with a “J” on the beginning so it would be allowed to be said on singles without being edited. J-Hova is a play on the word Jahova meaning he is the God of rap. I can cite that too if that’s needed.

Jigga comes from the word Nigga it rhymes thats all to it, since it rhymes if he has a nickname that rhymes with a commonly used word in rap it increase its usage ability. and Jay-Z comes from the J and Z train that runs through the Marcy section of brooklyn. Hova is a play on Jahovah as to saying he is the "god MC". any more questions?

Wikipedia is not a discussion forum for all things "Jay-Z". There are such places on the internet. This is a page to discuss the Jay-Z Wikipedia page, period. People of ALL ethnicities are allowed to edit this page, ya heard? Weirdoactor 12:18, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

New Rivalry with the rapper Cam (or Cam'ron)

Cam of the Dipset, recently released an underground diss record ('You gotta love it"?) To listen, click on the following link: http://www.zshare.net/audio/02-you-got-to-love-it-beyonce-mp3-40c.html

In the song he accuses Jay-Z of stealing Roc-A-Fella records and the Roc-A-Wear clothing line from Dame Dash. He also accuses Jay-Z of stealing Kanye West from Dame Dash. He also accuses Jay-Z of having something to do with an attempted car-jacking that resulted in Cam being shot in Washington D.C., during Howard's Homecoming ('05). He also refers to some of Beyonces lyrics that were used on one of his second LPs.

There's an entire release, actually, of Cam and Jay-Z disses, between each other, hosted by Cam himself. The very first song describes how Jay-Z stole lines from other rappers. The name of the album is Jay-Z vs. Cam'ron - Shots Fired. MOD 22:57, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

pac vs hov

"In 1996, before his death, popular West Coast rapper Tupac began dissing Jay-Z. Apparently this stemmed from Jay's association with Tupac's rival The Notorious BIG, and a line Biggie had spit on a Jay-Z song"

What line was this and on what song?--Jaysscholar 07:12, 5 March 2006 (UTC) It is either Brooklyn's Finest or I Love the Dough in the song Big say something about 2 cops then says "get it, 2 pacs?" or something like that search the lyrics for either song and you will find it it is a blatant shot.

---

The B.I.G. line in question can be heard on a song titled "Brooklyn's Finest" from Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt LP. I don't know if I would consider it as a blatant shot at Pac than I would at his then wife, Faith Evans, but on any account B.I.G. can be heard in his verse as saying (something like):

    Me and gutter had 2 spots
    The 2 for 5 dollar hits-The blue tops
    Gotta Go-Coolio-mean its getting too hot
    If Faith has twins, she'll probably have 2 Pacs (Get it: 2Pac's)

The Pac vs. Jay beef was minor, especially compared to the beefs that Pac had and the beefs that we see today. There shouldnt be more than a sentence or two on the topic of the Pac & Jay beef. And maybe a little bit more about how he respects the memory of Tupac at his concerts and in Moment of Clarity (Black Album).72.137.224.24 09:09, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Listen To Brooklyns Finist and read the XXL reasonable DOubt Interview ...

ghost writing//techinique

Does anybody here have any background or want to write anything on Jay-Z's ghost writing for other rappers? I know for sure he did writing for Dr. Dre's "Still D.R.E." You can see "S. Carter" in the liner notes, and Dre's line even uses Jay's signature move including the chorus in the verse... This is probably why the title for Vol. 3 references "S. Carter." He also has a line on Vol. 2 something like "ghost writer, for the right price, I'll make your shit tighter." Rumors are he writes all of Memphis Bleek's shit and who knows who else, probably Puff Daddy -- remember Puff's line "I don't write rhymes, I write checks"? MrGears 17:09, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

• ahem*, Royce Da 5-9 was Dre's ghostwriter on "Still D.R.E.", not Jay-Z. Just thought I'd clear that up.

The line your reffering to is on bad boys for life. It goes "We still here, your rockin with the best; don't worry if I write rhymes, I write checks."

Also, can anyone volunteer to clean up the techinique section? It's not very objective or informative. I cut a line about "swagger" which is present in all rapping. Even so, it doesn't even go into how Jay can mimic any style (such as improving on Snoop's pimp-slang for Izzo) or all the syncopated rhythms he rhymes over (for example on Jigga what). --MrGears 15:30, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

one more thing:theres a diss track Cam made about Jay Z, maybe a section about his ghsot writing and his stealing (some) lyrics?EAB 00:44, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

You need to come up with a lot more proof than those to make it on the page.

