The Best Jay Z Albums, ranked.
A million people have already done this. It’s nothing new. I will not be taking questions or comments at this time.
Reasonable Doubt (to this DAY)
The Blueprint
Vol 2. Hard Knock Life
The Black Album
American Gangster
Watch The Throne (this is a collab album and Ye washed him on some of these tracks so thats why it isn’t top 5)
Vol 3. Life and Times of Shawn Carter
Unplugged (I never felt like this really counted as an album but here we are)
In My Lifetime Vol. 1 (not a favorite because it wasn’t a strong follow up to Reasonable Doubt and he never let Nas get away with shit like that so he needs to be checked)
The Dynasty Roc La Familia 2000
4:44 (This wasn’t for the die-hard day 1 Jay fans. It was a good project for “new Blacks” who aren’t really hip-hop fans, and people who refer to him as Beyonce’s Husband. I am interested in further exploring the visuals for this albums titular song, which was more of an experimental high-art short film than a music video. Maybe Jay had dinner with Arthur Jafa and was inspired?)
Magna Carta Holy Grail
The Blueprint 3 (Already Home is the only redeeming thing about this album. Empire State of Mind is one of the worst things that EVER happened to me. They played that shit in malls. I wanted to die)
The Blueprint 2: The Gift and The Curse (there are some amazing songs on here but a lot of them were unnecessary and bad. Enough tracks could have been eliminated that it could have been a solid single album)
Kingdom Come (I still cannot believe I waited outside of The Exchange for an album with Hollywood, Do U Wanna Ride, Minority Report, and Oh My God. I could have just copped the bootleg)
The Blueprint 2.1 (WTF)
Collision Course (This was Jay stumbling through his mainstream era and I felt it wasn’t needed. Good for you if you liked it)
Everything else
Honorable mention - The Grey Album. When The Black Album was released a capella it gave way for producers to create some interesting mash-ups, remixes, and experimental projects. Danger Mouse reconstructed both The Black Album and The Beatles’ White Album in order to create what functions as a really fucking cool art project that I’ve always been a fan of.
