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Ranking Every Jay Z Album From Worst To Best

The rapper who began his career as a witty corner hustler is now just about the greatest capitalist success in the genre’s history. The 13 albums he’s released during that period reflect this growth in real-time, leaving behind a group of indelible but often flawed records that are equally exciting and bewildering to pick through. Jay has a few unimpeachable classics, and you’ll find them at—or near–the top of our list. Most interesting, though, are the ones that, depending on your perspective, also get there, very nearly do, or perhaps even miss altogether..

Here’s our ranking from Least Favorite to Favorite

13. Kingdom Come (2006)

it’s only a matter of time until someone brings up Kingdom Come so lets get it out the way. Kingdom Come was Hov’s first album after a short retirement.

After “retiring” with his brilliant “The Black Album” in 2003, fans were eager to have Hov back. But no one wanted it like this. “Kingdom Come” was fun for Jay-Z, but probably ranks as the most uninspiring thing he’s ever done. Hard to imagine anyone is still blasting any track from this one not named “Lost One.”n.

https://open.spotify.com/album/3A29Ss77LjRZ3sKuauWieYr.

12. The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse (2002)

Too many songs

It wasn’t the same quality as The Blueprint. If I had not pushed this double album concept and just made it 12 songs, it would’ve been an incredible album. Personally I don’t feel the Blueprint needed a sequel to begin with but all and all the album wasn’t bad.

https://open.spotify.com/album/5xHStEOG8PsbzNQb7LkxZU

11. Magna Carta Holy Grail (2013)

With one of the biggest deals in music history, Jay Z achieved 1 million sales weeks before the album was released thanks to Samsung, who delivered the album for free to Galaxy owners through a special app.

The album featured a lot of well-acclaimed track such as Holy Grail and Tom Ford but it just wasn’t our favorite.

https://open.spotify.com/album/0OTjYdGtP7AbwOwbYsGhyi

10. The Blueprint 3 (2009)

The Blueprint was better than 2 in our opinion because the timing. Jay didn’t need to release a sequel right after the first. But this coming after American gangster came out of no where.The LP has a lot of nice tracks and stellar features such as Hate ft. Kanye West and Off That ft. Drake.

The track he refers to is Empire State of Mind, which is lately becoming more popular than New York New York by Frank Sinatra as New York City anthem

https://open.spotify.com/album/2CUT0104gySOIvqwtXeFsX

9. 4:44 (2017)

4:44 is the long-anticipated thirteenth album from JAY-Z. It arrived after a four-year hiatus, and just 15 days after his historic induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 15, 2017. The entire album is produced by No I.D

https://open.spotify.com/album/7GoZNNb7Yl74fpk8Z6I2cv

8. American Gangster (2007)

A American Gangster was released in 2007, following the disappointing Kingdom Come. The album was inspired by Denzel Washington’s movie (whose voice is sampled in the intro of the album) and by New York’s lifestyle. That’s how Jay Z explained it

The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard chart and sold 1,131,000 copies overall earning a platinum plaque.

https://open.spotify.com/album/6QOGDVh3mVnAJYPnt66Qj5

7. The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2000)

The Fuckin intro........The album was actually born as a showcase for Roc-A-Fella artists such as Memphis Bleek, Beanie Sigel, Amil and Freeway but also featured other artists such as Snoop Dogg and R. Kelly. Production-wise it featured up and coming producers such as Kanye West, Just Blaze and The Neptunes.

It contained the Streets is Watching sequel, Streets is Talking, and other hit tacks such as Change the Game and I Just Wanna Love U..

https://open.spotify.com/album/3VfeeJElCEDeXlDiNZbn3E

6. Vol. 3... The Life And Times Of S. Carter (1999)

Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter is the fourth studio album from Jay-Z and exhibits a return to the street-oriented sound of his first album, Reasonable Doubt. Pro

The final in his Vol. series. The album features Jay’s biggest stylistic departure thus far, moving stridently away from the Mafisio theme of his first three records and embracing his life as a crossover artist. The tracklist was rearranged at the last minute due to widespread leaking of the album, further giving the album a

https://open.spotify.com/album/3rWJsuu7ukoZZhp7YYkjNZ

5. The Black Album (2003)

Hov’s eighth and (supposedly) last album was released in 2003 and dominated the charts, going double platinum. An acapella version was later released for remixes and mashups, such as Black is Back by 9th Wonder.

https://open.spotify.com/album/4FWvo9oS4gRgHtAwDwUjiO

4. Vol 2... Hard Knock Life (1998)

A In 1998, Jay-Z had everything lined up perfectly. He had observed and understood every trend happening in rap. He knew, for instance, that there was a void at the center of New York rap, a void that his old friend Biggie Smalls would’ve filled if he’d survived to fill it. The flashy, excessive Bad Boy sound still had some steam, but it was on its way out..

In his book Decoded, Jay writes about how he got approval to use that Annie sample. To clear that sample, Jay wrote a letter to Martin Charnin, the song’s lyricist. In that letter, Jay told a story about how he’d won an essay contest in seventh grade. As the prize, he got a trip to Manhattan to see Annie on Broadway. In the letter, Jay wrote about the feeling he had seeing that play — the feeling that he was seeing his own story playing out on the stage. It was all a lie. Jay never won an essay contest, and he never saw Annie on Broadway. He saw the movie on TV, like everyone else. The lie worked. Jay had his sample,

https://open.spotify.com/album/3j1xCJdBMCl6wYQXurz2tb

3. Reasonable Doubt (1996)

A He was only going to make one album. So goes the story of Reasonable Doubt, anyway, a tale Jay Z has regaled us with at every opportunity since its release. There is nothing like the debut of Jay Z, a stroke of genius chronicling the life of a 26-year-old drug kingpin from the Marcy Houses with a love for craft unrivaled elsewhere in his work.

Reasonable Doubt was the debut of the Marcy Projects rapper and immediately you notice he spoke from the perspective of a boss with expensive taste. The was the perfect way to introduce himself to the game and is considered his third classic album.

https://open.spotify.com/album/3YPK0bNOuayhmSrs0sIIBR

2. The Blueprint (2001)

Hov’s second of his three classics, If you heard the Dynasty and saw where exactly Jay was at this time, you would’ve already solidified him as the best, but the Blueprint made it no debate. The Blueprint was a movement as much as an album – the album that began to turn Jay Z from a rapper into the rapper.

19 years after September 11, 2001, Jay-Z is a towering figure in American culture, a businessman and "business, man. The Blueprint was showcased the Jay Z-Nas beef, The birth of Kanye West and Just Blaze as production superstars. The iconic records (“Izzo,” “Song Cry”). The Blueprint forever changed Jay Z’s career, and Hip-Hop.

https://open.spotify.com/album/69CmkikTHkGKdkrUZTtyWl

1. In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1997)

Our personal favorite album which may come as a surprise is Jay-Z’s sophomore album which found Hov at the peak of his hunger for success and recognition. Look at In My Lifetime as a transitional work, all the ingredients for the superstar version of Jay are there — the transcendent arrogance, the pop instincts, the unimpressed-to-the-point-of-boredom street-talk.

A year later, everything would click for Jay. Jay would release Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life, the album where Jay really became the larger-than-life figure that he’d always imagined. To listen to In My Lifetime in 2020 is to hear Jay’s process at work. It’s a fascinating exercise, and for it to be the follow up to reasonable doubt will always be why it will always be our favorite Hov album.

https://open.spotify.com/album/2nJapeqTbOhnhHUhh5tzpB