In the midst of being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame this week, Jay Z took to Twitter for an 11-tweet salute to his many musical influences. Strikingly familiar to the homage he made on his 2009 song “A Star Is Born” featuring J. Cole, his shoutouts ranged from golden era rap-gods to the leaders of the new school, giving insight into not only what he’s listening to currently, but some of the artists that have helped to mold his sound.
Much like when we first got a glimpse of the books that Tupac read throughout his formative years, this detailed list of influences is telling, especially as you traverse Jay’s discography and explore the many different sounds he manifested.
A 20-plus year career with the level of success that Jay has attained could only have been achieved by staying abreast of the shifting direction of the game and moving accordingly. Whether this means riding the wave or helping to make it, it positions Jay as a tastemaker and a kind of creative sponge, not unlike LL Cool J, or, for a more contemporary example, Drake.
Big Daddy Kane and Jaz-O’s influence can be heard throughout his earliest recordings, as he became known for his machine gun-esque multi-syllabic flows. Artists like Ghostface Killah and Raekwon — specifically the mafioso vibe of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… — can be seen as having an influence on his life-changing debut, Reasonable Doubt. Kool G Rap was just as, if not more, responsible for the mafioso influence.
The more slickly produced “jiggy” sound that Puff Daddy ushered in with his No Way Out project in 1997 can be heard throughout his sophomore effort, In My Lifetime, Vol.1, which dropped later that same year. The Notorious B.I.G.’s lyrical influence can be heard too. The specific sound failed to break Jay into the mainstream and he was chronically frustrated while opening up for Puff on his No Way Out Tour, leading him to drop out shortly after a disastrous NYC date fraught with technical difficulties.
While on tour, though, he heard Mark The 45 King spin a break that would eventually become his biggest single (to that point of his career), “Hard Knock Life.” That following summer, Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life was released. It was arguably more street, with a different production vibe that seemed to played well to guests like DMX and The LOX. Both of those acts had projects that preceded Vol. 2, which likely helped feed the project’s edge, if only subconsciously.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq0FrCdFd9U
In Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter we began to see the southern influence in the form of the sound being popularized by Cash Money Records. For key examples of this period check “Snoopy Track” featuring Juvenile and “Big Pimpin” featuring UGK.
By the time Dynasty arrived in 2000, he’d begun to show a newfound pocket thanks to The Neptunes and his circle of artists that included Young Chris (from whom Jay soaked up lyrical/cadence influence), Beanie Sigel and State Property. His later work with Kanye and Just Blaze, on arguably his best project, The Blueprint, took on a fresh soulful vibe that carried over into his (fake) retirement album, 2003’s The Black Album.
Let’s not forget American Gangster, inspired by the film starring Denzel Washington as Frank Lucas, but also heavily influenced by Jay’s own debut album.
This trend continues up until today, but what can be conclusively stated is that Jay Z has always developed and subbed his circle of collaborators, which has made each project an evolving piece of artistry, rather than stagnant repeats of his debut.
He tends to face criticism about his more contemporary rhymes being largely centered on his wealth and success. Much like Kingdom Come was (in many ways) a subtle acceptance and celebration of his mid-30s, his current circumstances find him and his circle eating at a level of “well-off” of which most listeners can only dream. For that reason much of his recent material feels like victory laps.
https://youtu.be/tRlwg0T2Jyo?t=40s
Jay Z has had many influences over the years, and if you’re looking for clues on what a new album may sound like — assuming 4:44 is indeed an album — you need only to examine who he’s hanging out with, and who he is feeling right now. High praise for Playboi Carti’s “Magnolia” could be a telling sign, as could his nod to Chance The Rapper. Or, hey, why not a feature from Obama?
Check out Jay’s full Twitter tribute here, or read DX’s What Will Jay Z’s Next Album Sound Like article for more.
whats the point in breaking down shit? its still shit, just spread out.
