The 10 year anniversary of two very important albums is upon us.
Jay Z’s retired. Isn’t he? After declaring in 2003 that The Black Album would be his final curtain call; the graceful and grandiose bow-out from an illustrious career, one that, at the time, was already being hailed as one of the greatest runs in rap history, rivaled by only the late-great catalogs of Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur. The roll-out was perfect: a movie about the making of the album and the historical run of shows at MSG to commemorate the LP, the lining up of the perennial all-pro producers of that year (Pharrell, Kanye West, Just Blaze, Timbaland), even commentary from his mother on the fan-favorite “December 4th”. It was the last time a Jay Z album brought upon a career defining moment, despite Kingdom Come, American Gangster, Blueprint 3 and now Magna Carta…Holy Grail all selling extremely well, and American Gangster being one of the better LP’s of Jay’s catalog, the Black Album was the culmination of Shawn Carter living out the American dream in the most badass way. The former drug-dealer turned soon-to-be-president of Def Jam spent an eventful 7 years at the top of the culture and was calling it quits in Breaking Bad fashion, almost as if Vince Gilligan had written Carter’s narrative in 1996 and 2003 was its pre-determined finale. It was a scary time as well for New York. Though we didn’t know it, The Diplomats best years were all but already behind them, and despite Fabolous, Jadakiss, Fat Joe and Nas’ presence being as sturdy as it was, none of them provided the encompassing and polarizing presence Jay Z did, none of them garnered the attention and magnetic force that Jay did. Well, there was this one kid…
…50 Cent was coming. Its funny, that wasn’t a common sentiment, those were Jay Z’s words.
“I walked into the studio one day, and there was a small gap. And Bleek, Beans, everybody was in there, and I told them, I’m like ‘Listen, man, y’all have a chance right now, to just flood it. Flood the streets with music, because 50 Cent…50 Cent is coming.’ And then 4 months later, In Da Club hit, and it was over. And I’m like see, now y’all got to sit on the sidelines, and ride this tidal wave out.”
4 months before “In Da Club” hit would be September 2002, a full year before Jay Z would drop The Black Album, and 50 Cent would round up his crew of rowdy, gun-clap-rap goonies and drop Beg For Mercy, a classic in its own right. Beg For Mercy was the quintessential rap crew album. 50 Cent wasn’t just cementing his legacy, he was breaking ground for Lloyd Banks and Young Buck to release future number one albums, building a brand strong enough to launch The Game’s career a year later, and paving the way for Tony Yayo to top the rap charts almost immediately after his release from prison. It was the perfect complement to Jay Z’s The Black Album but also a direct contradiction. While Jay was championing his dark past and entering a stage of his career that would be more defined by his business endeavors than his rhymes, 50 Cent was planting his G-Unit flag in the trenches, terrifying the underground of his multi-faceted rap posse and scaring the mainstream straight. Lloyd Banks was rap-singing to the girl of his dreams on “Smile” while 50 Cent’s gun was “his buddy”.
Today, when we look back at the two albums, and what they meant to the overall scheme of hip-hop, one thing should be noted. In light of Trinidad James’ comments at a New York City show a couple nights ago, one thing can be said. It doesn’t matter where the hip-hop is coming from, what matters is that its coming. Whether or not Jay Z & 50 Cent were from New York, or Chicago, they both released genre-defining albums, with the beats and lyrics to match anything else of its caliber on the streets or in stores at the time.