Jay-Z does not ghost write for Memphis Bleek, he does however Ghostwrite for various other people mainly Foxy Brown, and formerly AMIL. Outside of that its hard to say if he writes for anyone else, but I assure you he does not write for Diddy, Pharoahe Monch, Bathegate and Black Rob amoung others write for Diddy.

aliases

Does anybody mind if I cut down this ridiculous list of aliases? Just because Jay-Z called himself something in one song... This article already is so long, messy and full of repetitions as it is. I just made a bunch of changes to clean it up, I hope y'all don't mind. MrGears 17:09, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

OK... After the addition of "Young Rocca Jiggy Fella Roca roc roc" to the alias list (just after "Young Rocky Roc Rock Jiggy Jigg") I'm going to trim down this list. The last two are clearly vandalism and this is a list of uninformative alternations on the same names anyway. --MrGears 16:14, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

I added a little blurb to the alias list... just so that people hopefully won't add back the more obscure ones that get one or two mentions in his tracks.--Jamott 01:13, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

question

somebody please answer this. I am brinigng it up here also to get more attention since nobody answered over there --Nerd42 17:00, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

No seriously ... does anybody know? IF anybody reads this, go to Talk:Collision Course and say "I don't know" just so I know people are getting this. --Nerd42 14:41, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

Proposal For Cleanup

Just finished some editing and clean-up. I am proposing that the article be more or less divided into two sections (with various subsections)... 1. Jay-Z as the hip-hop artist and 2. Jay-Z as the entrepeneur and of course some other sections for discography, awards, etc. Anybody agree/disagree?--Jamott 01:53, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

Made some major changes to the categories in the article, pretty much kept everything intact except for deleting the less-than-relevant Diamond Cutter law suit, left the link to the article. Work should be done on tightening up and making more concise the text in each of the sections.--Jamott 04:16, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

http://www.the4040club.com/index.cfm/CFID/1996349/CFTOKEN/81170173/MenuItemID/112/MenuGroup/Home.htm the correct list of the 40/40 and planned ones.

Corrected and amended. Thanks.--Jamott 17:07, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

Can we get some of the examples of "Biggie Biting" in?

"Professionalism" isn't a valid excuse to leave them out, as Wikipedia is not paper, and clarity should be a factor.

well i dont belive he ever did but on the black album, i guess he tries to clear his name by saying " I'm not a biter, I'm a writer, for my self and others, I sell you B.I.G. verse, i'm only bringing up my brother."

where is the line between homage and stealing?then quentin tarantino is a biter too:P--Bwanaunsignedhype

One "Excuse Me Miss" his hook is taken from Biggie's verse in "Big Poppa"

Jay-z Says, "I see some ladies tonight that should be hangin with Jay-Z, Jay-Z"

Biggie Sayz, "I see some ladies tonight that should be havin' my baby, baby"

• It's called "paying homage" to use a line that is as famous as Biggie's line there. It's just like when he uses the "bust a grape in a fruit fight" line in "99 Problems", he's paying homage to LL Cool J. ThePacMan 23:46, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

Jay-z:"Them rings and things you sing about bring em out/Its hard to ye'll the the barrels in ya mouth"-Encore

Biggie:Ditto-(unknown)-pctopgs

Non-Jay-Z Hit Singles/Albums

I'm planning to remove any singles/albums which Jay was not the Main artist and only "featured" with (ie. Mariah Carey). Technically these are not "his" hits. Any opposition?--Jamott 20:05, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

Opposition. Any comprehensive guide on an musical artist should include all his or her appearences, features, collaborations, and so on. Virtually every release in hop hop features guest artists or collaborative partners.

• Seconded. He even been on tracks released this year, including the remix of Rick Ross's "Hustlin'" alongside Young Jeezy.

I originally deleted them out of the singles... but I have seen that you have re-added them back under their own Appearances table and then some. Excellent work!--Jamott 18:32, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Jay Z appeared in Another Levels Be alone no more which, can be found on their self titled album. I plan to edit the page to relect this and here is proof.

http://launch.yahoo.com/read/news/12046720

However i can not edit the page, so someone else needs to do it.

