What kept Jay-Z relevant compaired to some of his peers?

[Already Home_17]

That nigga sold his MCHG for free with the download at 1,000,000 and then took the same album sold it in retail stores and moved 528,000 copies and debuted number 1.

but but he would've never accomplished that if he hadn't married Beyoncé tho.....

 

[Wild Self]

Jay has the foresight to start trends and move to new things when they become saturated.

 

[MorganFreemanKing]

He dropped an album every year for 8 years straight. They never gave you a chance to forget about him

 

[NothingButTheTruth]

Like i said, if it was just business sense then 50 Cent, Nelly,etc would all be relevant and on Jay-z level. You're gonna have to come with another excuse.

Nope, because those aren't his peers. I already gave you a list of some of his peers. Nelly and 50 came out WAY AFTER JayZ, AND they don't have the skill.

You're changing the context of the question. Compared to his peers, Jay isn't anything special. Compared to the 2000s and 2010s Jay is a standout rapper because those dudes simply don't rap anywhere near as good. This thread deals with his peers, and his peers only.

It's obviously a mix between skill and business sense, the same way Em's success is about his skin color and skills. However, like Em, Jay wasn't doing anything that hadn't been done before lyrically or sonically. Therefore, Jay's success is mostly due his business sense because the other good rappers don't have that, and Em's is because he's white since the other similar style rappers aren't white.

 

[loch121]

Aw shit.

Jay is not only one of the best rappers...ever..like out of all the rappers whoever rapped...words...together

He has a great knack for walking that fine line between lyricist and rapper and making catchy,street music

He's a shark and a shrewd business man on top of that and he was a next logical choice once BIG and Pac was gone

Let the nosigns roll

 

[FlightKing]

He dropped an album every year for 8 years straight. They never gave you a chance to forget about him

Like i said, if it was just business sense then 50 Cent, Nelly,etc would all be relevant and on Jay-z level. You're gonna have to come with another excuse.

Nope, because those aren't his peers. I already gave you a list of some of his peers. Nelly and 50 came out WAY AFTER JayZ, AND they don't have the skill.

You're changing the context of the question. Compared to his peers, Jay isn't anything special. Compared to the 2000s and 2010s Jay is a standout rapper because those dudes simply don't rap anywhere near as good. This thread deals with his peers, and his peers only.

It's obviously a mix between skill and business sense, the same way Em's success is about his skin color and skills. However, like Em, Jay wasn't doing anything that hadn't been done before lyrically or sonically. Therefore, Jay's success is mostly due his business sense because the other good rappers don't have that, and Em's is because he's white since the other similar style rappers aren't white.

/Thread.

 

[GetoBoy]

Skills, adaption, and smarts.... His skills is what made him relevant, his ability to adapt with the times along with his skills is what kept him relevant, and his smarts is what will keep him relevant.

 

[a_list]

Call it trend hoping etc, but he managed to do it, not disappoint his core and attract new fans.....You have to adapt in some way, shape or form

Disagree at the bolded. He definitely isolated his core fan base on many occasions. He just attracted new fans aka white people.

He basically broke down the game via a business plan. Plus if you know anything about business, companies NEVER EVER market towards black people. Black people as consumers are the most following people in existence lol. JayZ figured this out and marketed his shit towards an entire new crowd who actually requires marketing and advertising.

Song with Annie's voice blew him up with white people and he rode that wave for a minute.

Then the Retirement stint.

Then Linkin park shit to get white people's attention.

Lebron. Cold Play for white people.

Married Beyonce. Obama shit.

Em tour for white people.

Timberlake for white people.

You're basically saying that he played the game right....I really dont believe that there is any rapper that just raps for Black people....We might be the inteneded target but no one is going to complain if 500k Black folks bought their album and 1.5 mill white folks purchased it....All of the shyt that you claim was for white folks attention happened after he had their attention with the Annie Sample....Lets not act like those was some rap along dumbed down bars on that song...Lol and yo, if who you married does shyt for record sales and shyt Nick Cannon needs to get in the studio

 

[32DaysOfInfiniti]

He just played his role, jumped on the right trends, jumped off the wrong ones and made sure his jewish friends always had his best interest throughout

 

[nujerz84]

Hoping on trends and crossing over to white folks

 

[NothingButTheTruth]

You're basically saying that he played the game right....I really dont believe that there is any rapper that just raps for Black people....We might be the inteneded target but no one is going to complain if 500k Black folks bought their album and 1.5 mill white folks purchased it....All of the shyt that you claim was for white folks attention happened after he had their attention with the Annie Sample....Lets not act like those was some rap along dumbed down bars on that song...Lol and yo, if who you married does shyt for record sales and shyt Nick Cannon needs to get in the studio

-Pretty much. He knew what he was doing and he played the game right for what he was trying to do.

-There are plenty of rappers who rap for black people via majority street rappers and most conscious rappers. If they happen to do well then it's great, if they don't, they stay true to themselves and their art. There's a difference between blowing up doing you, and blowing up because you made calculated moves.

-Yes, JayZ is good and talented, but so are a lot of people.