HEY HIP-HOP DX, HOW DOES JAY Z’S CROTCH TASTE LIKE??
You talk shit about JayZ but probably dick ride every lame ass Migos story DX publishes… #FakeHipHopNews
King Hov has no influences, he is the influence. He’s not like Nas with some fake Esco persona. How dare you compare him to some pop act like Drake. Go fucking listen to some Oochie Wally with your wannabe playboy Nash bunch fucking Nas stans.
Lol what?
AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, YOU STILL MAD AT NAS FOR NOT CLAIMING YOU AS HIS CHILD??!!!! HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Wait……gay z excludes drake among his list of contemporary rap influences……not in the very least surprised……that boy killed this octogenarian’s career ages ago so he is definitely salty……foh mammoth lips
Read all the tweets he did — he did name drake and like 40 others…
You do know Drake has other people write his songs for him right? No one can ever expect to be respected in HipHop if you can’t come up with your own shit. Much less be compared to someone like Jay-Z who is a lyrical genius so much so he writes songs for other people. They do have something in common however. Jay-Z also doesn’t write his own songs. He comes up with them on the spot like a true MC.
Have you ever read the liner notes to a Jay Z album? You do know that its a FACT that Jay Z pays people to write lyrics that comes out of his mouth and not the top of his head? SMFH
Wtf? This gay ass niqqa refuse to include Dmx in his list while having tha nerve to include Nas name in his list. I remenber he got his ass whip by Nas years back,i quess that was tha reason and i believe he learned a lot from hin lol,
Shut the fuck up forever. Look at his tweets
He actually did name DMX in one of his tweets. He just called him X.
Who is still relevant? Nas hasn’t done anything of any significance since the Jay-Z beef. Jay-Z has put out several solid to classic albums since then…. Who really won?
Nas won. The only good albums Jay put out after the beef were the Black Album and American Gangster. Nas has God’s Son, Untitled (underrated), Distant Relatives and Life Is Good.
Depends…. Jay Z is relevant to pop fans because he does crossovers with Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Linkin Park, Cold Play etc. But true Hip Hop heads know he hasn’t really released anything relevant since the Black Album. Where Nas has had 4 very good to excellent albums to Hip Hop heads. If were going off of total popularity Jay Z would win but does that mean he still makes excellent Hip Hop? So, While Jay Z has been making pop tracks, Nas has been continually making excellent Hip Hop since the beef.
He stole everything from Big L!!!!
If you added one more exclamation point. Then I would have believed you. Until then, I’m continue to know that just about everything about the way they rapped was completely different.
Somebody doesn’t know the difference between “inspire” and “influence”. ?
How much of Biggie’s rhymes is gonna come out yo fat lips?
probably all the lines he wrote for biggie Im going to guess
Lol, Jay never wrote for Big and Big never wrote for himself. All of his rhymes were made in his mind, as was Jay’s. And Jay decided it was okay to bite his deceased friend’s rhymes, and then say he’s “bigging up his brother”. Laughable.
Shall we talk about he BLATANTLY jacked Young Chris’ flow . . . I mean that shit was embarrassing how obvious it was
Hahahahahahahaha…. Who the fuck is “Young Chris” ….. loser quit making up stories
Google is your friend, bruh…
It was a rhetorical question meaning I don’t expect there to be an answer as to who a no name like Young Chris is…. he’s a nothing that never ammounted to nothing and was in fact signed to JayZ label as a protege of Jay’s. If you 2 lil schmucks wanted to show some actual knowledge of the subject you would refer back to the only people that have a legit grip in claiming jayZ stole their flow in Jazz-O and Large Professor. But I wouldn’t expect such huge Young Chris fans to know who their are and probably would come to the same dipshit conclusion that they stole their flow from him… Your welcome
Again, Google is your friend — as is grammar! Thanks for coming out.
The thing I’m really confused about is why he name-dropped 50. Wasn’t they at war all that damn time?