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Artist: Jay-Z

Album: Vol. 2...Hard Knock Life

Genre: East Coast commercial Rap, with hints of underground skill here and there.

Producers: DJ Premier, Timbaland, Jermaine Dupri, Erick Sermon, Steven Jordan, Mark 45, Swizz Beats.

Tracks: 14

Label: Def Jam/Roc-a-Fella

Year of Release: 1998

Date of Review: November 25, 1998

LYRICS: 7

FLOW: 7

MESSAGE: 2

BEATS: 5

ORIGINALITY: 3

HYPE: 9

CONSISTENCY: 6

SCORE: 57%

School of Hard-Knocks

For now, however, it's all Jay-Z.

Everybody knows Jay-Z. Or at least most people do. He's been one of the country's most popular rappers for quite some time now. But, it wasn't always that way. In fact, I remember as recent as 1996, his debut album didn't even go platinum.

That record, Reasonable Doubt, was a great one. Featuring superb production and captivating rapping, it was a record that I'd place just below East Coast pseudo-gangsta classics like Nas's Illmatic and Biggie's Ready to Die. It's odd that I like the album as much as I do . . . it isn't particularly original in any way. DJ Premier, as always, hooked up some tight, tight beats, but most of the other producers were unknowns. And, other than a show-stopping duet with the Notorious B.I.G. ("Brooklyn's Finest"), there weren't many good guest appearances.

So, what was so great about Reasonable Doubt? Jay-Z himself. There was just something about him that made you keep listening. It wasn't that he dropped lyrics at a higher level than what I had already heard; the aforementioned Nas and Biggie Smalls were able to do similar things better. His subject content was never anything worth writing home about: cliched topics were all over. It was just the chemistry he had at the time.

I wasn't the only one that really liked Jay-Z, either. Soon, almost every Hip-Hoppublication, from Vibe to XXL had named him the "Greatest Rapper Alive." Now, I liked the guy . . . but the greatest? Nah . . . I wouldn't have even called him one of the best. But, Jay-Z got his props. Probably more than he deserved.

Props weren't enough for young Shawn Carter, however. Not long after his debut, Jay-Z released two platinum-plus albums: 1997's In My Lifetime Volume 1 and this year's Streets Is Watching Soundrack. I didn't bother getting Streets Is Watching (it had a lot of cats I had never even heard of on it), but In My Lifetime was a decent followup to Reasonable Doubt. By this time, however, Jigga had chosen to shed his underground image for the status of a pop rapper, inviting Puff Daddy and Babyface, among others, to help him build tracks accessible enough to sell. He didn't completely turn his back on Brooklyn, though. DJ Premier still produced a few tracks (which were, by no coincidence, BY FAR the best songs on the album). As a whole, the album was good, but not great.

This leads us to Jay-Z's latest album: Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life, which, according to its title, begins where Volume 1 left off. Like Volume 1, Jay's latest offering showcases a man that is simply trying to please too many people. The rhymes are torn here, trying too hard to appeal to both the hardcore audience that initially fueled his desire to emcee and the mainstream crowd that has made him a millionaire. Tracks like "Can I Get A..." and the Jermaine Dupri-produced "Money Ain't a Thang" show Jay-Z's pop side, while his underground attempts are best displayed on "Hand It Down." The problem with this is that Jay-Z is dividing his efforts; instead of merely finding an identity and then attacking tracks, he seems too calculating, too worried about how he'll be perceived instead of simply focusing on putting out great jams.

As a result, this album is very structured as a whole. Instead of a natural album, Hard Knock Life more closely resembles a "product," factory manufactured and produced, without passion or feeling, to an oblivious audience. Too often, Jay-Z's delivery seems very "forced." While no one with any knowledge of Hip-Hop can seriously discredit his skills as a lyricist, Jay-Z spends less time being himself and than he does emulating other popular rappers. Hard Knock Life as a whole seems to be modeled after the late Notorious B.I.G.'s massively successful Life After Death album. Like Biggie's offering, Jay-Z has a track produced by DJ Premier to add some street credibility ("Hand It Down"), a double speed, Bone Thugs imitation track to try to show some versatility ("Nigga What, Nigga Who"), and even a duet with Too $hort ("A Week Ago"). Not content to simply imitate his idol emcee, Jay-Z also borrows ideas from his once arch-rival LL Cool J by recording a posse cut produced by Erick Sermon ("Reservoir Dogs") and takes a page out of Tupac's notebook with the melodramatic "If I Should Die."

None of this is to say that these songs are bad. They're just, well, not very original. This is particularly disappointing coming from Jay-Z, a rapper who often astounded his critics (myself included) by creatively rhyming about even the most cliched topics. There's plenty of entertainment on Jay-Z's latest LP, but he still retains his position as rap's greatest underachiever: an emcee renowned for his lyrical skills, but not known for releasing classic albums. Unlike other popular rappers like Canibus or Nas that can release pretty nice albums with commercial appeal, Jay-Z is still struggling by trying to please everyone.

And those lyrics aren't always on point, either. Check this line from "Money Ain't a Thang":

	"I was spending hundreds when they had small faces"

Okay . . . considering that it's only been two years since hundred dollar bills have switched to their new style, and that simply spending hundreds isn't THAT large of an accomplishment, I think I'd rank that as one of the most God-awful lines I've heard in a rap song this year. It makes sense . . . but as bragging, it doesn't do anything at all to enhance Jay-Z's image. The whole song is just about how rich Jay-Z and JD are, but saying you spent hundred dollar bills two years ago doesn't mean you're incredibly rich now, does it?!

The production has its ups and downs as far as quality goes, but as a whole, it's dope, if a bit too commercial sounding. Timbaland seems to have replaced Puffy as Jigga's producer of choice, which is a good thing, as I'm no big fan of Tim, but any idiot can see that he's far more creative and original than Puff. Timbaland's southern, stuttery-sounding tracks are actually REALLY cool sometimes, as long as you don't overplay them and they're limited to only a few on an album. Unfortunately, DJ Premier only offers one track here, the intro, and Jay-Z doesn't even rap on it. Erick Sermon fails to recreate the hype on "Reservoir Dogs" (featuring The Lox, Sauce Money, and Beanie Siegel) that seemed to come so naturally on LL Cool J's "4, 3, 2, 1." Then again, there were a lot better verses (plus a fun LL-Canibus backstory) on "4, 3, 2, 1," so, it's not like Jay could really even compete. As far as the fluffy pop hits, like "Can I Get A...," they're probably best not to even bring up.

As a whole, the only track on Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life that shows the potential that Jay-Z has and could still live up to is the title track itself, "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)." Featuring a chorus from the broadway musical Annie, it's incredibly commercial, undeniably cheesy, and it will most likely be remembered as nothing but a novelty track. But, it's also creative, original, and just plain fun. That's something that the rest of the album doesn't have very much of.

Vol. 2 isn't a bad album. In fact, it has plenty of above-average songs that make it worth buying for any fan of Jay-Z's music, or anyone that's into the East Coast Hot 97 commercial/hardcore scene (you know what I mean . . . artists like The Lox, Big Pun, and whoever else that tries to appeal to both the mainsteam and the underground). But, despite what you may have read in some Hip-Hop publications, Jay-Z still isn't the world's greatest rapper. Truly great emcees consistently release truly great albums. And, just for the record . . . I'd place Volume 1 above Vol. 2 as far as overall quality goes. But neither of these above-average albums can touch the near-classic Reasonable Doubt.

---Steve Clark