Recommendations of the Editorial team
The 100 best musicians of all time: Jay-Z-Essay by Ezra Koenig
MTV started “Total Request Live” in September 1998. The TRL charts were initially populated by ‘n Sync, the backstreet boys, grain and consorts. But then, six weeks later, Jay-Z’s “Can I Get A …” video debut in 10th place. It was not the beginning of his career as a rapper. But the beginning of a pop phenomenon called Jay-Z.
What was presented on the US radio and television at the end of the nineties gave the hopeful teenager no real choice. Either he was able to appreciate angry men in sleeveless T-shirts who threw out their aggro rock. Or a little smaller men in sleeveless T-shirts that slrew down diaper-soft ballads.
Jay-Z was an alternative that was long overdue. Which should not be said that Jay-Z never wore sleeveless shirts. But he was-and is still-a rare combination of intelligence, unpredictability, seriousness and pop appeal. If you look at the charts from back then, it is not difficult to understand why an entire generation of musicians, critics and fans were drawn to the texts of a man. Even if he described a world in his songs, to which at least 50 percent of his listeners “had no relation”.
“I understood the song as a summary of creativity and ingenuity, but also as a criticism of uncontrolled capitalism”
Since then, Jay-Z has been by far the most clever and exciting musician who delivers hits in beautiful durability-and I have my real hits like “Empire State of Mind”. I remember having gotten goose bumps when I saw him perform him at the coachella festival “On To The Next One”. He was dressed in black and was standing in front of a huge video wall. I understood the song as a summary of creativity and ingenuity, but also as a criticism of uncontrolled capitalism. Who manages that 100,000 people tear their arms up – and yet every single brain in the crowd is encouraged to critically deal with the state of the world?
His lyrics are multi -layered enough to occasionally request an interpretation aid – and playful enough that every Mean Girl remembered his verse on my verse on Mariah Carey’s “Heartbreaker”. On “Public Service Announcement” he described himself as “Che Guevara with Bling On”.