Edits as of May 19, 2006

I reverted to a previous version. Alot of bad edits were evident, some additions without a neutral point of view and some blantant plagarism from the Roc-A-Wear website.--Jamott 22:53, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Broken Album Pics

I tried to find why the images are broken, but to no avail... even older versions of the page have broken images. If someone can check it out, please resolve.--Jamott 23:26, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

Izzo / jackson five?

Originally posted to Talk:Collision Course

I heard that the "Izzo" song was made from a sample from a Jackson Five song?? Which one is it though? --Nerd42 15:48, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

From the article at Pop Matters [1]... "Thus the song appropriates elements of Nelly's breakout "Country Grammar" with its sing-sing children's lyrics and with its same-same sample of The Jackson Fives' "I Want You Back", while referencing his real life drama with the judicial system ("not guilty, ya'll got to feel me")".--Jamott 17:56, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

The second paragraph about Jay-Z being the greatest MC of all time needs to be removed. If you take a look at the source referenced by the paragraph on the MTV site (http://www.mtv.com/bands/h/hip_hop_week/2006/emcees/), the following is a quote from the middle of the 6th paragraph, "the resulting list, while mathematically accurate, did not correspond to what many of us felt in our hearts. So we took that list, analyzed it and argued about it. Then we argued some more and made some controversial, hotly contested adjustments that not all of us agreed upon," The survey results were not from the survey but in fact a result of "controversial, hotly contested adjustments", that was my reason for removing it, because the conclusions were not drawn from the survey but rather chosen arbitrarily by the writers.

Comment about Jay-Z being greatest MC of all time

The second paragraph about Jay-Z being the greatest MC of all time needs to be removed. If you take a look at the source referenced by the paragraph on the MTV site (http://www.mtv.com/bands/h/hip_hop_week/2006/emcees/), the following is a quote from the middle of the 6th paragraph, "the resulting list, while mathematically accurate, did not correspond to what many of us felt in our hearts. So we took that list, analyzed it and argued about it. Then we argued some more and made some controversial, hotly contested adjustments that not all of us agreed upon," The survey results were not from the survey but in fact a result of "controversial, hotly contested adjustments", that was my reason for removing it, because the conclusions were not drawn from the survey but rather chosen arbitrarily by the writers.

I agree. MTV didn't stick to the formula and the actual value of the list is dubious at best.--Jamott 13:57, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

I'd argue that because the survey was put out by a mainstream source, it's worth mentioning. However, rather than having the article say Jay-Z is the greatest MC of all time, we need to say he was rated as such by this specific survey and possibly mention the controversy of the survey. I realize that as I'm replying to a nearly two-month-old post I'm not likely to get a reply from the previous posters under this heading, but I want to get opinions from others before adding anything to the article. -Unknownwarrior33 00:46, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Since when was MTV an expert on hip-hop? Es-won 13:05, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Hov Is Back

Jay-Z came back from retirement with slim thug's 'like a boss' and is still recording and I havent seen it any where in the article so I would like that to be added please.He also performed in Rick RossHustlin Remix' and 'Nike Airs and crsp teez'

This is a point of debate... I don't think doing guest appearances on other people's signal would really qualify as coming out of retirement. And his one-off show in NYC for the 10th Anniversary of Reasonable Doubt is in a similar boat If he releases his own single/album or goes on tour, I'd say that is coming out of retirement.--Jamott 14:54, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

Yes but in 'Hustlin Remix',He said 'Im in the air I dont hear n*gga's corny raps,ya n*gga Hov is back,ya n*gga Hov is back.' if he says it himself then that should be enough reason to add it to his biography.-Pctopgs-

Cam'ron & Swagger Jacker

On multiple occasions I've reverted the following contribution by Bluefitted:

"Jay-Z has again been put in the spotlight for biting through rapper Camron, in the track "Swagger Jacker", where clips of songs supposedly written by Jay-Z throughout his career are played, then clips from other artists are played directly after. Jay-Z has been yet to address the accusations, and his credibility is now in doubt."

And replaced it with this:

"Fellow artist Cam'ron has addressed Jay-Z's alleged biting in the track "Swagger Jacker." In the track, clips from various Jay-Z songs and original clips from other artists are played in succession illustrating their similar or identical nature. This has caused some members of the Hip-Hop community to question Jay-Z's credibility."

