“A great song doesn’t attempt to be anything – it just is.” (Carter). This is a quote from an essay written by Jay Z in a Rolling Stone article in 2011. Jay Z is a multi-platinum recording artist with many hit songs, including a few that are in Rolling Stone’s top 500 songs list. Because of Jay Z’s accomplishments, Rolling Stone felt that he would be a good person to ask about how to make a classic song. Jay Z references different songs and ideals on what he thinks makes a classic song, but is he really the right person to ask for insight on this topic? Jay Z is just a rapper, and we live in a time where it is more important for an artist to sell records than present a legitimate message, and the best way for one to that is to gain popularity.
Jay Z may be one of the most popular rappers ever, but other than his business ventures he is only a rapper. Jay Z may have worked with many different kinds of artists and producers but he has no personal experience doing solo work outside his genre. Looking beyond the fact that he is solely a rapper, Jay Z has in fact sold millions of records. Two of his solo songs, “99 Problems” and “Big Pimpin” are on the Rolling Stone top 500 list. However, Jay Z himself has admitted that his most popular song are not necessarily his best. “Some of my best songs aren't the biggest ones.” (Carter). Everybody has a difference in opinion and musical tastes, so one man, even if it is Jay Z, should not determine what makes a classic song. Especially if the person trying to determine is not skilled in more than on aspect of creating a song. By having a wider range of skills in music, one can better understand and pick apart a song and see if the pieces match those of a song that is widely considered a classi...
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...ieves that if he spends more than five minutes on a song then it would not work, but there a plenty of classic songs that have taken longer than 5 minutes to make, some of which are longer than five minutes after they were finished such as “Bohemian Rhapsody”. If someone as big in the music industry as Jay Z has proven differences in opinion of what constitutes a classic song as artists such as Queen, can anybody really determine what makes a song a classic?
Works Cited
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Carter, Sean. "Jay-Z on What Makes a Classic Track." Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone, 27
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Although “Reasonable Doubt” wasn’t a huge success, it showed that the young man from Brooklyn had skills and was not to be taken More importantly, it earned the admirations of stars as varied as Notorious B.I.G. to the Ice Cube. One of his songs even made its way onto the nutty professor soundtrack. Shawn’s career only went up from there. In 1997, Jay-Z's follow-up, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1, peaked at #3 on the Billboard album charts, and helped establish his career and mainstream success. He continued releasing top selling records until 2003, when he announced the release of the Black Album as his last record.
Recently, rap has surpassed many genres of music. In the year 2017, eight of the 10 most listened to artists were rap artists. Artists like Lil Uzi Vert, Future, and Cardi B have many songs listed as the top 10 best selling tracks. What do all these rap artists have in common? They have the the three keys that make up the structure of a great rap album.
"Songs and the Civil Rights Movement." Songs and the Civil Rights Movement. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.
Gallucci, Michael. "Top 10 Bob Dylan Songs." Ultimate Classic Rock. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
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