Reacting to "4:44" by Jay Z

rofl omg... that's great

Bob_the_Poppop

Maps is great

Bob_the_Poppop

Maybe someday, but not soon I know that much

Bob_the_Poppop

yeah, it's tough not knowing more elements of the culture. The 'mob boss' idea is interesting

Bob_the_Poppop

I'll still Black album, no question. I like Jay Z quite a bit. I wanna hear more

Bob_the_Poppop

I love the track 4:44

Bob_the_Poppop

I'd like to do that one. Maybe I'll get to it soon now that I've done these 2

Bob_the_Poppop

lol

Bob_the_Poppop

Yeah, it's a tough choice. Although, people have only said to do the Black album before this, so I don't know how much it would have mattered

Bob_the_Poppop

And that opening line in "Family Feud" wasn't about watching the Super Bowl, Bob. It was a reference to Beyonce having performed in it lol.

Curtis

I'm halfway thru the reaction, and like I had suspected, I think you should have listened to a few more landmark Jay-Z albums before listening to his final one. This was his first introspective and vulnerable album and I think one would appreciate it more if they had listened to more than two of his albums. It's almost more like a diary instead of an album. Perfect way for him to end his career. Hopefully you start to understand the theme a bit more as this reaction continues. This wasn't a criticism by the way lol love the channel. Just wanted to pause and write that comment.

Curtis

Lil wayne raps over the Family Feud beat and I like it way more than the original lol. It has a drake feature and drake also did really well

Lex

Hard to follow up Maps by Billy Woods. Still got that album on repeat

Mark V

This album really is incredible the production is fantastic too hopefully it clicks more on more listens for you

Mr. Bigweld

the story of oj beat was what pusha t used in the story of adidon his drake diss. thats why it sounded familiar

ER JR

I think the more you listen you’ll come around to it like ‘DAMN’. Off my first listen, I enjoyed but kinda had the same reaction. Now I love this album, don’t think it’s perfect, but still love it.

King Capital

Moonlight is my favorite. It's a triple entendre. Moonlight is the all black movie that won the Oscar but they announced Lala Land a mostly white movie. Thus "even if we win we gonna lose" also referring to how black people are treated in society. Also Lala Land is LA/ Hollywood but also the term used for something imaginary and the song is about how fake the industry is.

Lowkey_kountry

Another is Smile which samples Stevie Wonder's "Love in Need of Love Today". The production throughout the album is actually perfect but you really have to know or research the deep cuts to get the full impact.

Lowkey_kountry

here I am still hoping you'll do Donda someday.

ufo

The thing about the production on the album is all of the samples are very intentional. If you look at the original songs and what the samples are actually saying it adds a whole new level to the song. Kill Jay-Z sample is Don't Let it Show, Story of OJ is Nina Simone singing "my skin is black". That song is basically about how society views a black person doesn't change because of how much money you have so instead of flaunting it use it to build real generational wealth.

Lowkey_kountry

Bob, a large part of the lyrics you *understandably* didn’t really connect with, were ones that require an intimate knowledge of street/hood politics. If you watch a reaction channel like Lost in Vegas react to rappers like Jay-Z, they give a really good breakdown of these lines and why they are so hard hitting. Also, I think something you often say about how the energy of the rapper won’t often match the subject matter, whether it be intensity level, eg “I would expect a more aggressive/cocky delivery given this set of bars” is maybe something that hasn’t clicked yet, but the laid back, cool calm and collected energy when spitting aggressive or braggy lyrics is interpreted as many as being even more ‘dominant’ in a sort of elegant, high end, ‘mob boss’ type of way. This is the heavy appeal of some of drakes music(not all, but some)

Bobby porter

Not his best album imo but one can make a case for it it is amazing no way mediocres

Mr. Bigweld

VeganMilk

I think you might have been a little duped on this one Bob. The subscribers hyped this album up way too much in my opinion. Calling it his best album, and a must listen after Lemonade. The hyperbole can sometimes ruin an experience as well, creating too much hype can definitely backfire, and cause a bit of a let down. This album was always just mediocre to me.

Brandon Williams

the title track 4:44 was stellar though wish the whole album sounded like that.

tradez401

yea the production of 4:44 wasnt it for me no id is very hit or miss no id production on vince staples summertime 06' was amazing compared to this album idk if no id gave jayz a beat cd where jayz just said ok ill just rap over this or jayz himself picked this production from a usb full of beats from no id jayz has a great ear for production but here was lackluster. if jayz wanted a lowkey oddball production i wouldve went madlib or knowledge.

tradez401

I don’t know if you ever watch other people’s reactions during the week you first experience an album, but there’s so much packed into this album (lyrically, song titles + production matching the song’s content matter, references, etc), I feel like this would be a good one to watch a person/group who are really tied into the culture enough to catch a lot (though still not all) of it on first listen. You always do a solid job getting into lyrics etc, this one might need a CliffsNotes to get an overview of some of it. Just a suggestion, I know a lot of people want you to go through his earlier work (myself included), but I also agree this was a good follow up to Lemonade, and now you get to see how he got from the beginning to the end (so far) of his career (not counting The Carters album w/Beyoncé, I enjoyed that one too but it’s not so crucial as these two together).

Tim P

The pain I’m experiencing rn hearing you audibly shrug at the production

Rigo Ceballos

You should also do Solange - A Seat at the Table. Came out during the same era as lemonade and 4:44 and after Solange and; Jay's infamous elevator fight

snooza

https://www.patreon.com/posts/reacting-to-65182776?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_fan&utm_content=join_link

Dan Turner

Common poppop w

King Capital

The Story of OJ Beat was used by Pusha T for his Story of Adidon diss to Drake.

Emil Barrit

I wish you went through his catalog before getting here but I get why everyone wanted this after Lemonade

james moore

Is Watch the Throne on Patreon? Or have you not gotten there yet

Nick Tomassi