I re-wrote it as the original text did not have neutrality nor really written in a formal tone. Having done so many reverts on it, I thought I would open this for discussion, which way would you rather see it?--Jamott 14:54, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

Your replacement is better, no question. The phrase "and his credibility is now in doubt" in the original version is about as biased as the article can get and not be reverted immediately. -Unknownwarrior33 00:41, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

biting: unsourced negative material

I'm removing the "biting" section per WP:LIVING. There has been some discussion about this section, but none of it has mentioned the central point: all unsourced negative material about living people should be removed immediately. --Allen 01:40, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

Acculaly,it is true.On hot hot 97 DJ Kay Slay played jay-z's lyrics and other artists lyrics from before his time.I have a recording of it but i dont know what to do-Pctopgs

Collision Course

Why do you guys keep taking all the Jay-Z Linkin Park stuff out of the article?

I can think of a variety of possibilities, ranging from optimistic ideas like a series of innocent errors to pessimistic scenarios such as people deleting it because they figure if they personally don't like it, it's not important. Now, I'm going to assume good faith and expect it to be the former, but every article is a potential target for vandalism. We can't really say why it keeps getting deleted, but I put the single and the album back on the page. Here's hoping they stay. -Unknownwarrior33 00:38, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

"Show me what you've got" new Jay Z single???

I cant find a source for this, how is this true???

It is going to be reported in the new Ent. Weekly, Jay is on the cover. Maybe then you guys will realize that the album is going to be called 'Kingdom Come" not Presidential Gala

Sadly, the success of the album was overshadowed by the terroist attacks that same day."

"Released on September 11, 2001, the album managed to debut at #1, selling more than 450,000 albums in its first week. Sadly, the success of the album was overshadowed by the terroist attacks that same day."

This line bothers me for obvious reasons, particularly the term "sadly". I think it's probably for the best that terrorist attacks "overshadowed" the release of a Jay-Z album. Now that I look at it again, even the verb 'manage' suggests that despite the 'hardship' or 'injustice' of being released on the same day as the terrorist attacks, the album succeeded. Could and should be reworked in a more objective and less potentially disrespectful manner, in my opinion. Plus there are typos!

One more observation: This entire article needs to be heavily reworked for spelling, grammatical errors and blatant lifting from magazines. It reads really unprofessionally compared to the majority of Wiki pages that I've read. It's a shame, because Jay-Z and his impact not only on hip-hop culture but mainstream culture is a worthwhile and interesting topic for fans and non-fans alike.

Scorep 22:48, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

Hand-thing

I've seen people do this hand-sign on jay-z conserts, and i've seen jay-z do it himself. He holds he's hands with he's palms outwards and forms a triangle with thumbs touching and index-fingers touching. Anyone seen it? Does anyone know what this is, and write a bit about it?

~~It's The Roc, as in Rocafella, member of Rocafella will of put the hand gesture up to represent the label.

I think it's important to include this as a symbol of how influential Jay-Z's clothing line has become. After a dunk at the Rookie game last year, LeBron James made the ROC sign. I've seen other players make the sign as well (football, basketball mostly). I think this is very important on the greater scale to show the growing influence of not only Jay-Z, but of hip-hop as well.72.137.224.24 09:14, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Jay Z's Wealth Disputed

Jay Z's Net Worth Claims: It must be noted that Fortune has often incorrectly reported the wealth of several famous "millionaires", largely due to poor reporting and/or believing the verbal declarations of said millionaires.For example, Donald Trump has several times been reported inaccurately by Fortune as having an empire in the hundreds of millions (or billions) of dollars, despite having declared bankruptcy 3 times and Fortune relying on no other sources besides Trump's own people. Trump's actual worth has been estimated to be $90 million at his very best (one critic claimed "if we still had debtor's prisons, Trump would be locked up for life");Jay z's fortune may be as proportionally smaller as well.Note that his equal partner of 10 years,Damon Dash,has admitted that he is only worth about $50 million..Even when accounting for his other sources of revenue it is quite questionable if Jay z is worth $270 million more than his partner.

I don't think it's fair to even suggest that Dame and Jay are on a similar level.

