Did Jay-Z have any real fans prior to the Blueprint?

[Jay107]

Never said Ja or X were better rappers. But they were more popular.

And people, Forawhile, Vol. 2 was Jay's only hugely successful, SoldBETTERTHANEVERY1ELSES project. Everything else he did sold just as well and was received as well as his other NY contemporaries.

the argument in this case can only be made for x imo...ja rule was featured on vol. 2 before he even released "holla, holla" more or less his debut lp...ja rule had only one lp by the time bp hit so he couldn't have been more popular and is out of this argument...x played his cards right and rode the momentum of his debut to release his second album in the same year...both went platinum...at this time jay had 3 platinum albums and 2 classics under his belt (rd and bp are not his only classic albums...dont forget vol. 2)...even if jay was not selling more than x, he was ahead by leaps and bounds lyrically...

 

[isayas]

Jay is G.O.A.T.

 

[great l]

I was a hard-core fan of Jay before Blueprint. Back then it was the Wu, LOX, Jay and BIG for me. Blueprint was just a dope album by one of my fav EmCee's at the time. I remember cats used to check out the Source for critic's ratings back then like it was the hiphop bible and blueprint had 5 mics.

 

[thesynthesis]

kingdome come, American gangsta and bp3 are wack

only jayz stans and fly by hip hop fans will like them ( the type who dont even listen or heard of rd or bp)

biggy>jayz

pac>jayz

nas> jayz

its a sad state we're in when we only have o look forwards to jayz albums

 

[great l]

You are a straight up hater. Haters are like shunned females to me and are even worse than stans. Anyone with a lyrical IQ back then knew JayZ was way superior to DMX. DMX was just like the 50 cent at the time. He came out like a storm and that Ruff Ryder's Anthem had everybody jumping. American Gangsta and BP 3 are far from wack. AG is actually one of the most critically acclaimed albums Jay has and BP3 may not be a great album but it is a solid album. GTFOH with that "it's a sad state we're in when we only have to look forward to Jay Z albums". If all the other rappers from back then had stayed on their grind with their music and paper, they would still be relevant.

EDIT: This is a reply to the post above this.

 

[qawshun]

i was and still am

 

[derrick251]

kingdome come, American gangsta and bp3 are wack

only jayz stans and fly by hip hop fans will like them ( the type who dont even listen or heard of rd or bp)

biggy>jayz

pac>jayz

nas> jayz

its a sad state we're in when we only have o look forwards to jayz albums

how can you seriously say those albums were wack, they were all the best albums the years they came out.

hell AG is probably one of the best from the last 5 years, BP3 went hard and you know it, and KC was underrated as hell

 

[isayas]

kingdome come, American gangsta and bp3 are wack

only jayz stans and fly by hip hop fans will like them ( the type who dont even listen or heard of rd or bp)

biggy>jayz

pac>jayz

nas> jayz

its a sad state we're in when we only have o look forwards to jayz albums

SMH, how the fuck?

 

[weezyfgarbage]

lol jay haters are cute, it's like they wanna criticize him without saying some joey camel shit to sound immature....

 

[tompetrez3]

lol jay haters are cute, it's like they wanna criticize him without saying some joey camel shit to sound immature....

shit. i keeps it simple and effective with 2 words

FUCK JAY Z

 

[great l]

shit. i keeps it simple and effective with 2 words

FUCK JAY Z

Your infatuation with Jay Z is highly disturbing. The volume of words you have dedicated to the man who doesn't even know of your existence could fill two novels.

 

[usmarin3]

When will you niggas realize it's about consistency, that's why Nas and Jay are still around and X is smoking crack somewhere and Ja is doing BET movies. It's about a marathon, not a sprint. Oh yeah, get the the fuck off the content bullshit, some of you niggas just like psuedo conscious rappers who like pandering to your lazy asses. I respect the nigga who choses to make it in life despite the hardship, instead of the nigga who whines and cry about the system.

 

[tompetrez3]

Your infatuation with Jay Z is highly disturbing. The volume of words you have dedicated to the man who doesn't even know of your existence could fill two novels.

yes i wrote 2 books

my pulitzer prize american classic A Camel Grows In Brooklyn and my NY Times bestseller How To Cope Dripping With Ether: Chancelta Edition

 

[1of1]

Two Cents:

I don't understand the relevance/point of the conversation. But I have always been a fan of Jay's skill set when it comes to putting rhymes together.

 

[1of1]

yes i wrote 2 books
my pulitzer prize american classic A Camel Grows In Brooklyn and my NY Times bestseller How To Cope Dripping With Ether: Chancelta Edition

LMaOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!1

 

[rapmastermind]

Yes he did, Me being one of them. Was the tender age of 15 when I first discovered Shawn Carter. But the reality is most Jay Z fans came two albums late. NaS also had fans come in late cause many completely slept on "ILLmatic", add Pac to that list too as fans slept on his 1st two albums. Big was one of the few that people got instantly. As for Jay most jumped on the bandwagon post-Biggie during the "Hard Knock Life" Era. Both "Reasonable Doubt and Vol 1" were criminally slept on. Sure both are Platinum now but they should be 5x Platinum in comparsion to the rest of Jay's career. With HNL going 5x Platinum and Vol 3 went Triple platinum and Dynasty went Double so from 98-2000 Jay sold 10 Million albums and a year later sold 2 million and dropped his 2nd Classic and solidified his spot with the GOATS. If the quesiton is does Jay have a lot of bandwagon fans? Well yes, all the GOATS do but those that were there saw Jay was on the comeup for over 8 years trying to blow and he finally got the right connects and worked his way up to the top. I was 15 when "Dead Presidents" came on as a single before the album dropped so I'm one of Jay's Day 1 fans. It didn't take an annie sample for me to know Jay was ILL. What's crazy is cause people slept on Jay early, they missed on and discovered late that his early work is what put him with the GOATS more than his later work.

 

[great l]

yes i wrote 2 books

my pulitzer prize american classic A Camel Grows In Brooklyn and my NY Times bestseller How To Cope Dripping With Ether: Chancelta Edition

Ha. Clever.

 

[Knives Amilli]

I would not exactly say all that, The BP 1, then BP2, then The Black Album, those were 3 "single", Commercial, and Critically successful Albums. DMX never in his career had all three of those on one album

Blueprint 2 is regarded as one of Jay's worst albums and received mixed reviews from critics.

"it's Dark", "Flesh of my Flesh" and "And then there was X" are all highly regarded by critics, fans, and all 3 sold extremely well.

 

[Ham&CheeseHotPoc]

master p is better than jayz will ever be

 

[Knives Amilli]

the argument in this case can only be made for x imo...ja rule was featured on vol. 2 before he even released "holla, holla" more or less his debut lp...ja rule had only one lp by the time bp hit so he couldn't have been more popular and is out of this argument...x played his cards right and rode the momentum of his debut to release his second album in the same year...both went platinum...at this time jay had 3 platinum albums and 2 classics under his belt (rd and bp are not his only classic albums...dont forget vol. 2)...even if jay was not selling more than x, he was ahead by leaps and bounds lyrically...

Ja was on his 3rd album when Blueprint dropped. And mainstream-wise, Ja was damn near a top 3 big name rapper, and i'd dare say he became one after Pain is Love. And Jay didn't have 3 platinum records in '98. In my Lifetime didn't go plat till '99 and RD didn't go plat till 2002. Even IF they had gone platinum, everybody was going Plat around this time AND RD and Vol.1 received lukewarm reception from critics and the majority of fans at the time of their debut. Vol. 2 is what saved Jay's career. And once again, I've never said X was the better rapper.