My Name is Hov

Jay Z has never been one of my favourite rappers. That's not to say I don't appreciate his work; I simply didn't find much of own material to my taste. He's one of those artists, who I tend to like a lot more as guests on the tracks of others. Too Short is another example of that. But I'm not going to dwell on that, because his piece was made at the behest of one my friends, who loves Jay Z.

The fact is that Hova is one of the best lyricists and storytellers in the game. That is the very point of this series, of which there are two other instalments.* I listen to a lot of rap, and I really appreciate when I can believe what I'm hearing. By believe, I don't mean that I take the song for affidavit, but that I can imagine, can visualize what is being described. Jay Z sounds sincere, but only half because of what he's saying. I believe that it is his delivery, which goes a long way to convincing me that he hustles as hard as he claims. 

When creating this piece, I therefore had something of a dilemma. Without the MC, himself, to deliver the message, I had to rely on the content. Basically, I had to decline some very clever rhymes, simply because they relied heavily on Jay Z's prosody. I am happy, however, with the line I chose. It is from his Public Service Announcement on The Black Album, and I believe that it indicates a change in the artist's identity — from hustler to businessman — reflected in the picture itself. I mean, he used to deal coke, but he has since moved up in the world. Truthfully, the choice of picture was largely because of its size and resolution, but it has worked nonetheless. Even if I had found good stock from the days of Reasonable Doubt, as I said earlier, the words may not have been able to shine to their fullest. 

This piece is currently just a digital file, but it is of a decent size — 16"x20.5". So I can actually get a print out of it! It was completed May 24, 2014. 

*Rick Ross and Lil Wayne