1 Intro / A Million and One Questions / Rhyme No More N/A/★★★★/★★★☆
A Million and One Questions - good beat with Jay-Z rapping at times like he rarely does. What is he talking about at the start with the line, "will he ever fall off?" It's only your second album... And yes.
Rhyme No More - the beat then switches up to something a bit more generic, not bad though.
2 The City Is Mine (feat. Blackstreet) ★★☆
After hearing Glenn Frey's 'You Belong to the City' sample, I was thinking that this could be dope. But the beat for the verses is an average late '90s pop rap beat.
3 I Know What Girls Like (feat. P. Diddy & Lil' Kim) ★
Jay's verse is okay, but a lot of this song is terrible including the shocking chorus.
4 Imaginary Player ★★☆
Pretty much about Jay's cash and jealous haters. A passable poppy beat at best that lyrically never reaches high points either.
5 Streets Is Watching ★★★
The beat is a minor improvement from the last few songs thanks to DJ Premier. Again though it's nothing sensational. The chorus is far from memorable as well.
6 Friend or Foe '98 ★★★☆
Better. The beat has a bit more bite to it with some funk with Jay doing some storytelling and ear catching rapping.
7 Lucky Me ★★★☆
A more personal track with a softer beat. Not bad.
8 Always Be My Sunshine ★★☆
Again there is some funk in this pop rap beat that becomes a bit monotonous.
9 Who You Wit II ★★
A story telling track about chicks with some money thrown in. Another song where Jay does the chorus. His best songs are when he does not. Becomes boring quickly
10 Face Off (feat. Sauce Money) ★★★
Sauce and Jay trade bars here making for something a little different. The beat is a bit less poppy than most of the previous songs as well. Again the chorus isn't that great.
11 Real Niggaz (feat. Too $hort) ★★★
Comes and goes... I've never been a big fan of Too $hort either.
12 Rap Game / Crack Game ★★★★
Jay samples another Nas song from 'Illmatic' - 'Represent'. The chorus makes the song to be honest.
13 Where I'm From ★★★☆
I heard this beat a lot on freestyles from artists such as The Game before I heard this album. As I don't rate Jay too higher as a rapper, you could understand that I'd say I've heard better over the beat. His hunger doesn't match the grittiness of the beat if you ask me. One of the strongest beats and songs here nonetheless.
14 You Must Love Me ★★★★
Kelly Price does her thing, the beat feels like it actually builds up! and it doesn't get boring like almost everything else here. Something that could really grow on me.
Overall it's the problem I have with many Jay-Z albums. Maybe I'm blinded by his arrogant, straight up talking style which is rarely that enjoyable to make an average beat a good song for me, but I really think that he has one of the worst ear for beats in hip hop when you look at whole albums. Nas is always thrown up in this category along with others like Eminem, but Jay is near the top of the list in my opinion, at least from mainstream artists. This is the best Vol. album out of the three but a number of average songs are featured and it's a large drop off from his debut. Pop rap should also be a primary genre if you ask me. As I've said before, I'm perplexed by the fanfare with this man. 2-2.5
Best Tracks: A Million and One Questions / Rhyme No More, Friend or Foe '98, Rap Game / Crack Game, Where I'm From, You Must Love Me
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