Jay-Z "Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life" [1998]

Self-congratulatory in the extreme -- even among others in the rap game, where sucking one's own dick is often more than just a hobby -- Jay-Z's "Hard Knock Life" stands out as a particularly garish example of creative bankruptcy in hip-hop circa the late 1990s. Apparently the guy shook Notorious B.I.G.'s hand once, so he's given himself license to pretend he's the most wanted criminal in the music biz. Jay-Z is selling some major boolshit here: only real niggas like him go around shooting people all day and then party all night at the club drinking Crystal with hot babes on their jock. Jesus, no wonder the 'hood is so screwed up. And no amount of tough-guy posturing can forgive the use of Broadway show "Annie"'s song for its title track sample -- what is Jay-Z telling us about himself? That he's a stone-cold gangsta or a blushing, hopeful thespian?