This is my first attempt at a review to a single, so it will be shorter than some of my other reviews. When i saw this was avaliable, i decided to go ahead and review one of my favorite hip hop tracks of all time, that being Jay-Z's
Dead Presidents. When you purchase this, it doesnt just come with this track, it also comes with part 2, which i have already previously reviewed on my review for
Reasonable Doubt. Click
HERE to view that review.
Dead Presidents is the first song that got me hooked on Jay-Z. This is WAY before the "bling bling, big pimpin" Jay-Z, back when he had amazingly sharp lyricism and meaningful subject matter in 1995-1996. On this track, Jay-Z spits introspective and advanced lyricism about the power of money, and the good and bad of it. Now, this isnt a "bling bling", its just Jay-Z's view on the power of money, and his desire for it. Jay-Z has some amazingly sharp and witty lyricism on here, inserting his multi-syllable flow and non-stop storytelling tactics on to this song, making it a classic. His ego is sharp, as usual, and his use of metaphors and similes are compelling. I truly wish Jay-Z returned to the lyrical platform he was on when he recorded this track.
As for production, Ski laces a genius instrumental making it very easy for Jay-Z to rap over. The instrumental is basically identical in both versions of the song, but has some differences. He uses a very ominous and relaxing low-key piano loops, chimes, along with celtic synthesizers, and a very simple, yet tight drum loop. This song is very easy to listen to, due to the production. Of course, one of the coolest factors is that Jay-Z sampled Nas's voice from
The World is Mine from the classic
Illmatic
In my opinion,
Dead Presidents and
Dead Presidents 2 are the GREATEST songs ever recorded by Sean Carter a.k.a. Jay-Z. They provide an introspective view of street life, and it was this song that paved the way for the release of
Reasonable Doubt, Jay-Z's only classic album. So i reccomend that all hip hop fans give this a listen.
For lyrics, click on the following links:
http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/jigga/rm_bside/pres1.jyz.txt
http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/jigga/doubt/pres2.jyz.txt
5 Stars...
Big D is out...