I guess when wikipedia is a more respectable source than Forbes magazine you'll have a good point. Busterbros

You mean Fortune, right? Heh. Both Fortune & Forbes have admitted that the amounts they print are estimates only; as I'm sure the celebrities aren't handing over bank statements. I'm sure Jay-Z is quite wealthy; but let's put $350 million into perspective...it's almost half a billion dollars. He released his first album in 1996; even with pretty much full control of the profits, and his ancillary businesses, I can't imagine his personal wealth being more than $200 million. Maybe the companies he has nominal control over are worth close to $300 million combined. Weirdoactor 11:44, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

Actually Jigga never received a high percentage of the profits from his records.Most of the money generated from Rocawear had to be reinvested back into the business for growth.If he is worth $350 million it would be interesting to know exactly how that could be.Most of the stuff he owns are are pieces of other people's businesses.$100 million is understandable but $350 million?Highly questionable.

In the Hustlin' remix by Rick Ross featuring Jay-Z and Young Jeezy, Jay-Z says in his verse, "I got a honey bun, millions nigga I got couple hundred 'em." A couple is two, so if this is used as the source then he's got at least $200 million. [2] Gregems 04:08, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

In "Public Service Announcement (Interlude)", Jay-Z posits that "I check cheddar like a food inspector". Food inspectors check billions of pieces of cheese; does that mean Jay-Z is a billionaire? Maybe we shouldn't use Jigga's song lyrics as a source of information for his monetary wealth... Weirdoactor 14:34, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

I think you're taking that line a little to deep, but I see your point. I guess the only way to actually know for sure is to ask the man himself, anyone have contacts? Gregems 17:42, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

Jay-Z had bought a 1 million dollars Rolls-Royce as a present to Beyoncé, now we don't see P.Diddy or 50 cent buying such cars to their girlfriends, do we? 74.57.108.19 04:02, 27 October 2006 (UTC) Mr.B.

You've seen the alleged vehicle? The receipt for the purchase? Why are you comparing him to P. Diddy or 50 Cent? Do you have accurate amounts on their personal wealth? If so, please share your proof. Otherwise, your comment isn't helpful insofar as this discussion, which is about the lack of proof concerning Jay-Z's personal wealth exceeding $300MM. "We" don't see any such proof, do "we"? Weirdoactor 04:10, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

YEARS ACTIVE

Why is the years active stopped at 2003? He stopped making solo albums after that, but what about the commercial bullshit album he did with R. Kelly? Also, didn't he make singles or was featured on other Rappers' songs between 2003 and 2006? Just because he stopped making albums that considers him "not active"? If that's the case then every Rappers' article should be fixed to mark down the years when they were and weren't releasing albums... Also, why is that picture from Reasonable Doubt booklet used? Jay-Z has long abandoned his prime superior mafioso syle. Go post a picture of him in a club with jewelry on, or something; that would fit his style from 1998-present.--Tainted Drifter 17:38, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

You seem to feel rather strongly about the issues you bring up, and in great detail. If only there were a way for you to edit the article yourself...OH WAIT YOU CAN! Weirdoactor 20:33, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, but if I edit it, someone will most likely just put it back to the way it was... So hence my explanation...--Tainted Drifter 00:51, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

Oh yeah...other Rappers article years active section start at their first official song that they recorded...so why is Jay-Z's started at when his first album came out? Wasn't he featured on "Hawaiian Sophie" and "Originators" long before Reasonable Doubt???--Tainted Drifter 19:14, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

The Commission

Not that is greatly relevant but there is no mention of "The Commission" the group He and BIG started. it was Jay-Z (Iceberg Slim), Notorious BIG (Frank White), Charlie Baltimore, and Lil Cease. there isn't any mention if it on any of these peoples pages it should show up on somebodies radar.

So; add it and provide a citation/reference. Weirdoactor 12:20, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Immitation?

I really don't know about the etiquette in this situation but, is there any place (a mention perhaps) of the Grey Album? I think it's interesting that DJ Danger mouse made the album and there are issues around copy right and Jay-z's career, possible affects on the music industry, that are relevant to the sampling issue. user:lumber 23:02, 29 october 2006 (UTC)

See the "Recent Years" section of the article. Weirdoactor 03:51, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

I guess I skimmed that section alittle to quickly, thanks for the heads up.

