The Dynasty continues (The Dynasty - Jay-Z)

Member Name: davey_26

Product:	The Dynasty - Jay-Z
Date:	05/09/09 (19 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Jay - Z's wordplay, the production, fun listenable catchy songs

Disadvantages: The other rappers have been over used

Prior to this album which basically serves as an advert for the other rappers on the label. Jay-Z had already become a household rap name loved and despised in equal measure but of course in this genre especially, such mixed feelings simply go with the territory. His previous albums had already spawned massive hits including the very well known hard knock life. Yet despite the multi platinum selling former albums he decided to take a different approach on this album, shunning major producers and instead enlisted the production talents of in house producers including Just Blaze and Kanye West. As was mentioned this album is also an advert for the other rappers on the album who are Memphis Bleek, Beanie Sigel and the female rapper Amil who also puts in a few appearances on this album.

The approach taken by Jay-Z works well, despite him taken a back seat and having only one verse on many songs, it's different enough from his past work to make it exciting and unique. The album intrigues because of the reliance upon Beanie Sigel and Memphis Bleek and therefore their respective performances will make or break the album.

The album opens with a title simply called Intro but it nicely shows off the wit and depth of his lyrics like " The theme song to the Sopranos/Plays in the key of life under my mental piano/Got a strange way of seeing life like/Like I'm Steve Wonder with beans under the doo-rag" "
The other intriguing aspect are the productions which set Jay-Z apart from his peers in 2000, especially "I Just Wanna Love You (Give It 2 Me )" by the Neptunes, a fun, playful song which was sure to be warmly received in the clubs as well as being a success in the mainstream charts.

However Jay-Z is no one trick pony and don't let that single fool you into thinking otherwise, Soon You'll Understand" and "This Can't Be Life" are fantastic songs which really exhibit the fact that Jay-Z is a lyricist. Both songs delve into the personal lives of the rappers and it's through that introspection which makes it compelling listening. There are plenty of songs which can just be played for the their fun listenable element and certainly none of the rappers on this album let themselves down but it's apparent that Jay-Z is certainly the star of the show. He comfines flow, with lyricism and wit like "Look if I shoot you I'm brainless same toilet same s*** and I'm sick of explaining this" off Squeeze 1st.

The one who does sound of out place here is Amil but other than that, this is a very enjoyable album. I have no doubt this would have been bettered if Jay-Z had solely set about having an album where he was the sole focus, but as that wasn't the intention. The album still succeeds where many fail and therefore it's strength doesn't simply lie in it's star attraction, it also lies in the fact that it's consistent and whilst there might be a lack of standout tracks, there are few tracks where there is a need to hit the skip button.

Summary: Another solid enjoyable release