Jay-Z + Weezer = Jay-Zeezer

March 15, 2004 1:32 PM

Jay-Z + Weezer = Jay-Zeezer. I then read a New York Times article about a web site called "The Jay-Z Construction Set" which compiled all of the materials you needed to remix your own version of Jay-Z. It had the acappella version of the Black album, Dangermouse's Grey Album, sample beats, and various remixes that other DJ's had already made. I fired up Shareaza, my file-sharing weapon of choice, and dreamed of internet stardom. [via mymarkup.net - webblogg] [more inside]
posted by soundofsuburbia (21 comments total)

Previous discussions:

White + Black = Grey

DIY Black Album Remix

posted by soundofsuburbia at 1:35 PM on March 15, 2004

i know everyone's been jumping on the "i'm a guy who doesn't like rap but i like these hip jay-z remixes!" bandwagon, but his introduction was a funny, worthwhile read:

When I hear a rapper, I immediately feel like an adult is speaking to me in a Charlie Brown cartoon going, "mwa mwa-mwa mwa mwa" while other adults throw in random "mwa"s at odd times until a certain moment occurs when everyone starts singing and putting their hands in the air.
posted by lotsofno at 1:39 PM on March 15, 2004

yeah, the introduction makes the whole thing a bit easier to swallow. philly represent!
posted by gnutron at 2:28 PM on March 15, 2004

After hearing a few of the songs, I'm going to stick with the Grey Album.
posted by DragonBoy at 3:03 PM on March 15, 2004

I'm gonna make a mix of Jay Zeezer and Al Jazira and call it Jay Al-Zeezira.
okay, that was dumb.
posted by keswick at 3:17 PM on March 15, 2004

so wait - is this supposed to be terrible?
posted by onthestereo at 3:22 PM on March 15, 2004

Bush should nominate Jay-Z Secretary of Funk, get the youth vote.
posted by crunchburger at 4:57 PM on March 15, 2004

None of this meandering can hide the fact that Jay-Z sucks.
posted by angry modem at 6:01 PM on March 15, 2004

Too bad that Jay-Z sucks... on preview, what angry modem said.
posted by wfrgms at 6:14 PM on March 15, 2004

The White Album, I believe, is far, far better put together then the Grey Album... but I don't hear any fanfare about it.
posted by geoff. at 6:38 PM on March 15, 2004

jay-z does NOT suck. are you simply saying that you are not a fan? or do you care to backup this rather large and disputable generalization with something other than snarkiness?
posted by glenwood at 7:27 PM on March 15, 2004

Perhaps he doesn't suck, exactly. But if it weren't for the Neptunes, he'd be "Jigga Who?"
posted by Jart at 9:27 PM on March 15, 2004

I didn't really like this mix very much, but I didn't like the Grey Album either. I'm not really a Jay-Z guy. I prefer Yoshimi Battles the Hip-Hop Robots: The Flaming Lips mashed up with a series of hip-hop artists.
posted by subgenius at 10:11 PM on March 15, 2004

jay-z does NOT suck

I think most critics agree that Jay-Z isn't much vocally, lyrically or intellectually. His music has remained unchanged for the majority of his career and his only talent seems to be in banging out album after album of bland hip-hop.

Jay-Z is what's wrong with modern, big-business hip-hop & rap.

And I agree with Jart - Jay-Z, like any number other over produced pop-sensations owes his success not to any real talent but more to falling in with good producers and ad-men.

Lucky, yes... talented, no.
posted by wfrgms at 10:38 PM on March 15, 2004

wfrgms, who exactly are you talking about when you say "most critics"? Just off the top of my head HipHopInfinity has JayZ ranked number 1 on their' top 50 for 2003, number 6 in 2002 and unranked in 2001. It's not like HHI normally ranks mainstream emcees that high to begin with. Jay has had a few bad albums but The Blueprint, The Black Album and In My Lifetime are all near classic.

I would say that quite the contrary to what you said most hip hop heads would rank Jay in their own personal top 10 or top 25. Opinion on skill is subjective obviously but in my opinion Jay-Z has a good flow, decent to good lyrics and a charisma that carries over well in the studio.

PS: I think the Silver Album using RJD2 beats is the best black album remix
posted by BackwardsHatClub at 12:05 AM on March 16, 2004

best.mix.ever.
posted by CountZero at 12:19 AM on March 16, 2004

So Jay-Z is to rap what Christina Aguilera is to pop?
posted by nyukid at 2:45 AM on March 16, 2004

nyukid, absolutely not. i seriously do not know what publications wfrgms is in reference to when he or she claims that 'most critics agree that jay-z isn't much vocally'.

i don't own a single jay-z rekkid, and i'm mainly a big fan of underground hip hop, but you cannot ignore the talent/influence of jay-z.

critics seem to agree with me.
posted by glenwood at 5:27 AM on March 16, 2004

1. Write songs for a new album, including lyrics about how it will be your last.
2. Record album.
3. Announce that this will be your last album.
4. Release a single or two.
5. Release album.
6. Release vocals of all songs, wait for vocals to end up in the hands of DJs/mashers/mixers/bootleggers/geeks with audio software.
7. Watch your last album turn into an infinite number of new albums.

IMHO, it's all pretty brilliant -- regardless of whether Jay-Z intended it to go this way or not.
posted by VulcanMike at 6:36 AM on March 16, 2004

Basically, this is beyond viral marketing. This is more like worm marketing, to put it in computer security terms. In one package, it markets the product, the individual, the genre and creates a meme that further markets the previous three.
posted by VulcanMike at 6:42 AM on March 16, 2004

[this is lame]

Unlike the grey album, wherein DJ Danger Mouse actually took the time to mix beats and rhythms from several different songs on each track, this is nothing more than Jay-Z rapping over a continuous loop of one crappy Weezer song or another.

These aren't the droids you're looking for. Move along, move along.
posted by dogmatic at 12:21 PM on March 16, 2004