-Nick Cannon can't do what Jay does because he's not even close to as good as JayZ, HOWEVER I bet he could sell a good amount of records if he markets towards the right people (i.e that John Cena WWE guy went gold with his shit). And Nick Cannon's business career has taken off since marrying Carey. So marrying the right star makes you more famous which can be used to increase your brand if you know what you're doing.

 

[GetoBoy]

Niggas really should learn the difference between "hoping on trends" and adapting to the times becuz it seems ppl don't know the difference

 

[StillFaggyAF]

Hoping on trends and crossing over to white folks

Ppl really overrate jayz's white fanbase

 

[stackmaster 313]

Come on he's Jay stop it. Pac an Big died he took over the rest is history. He can craft an album has an earnfor talent. He was already a good hustler so it is t hard to easily surpass the competition. When there drug addicts have no hustle from the suburbs the list goes on. But he had the best advertisment in the game PAC an BIG kept mentioning dude so you knew he was going to come with it. I mean come on Nas didn't live his life he raps an his albums are inconsistent DMX Is a crack head EM is a white drug addict. Wayne another addict come on these dudes is fiends to me. I mean who is his competitors nobody. 50 nah Snoop come on he has nobody even to challenge him.

 

[usmarin3]

You're basically saying that he played the game right....I really dont believe that there is any rapper that just raps for Black people....We might be the inteneded target but no one is going to complain if 500k Black folks bought their album and 1.5 mill white folks purchased it....All of the shyt that you claim was for white folks attention happened after he had their attention with the Annie Sample....Lets not act like those was some rap along dumbed down bars on that song...Lol and yo, if who you married does shyt for record sales and shyt Nick Cannon needs to get in the studio

-Pretty much. He knew what he was doing and he played the game right for what he was trying to do.

-There are plenty of rappers who rap for black people via majority street rappers and most conscious rappers. If they happen to do well then it's great, if they don't, they stay true to themselves and their art. There's a difference between blowing up doing you, and blowing up because you made calculated moves.

-Yes, JayZ is good and talented, but so are a lot of people.

-Nick Cannon can't do what Jay does because he's not even close to as good as JayZ, HOWEVER I bet he could sell a good amount of records if he markets towards the right people (i.e that John Cena WWE guy went gold with his shit). And Nick Cannon's business career has taken off since marrying Carey. So marrying the right star makes you more famous which can be used to increase your brand if you know what you're doing.

This is pure fucking nonsense. Nick Cannon been getting money before Marriah Carrey. Dude is a exec over at Nickolodean and develop shows. Dude been getting guap.

 

[usmarin3]

Niggas really should learn the difference between "hoping on trends" and adapting to the times becuz it seems ppl don't know the difference

Niggas really should learn the difference between "hoping on trends" and adapting to the times becuz it seems ppl don't know the difference

Cosign. Same niggas who scream where is Dj Premier every fucking album.

 

[manofmorehouse]

My thing is if niggas on this thread have his blueprint for success and he's an average talent in regards to his mic skills, why is he the only one that consistently does crazy numbers?? Niggas will say it's because of Beyonce, or Dame made him, or the Illuminati gave him a white pass, etc. This is the classic crab in the barrel phenomenon. I don't give a fuck what niggas say in their rhymes about Jay Z selling out and being commercialized. If your favorite rapper could figure out the formula, they'd do it too. He stays relevant because he drops gems. Even though his past couple albums have been mediocre for what we're used to Hov dropping, those same albums would be 90% of the rapper's in the game's best albums. Be real for a minute bruh

 

[nex gin]

First off, people run different races. You can't compare JayZ to a Ghostface. JayZ became a rapper to make money and to create a brand. He was never in it for art's sake. He was never in it to further the culture. Jay started rapping because he saw dollar signs. Also, JayZ isn't more relevant than any of his peers, he's simply more commercial. Relevant is completely subjective to the listener. For me, JayZ lost all relevancy way back when.

To answer the question...

-He was more business-minded, while a lot of his peers were all about the culture and art of rap.

-He had no problem stabbing niggas in the back or in other words, he didn't follow the street code that a lot of other people did aka he kept it business.

-He had no problem consciously ridding the game of his competition.

-Everything was calculated. He had a plan.

-He ran a different race. He was all about hits and album sales etc.

-He embraced and wanted fame. This is huge, because most people don't want to get too big. That shit is way more of a curse than a nightmare. However, if you embrace it, a lot of good things can come of it.

/thread

EDIT: Plus let's not act like the old Jay wasn't dope af lyrically. He may have fallen off in that regard, but RD/Blueprint Jay is no slouch. Plus as you alluded too.....he's not a businessman he's a business, man.

 

[mdot]

He's smart period he's made all the right moves to stay moving units and keep his fame.

The whole marketing for his last album was brilliant. And Jay doesn't step on toes. He's the cool guy that gets along with everyone.

 

[5 Grand]

He made good music for a strong 7 years in a row 96-03 from Reasonable Doubt to The Black Album he always had a song out, always had a club banger and none of his albums were less than 4 mics.

On top of that he handled his business.