On “Smile” Jay-Z reveals that his mother is a lesbian and allows her to express herself with a poem at the end. Jay doesn’t spend the whole song talking about his mom, but Ross dedicated his entire third song talking about Birdman and Cash Money. Once again, I got the same vibe of both artists talking about personal subjects in their songs. Both songs deal provides a revelation on their feelings in regards to people who have been close in their life.
I will stop with the Ross/Hov comparisons there. For one, each album takes on the identity of each artists after a few songs. Ross goes in and drops some of his braggadocios/drug dealing music with “Trap, Trap, Trap” and “Dead Presidents.” On the other hand, Jay sticks with the script. He continues to give his audience an up and personal view on what is going on in popular culture and in his personal life. Throughout the album he talks about his infidelities within his marriage on “4:44” song. He mentions about the misuse and usury of Prince’s legacy on “Caught Their Eyes” . This distinction between 4:44 and RYTM is one of the reasons why you can’t really compare anyone to Hov. And honestly I wasn’t trying to compare the two artists. I was simply pointing out that the maturity, vibe and premise was the similar on both albums. Not the music, lyrics or beats. Jay-Z greatness can only be compared to himself. When you listen to his album, you could only compare it to his other albums. Overall, in comparisons to his other albums is not his best work, but it’s not his worst. It has a Blueprint feel, with the sample heavy beats. However, NO I.D beats is not as dope as Kanye and Just Blaze beats were on the original Blueprint.
As I previously stated, it a good thing to have people appreciate lyrics and good Hip Hop music again. Even though Ross album isn’t as good as Jay-Z’s album, it did have people talking about his lyrics and content. The same thing is true for Kendrick Lamar’s Damn album which I think is better than both Hov’s and Ross albums. You can read the review here. Remy had people talking with her Nicki Minaj diss record. So in a way, there is a resurgence of good Hip Hop. In conclusion, I think Jay’s album will influence more major artists to step their game up. Hopefully, it will step shed light on veteran emcees who still drop good music. Overall I will give it 4:44 a C+ grade. It is above average and a good listen, it’s not spectacular or mind blowing; but I will recommend checking it out. Here is the link to a free stream of the album below.
CLICK THE LINK TO LISTEN TO THE ALBUM