Word: rappings
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...when hip-hop cliche holds that most rappers are irrelevant, bankrupt or dead, Jay-Z is idolized, loaded and routinely spotted within kissing distance of Beyonce Knowles (which is its own special way of being alive). JayZ is also profoundly bored. "I've had it with the rap game," he says. "Time to focus on other things. That's why I'm retiring...
...first rapper to acknowledge that he cares as much about making money as he does about making records, and the first to use acquisitiveness as the major theme of his music. He has written a few great songs about other subjects--D'Evils, an allegory about the dangers of rap life, is his personal favorite--but he says, "I've talked about wanting to have enough to get out since my first album. I was always more interested in the business side of things...
...final album is a typically magniloquent send-off, with production by the Neptunes and Eminem, among others. The hooks on tracks like What More Can I Say blare like processionals for a hip-hop king, and Jay-Z raps over them with effortless self-aggrandizing. He has kept listeners engaged all these years not with his humility but with a relaxed Brooklyn baritone that makes him sound a bit like a ghetto Sinatra (callous but with enviable style). His upbringing has also made fans a little more sympathetic about his avarice. Born Shawn Carter, Jay-Z grew up in Brooklyn...
...problem is that Jay-Z may not be able to outrun his legacy. He begins any criticism of the state of rap with "You know, I love hip-hop ..." but he believes that the numerous rappers behind him on the ladder lack his style and have turned rap into a much crasser art form. Jay-Z has always had fairly catholic tastes, but he now finds himself listening more to John Mayer and Coldplay than to rap. "There's not a bunch of hip-hop artists that you can relate to once you hit 30," he says. "I think, unfortunately...
...When we woke up, the French rap was still blazing on the TV, and Bev and I were covered head-to-toe in bug bites...