Rappers reference an array of brands from Gucci to BMW in various raps. To coincide with Jay Z’s cover story, Vanity Fair created a list of Jigga’s “Most Name-Dropped Brands” listed by album.
Vanity Fair had criteria they used.
“To make the task realistic, we referenced only albums officially included in his discography, and at times we interpreted lyrics when they very obviously referenced a brand without outright saying it,” Vanity Fair wrote on its site.
According to Vanity Fair, Jay’s most referenced brand is Mercedez Benz. Lexus, Maybach, BMW, Range Rover and Porsche were also part of the list the magazine created.
Jay also often references guns in his raps, with Glock and Kel-Tec being part of this list.
Another brand that Jay Z has referenced extensively is Cristal, the luxury champagne brand. Cristal was once at least one of Jay Z’s favorite beverages. However, he has also referred to Cristal as racist in different verses since 2006, when the champagne company reportedly attempted to distance itself from Hip Hop.
According to the chart, Jay Z referenced brands the most on his 2007 release, American Gangster. He reportedly referenced brands the least amount of times on 2004’s Unfinished Business, a collaborative album Jay Z made with R-Kelly.
The chart is missing Jay Z’s 2001 release, The Blueprint.
More of Vanity Fair’s chart can be viewed below.
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lol
I ALWAYS WONDERED ABOUT THIS…
sellout shit
well, if that’s the criteria then hip hop as a whole sold out.
no shit!
missing BP1 on there. It shows Roc-La-Familia then the BP2 album.
the record label probly gives him a criteria of what to rap about
Probably? Go read up on 360 deals.
are you implying that Jay-Z is sitting on a 360 deal? the guy that left def jam with all his masters.
I DONT GET DROPPED I DROP THE LABEL
forgot Hublot, biggest name drop in the last 2 albums.
keep promoting the white mans brands for free!!!!!!
You’re all full fool for that.. Tell me how many black business have run for decades. Talking senseless will get you nothing.
^Shut cha clueless ass up. This person is right. Name dropping and getting no endorsement money from it. It’s stupid. Name a Fortune 500 company that was founded and owned by Blacks? I’ll wait.
You’re a fool and will remain young in your mentality because you don’t understand the words people say and never will… what was the question above and what are you waiting for?.. you even used a statement from Hov’s verse “name one nigga out there harder than him, I’ll wait”. you hate like upside down cake proving nothing because you’re dumb and will never get a company of your own or get some one to found any of your dumb idea because you’re one of those blacks out there with nothing to show to the world.
what does that have to do with jay-z giving the rich white millionaires free promo for their brands?
exactly….. where’s the brotherly love
seen you said the most, ace of spades and hublot should be added
This was mildly interesting
Jay-z always looking out for his rich white Illuminati brethren
most mainstream hip-hop is bullshit these days. every other fucking bar they name dropping brand names of shit their fans cant and probably wont ever be able to afford. fuck yo maybach nigga
I didnt know this. This is the most important hiphop news of the year. hiphopdx is so full of knowledge. thanks guys for this great story. This is pullitzer price shit
He’d mention his love for Microsoft PowerPoint, but that shit just don’t flow right!
LOLL
Hahahah amazing
everyone saying sellout, promoting brands.. people use your brain..how many words are said on entire album? these brands he mentions is probably like 1% of the words he says.. try saying that much without referring some sort of brand i dare you.
exactly. niggas acting like jay the gawd is game or someting.
80% of the words used in Rick Ross rhymes are brands
Y’all should checkout thegrandreport, they got good hip hop and viral videos on there
I had Benzes ‘fore you had braces
The all black Maybach but I’m not a racist
Inside’s whiter than Katy Perry’s face is
Yellow diamonds in my Jess
he name drop because they are part of his wants or already had and as real as his verses
Jesus take the Wheel.
so sick of this overrated fuck all he does is this name dropping bullshit and bragging about his wealth he says the same fucking shit over and over and over hes not a lyricist in my eyes. 30+ new school brand name dropping “rappers” can all potentially heavily sound like him tell me this dude says crazy shit and flows like tech, nas, eminem, and countless underground emcees
Get money like him so you can relate then u poor as punk that 9to5 ain’t working !!!
^ Typical Jay-Z stan.
Fuck you @young guwop. lets get wealthy who else gon feed we if we need it we gon get it how ever God Help US.
shut up, faggot. your intellect is too low to grasp jay’s content.
Someone has got too much time in his/her hands.SMH
Exactly what I was thinking.
yeah you couldnt pay me enough to go through every jay album counting brands
whites automatically become socialists when blacks talk about wealth. Fuggouttahere…..you can’t even go into Walmart or the supermarket without spending hundreds of bucks….Commerce makes the world go around.
THis is fucking useless information.
Cooooooontastic!!!
Free promo for days, don’t know why they’re missing The Blueprint though that’s an important album in Jay’s career
pointless article. you might as well list all the biggie references while you’re at it
That would easily be in the thousands.
Jay-z is the best emcee ever. PERIOD! name another rapper that has lasted as long as him and still selling records… everybody looks at jay and says he sold out because he doesnt talk about the same stuff he did back in the reasonable doubt era or even the blueprint era. hes passed that, hes 40 years old and surrounded by money, yet he still recognizes that his words have an impact, you think watch the throne was all about money? did you even listen to murder to excellence? did you even listen to new day?
Tash from Tha Liks has a higher net worth, and is reportedly set to marry Oprah, so Jay is actually poor by comparison.
What about Ether was better than Takeover and Supa Ugly?
Flow? No.
Beat? No.
Mic presence? No.
More/harder facts? No.
Better lines? No.
shut up.
shut up!
theres a reason they say you got ‘ethered’ and not you got ‘takeovered’ 10+ years later
why the fuck do we care?
This shit is all irrelevant. You journalists are trying to dig too deep into a bunch of nothing just to have a story.
THIS ARTILCE IS A BUNCH OF WHITE PPL SHIT. NIGGAS DONT CCARE AND DATS DA TGROOF
Jay Z got the Cristal from Rae and Ghost
what no-life stan compiled this?
Damon Dash.
That’s Jay-Z for you. A nigga who spends his whole time naming a lot of brands that don’t pay him for that extra marketing.
What brand those your father have and how much those he worth with his lame hands on his nut?
lol whut
by Andres RETARDio!!
Gay z
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it proves he ain’t no mcee