Dynasty Roc La Familia (2000- ), The [PA] - Jay-Z > Reviews > Not quite the start of a dynasty

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Average
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Well produced Great Lyrics It's Jay - Z
Disadvantages:	Too many guest appearances Some weak tracks

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

As usual when purchasing or acquiring a Jay-Z album there is a general level of anticipation as this is the same rapper that produced the classic debut album Reasonable Doubt. Reasonable Doubt is widely considered as a landmark rap album, combining heavy hitting beats and razor sharp lyrics. Undoubtedly Jay-Z has the necessary talent to produce classic material, however similarly to Nas and arguably Biggie his follow up albums to Reasonable Doubt have never quite delivered. Not to say they haven't had their moments. This brings me to The Dynasty, which unfortunately is worse than Reasonable Doubt, but better than Volume 2 and Volume 3 in my opinion. The main problem with this album is simply the volume of guest appearances due to Jay-Z trying to introduce the rest of "La Familia", namely Memphis Bleek, Beanie Sigel and the now retired Amil (Thank God). Having said this, there are some really outstanding tracks that I will discuss in more detail below.

Intro - 9/10
Change The Game - 7/10
I Just Wanna Love U - 8/10
Streets Is Talking- 7/10
This Can't Be Life - 9/10
Get Your Mind Right Mami - 8/10
Stick 2 The Script - 7/10
You Me Him and Her - 7/10
Guilty Until Proven Innocent - 8/10
Parking Lot Pimpin - 8/10
Holla - 7/10
1-900 Hustler - 9/10
ROC - 5/10
Soon You'll Understandard - 5/10
Squeeze 1st - 5/10
Where Have You Been - 7/10

Intro - This is the Jay-Z we know and love. A really dramatic piano beat which Jay talks over for a bit, and then delivers a truly classic verse. He raps "I would turn green me being in the trenches, him living adventurous not worrying about expenditures". Great start to the album

Change The Game - Basically just a posse cut featuring Jay-Z Beanie Sigel and Memphis Bleek all interchanging over a bouncy up tempo beat. Some nice vocals towards the end of the track as well.

I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me) - The first single off the album produced by The Neptunes is a real gem. It has Pharell singing falsetto on the hook and really slick Jay-Z verses. Jay opens the song by reiterating the words of The Notorious BIG, "When the Remy's in the system ain't no telling will i fuck em will I diss em"

Streets Is Watching - Remake of the classic track on In My Lifetime. It has Jay and Beans rapping about the paranoia of street life, but doesn't quite live up to the original.

This Can't Be Life - This is in my opinion one of the best on the album. The is one of Kanye West's first major beats and is infectiously dark, with a woman wailing in the background. The track has Beanie Sigel and Scarface featuring on it, and both deliver solid verses on the pain of life.

Get Your Mind Right Mami - This is a really smooth track featuring West coast legend Snoop Dogg. Unsurprisingly this is about pimping and how women not to remember their place. Not groundbreaking material but a nice track.

Stick 2 The Script - This song is introduced by the irritating DJ Clue for some reason but is a really impressive cut. It has an epic sounding beat with scrathing on the chorus. Only downside to this track is the Beanie Sigel verse.

You Me Him and Her - This is a posse cut, that features all artists in "La Familia". It has an up tempo beat with each member spiting all the usual bragadaccio associated with a Roc A Fella artist. P.S A really terrible Amil verse.

Guilty Untl Proven Innocent - In this track Jay-Z raps about the injustice of the American legal system regarding African Americans over a drum and whistle driven beat. R.Kelly turns up on this one to add his soulful vocals to the chorus. Nice track

Parking Lot Pimpin - This track describes how Jay-Z and Memphis Bleek leave girls weak at the knees due to their pimped out rides. As before nothing groundbreaking but really nice vocals and lyrics as well as an infectious beat make this one of the best on the album.

Holla - This is a solo track by Memphis Bleek. It has a nice dark beat, but Bleek can't really hold the track in the same way as Jay-Z and to be honest its a bit boring.

1-900 Hustler - This a really innovative track. It has Jay-Z Memphis Bleek and Freeway operating as employees of a hustling hotline. Basically people call up and then get given advice on hustling by the respective emcees. Really nice beat as well.

ROC - Really mediocre track. Not worth talking about.

Soon You'll Understand - Track about how Jay can't be with this girl because of his lifestyle. Nice concept but not really feeling the beat or flow

Squeeze 1st - Here we see the other side of Jay-Z - lazy. Basically for the hook he's just sampled a Biggie line and put it over a mediocre beat and dropped a couple of lacklustre verses - Very poor.

Where Have You Been - Yeah feeling this one. Beanie and Jay talk about how their fathers hurt them and their family and how they've made it without them. Standout verse from Beanie Sigel on this one. Really dark beat makes this an emotional one. P.S Check out the follow up song "I Still Got Love For You" as well

Overall there are some really nice moments but a few tracks towards the end and the volume of guest appearances slightly tarnish the album. Definately worth purchasing if you're a Jay-Z fan.

My Rating : 7.5/10