Lumber 00:44, 31 october 2006 (UTC)

New nickname

On The Dan Patrick Show on November 1, 2006, Jay-Z said that his newest nickname is Mohammad Hovy. Hovy is pronounced like HO-vee. Jreddish 20:56, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

Romantic life

Someone should edit the last paragraph of that section, it's a toss. "It can be seen that jay-z and beyonce were fond of eachother before their official relationship" - what? no, they knew eachother before they got involved. Amil was part of roc-a-fella, of course Jay would direct her video.

"In 2006, MTV named him the "Greatest MC Of All Time"

Is this phrase too much? I kind of think it is; and I wrote it myself. I replaced this phrase: "and his success has led many to consider him the best rapper ever"; which really doesn't fully explain the MTV link. Thoughts? Opinions? -- weirdoactor ^t|c -- 01:35, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

I think its fine, considering that the phrase is in quotations and the source is clear. Maybe a sentence afterward about how many people dispute the claim of greatest MC because MTV is primarily a mainstream music channel, and since they don't specialize in hip-hop, the validity of their claim is questionable...something like that...thoughts?72.137.224.24 09:20, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Good idea; my only thought is that it might be difficult to source such statements. -- weirdoactor ^t|c -- 02:17, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Jay-Z HP (Hewlett Packard) Advertisement

Anyone know if that is really Jay-z appearing in the advertisment for Hewlitt Packard laptops? Only his hands are shown and the voice over suggests it is him but I'm not so sure, I expect they used an actor. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Horkana (talk • contribs) 08:23, 14 November 2006 (UTC).

It's Jay-Z's voice, but I don't know if those are actually Jay-Z's hands. I'm pretty sure that in Pharrell's ad, it's actually Pharrell; because you can see his tattoos. You can see the ads here, and there's an interesting article about them here. -- weirdoactor ^t|c -- 15:25, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

To do list - article improvements

• The Top 20 singles section needs to be made into a table. -- weirdoactor ^t|c -- 20:52, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

RIAA Certifications

I changed a few certifications, since they don't match with the info on riaa.com. Kajito 00:21, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

Not professional, not encyclopedic

Quote from this article, as it is now:

The most significant development in this show was closure to the infamous beef between Jay-Z and Nas.

Funny, I've never heard of this beef. Is it any good? Does it go well with steak sauce? Let's try to use professional language, here, people. This article really needs some cleanup. --70.226.165.192 19:34, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

Beef is a hip hop term,there could be a link for those who dosen't know.-Pctopgs

Should scientific articles on Wikipedia use common English rather than scientific language? Or should the articles reflect the flavor of the world they are about? -- weirdoactor ^t|c -- 05:15, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

I think there should be common English in any ariticle-introduce some new words to tose who dosnt Know.But on the other hand,the article would look as if a middle schooler wrote it.-Pctopgs

Adding Images

I know This is off topic but I couldnt find another place to write this,How do I add I add Images to the article?I have an up to date photo of Carter

Jay-Z

How did he come up with that name? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.113.131.124 (talk • contribs)

1. sign ur coments 2. this is a place for discusing article edits not discusing the articles subject and 3. it came from the two railroads (J and Z) that ran near the house where he grew up Nicoli nicolivich 01:49, 23 November 2006 (UT

Fall Out Boy

I read that he was featured in the intro to a song by Fall Out Boy called "Car Crash Hearts". I'm sure that's worth mentioning in here. Someone should put it in.69.154.241.64 16:14, 23 November 2006 (UTC)Arnie

Discography

Stop listing album appearances and singles without putting them into a chart it looks like crap. It's on the discography, it doesn't need to be on both it makes the article to long. Also stop messing with charts and write text. The discography was fine before pepole started messing it up; leave it how it is, the Jay-Z discography is one of the best on Wikipedia, but his text is not, lets try to change that!!!!! TheDangerRanger 16:47, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

Excellent Wiki Article - Congrats to All

All, I just editted this article quite a bit. My impression is that this is a very well written wikipedia article. It's obvious some pople have really done a great job here. Congratulations to all who made this article really great. (Not me, I just made a few grammar and spelling changes, etc.) --LegitimateAndEvenCompelling 04:28, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Image Change

Change the Pic of Jay-Z -Pctopgs-

Rocafella/DDP Lawsuit?

There should be a mention about how Jay Z infringed on DDP's Diamond Cutter hand gesture and is now being sued along with Rocafella.--71.115.25.218 20:46, 10 December 2006 (UTC)