The Dynasty: Roc la Familia

2000年，Jay-Z发行了《The Dynasty: Roc La Familia》，最初这张专辑是想做成一张收录所有Roc-A-Fella唱片公司艺人歌曲的合辑，不过最后还是变成了Jay-Z的另一张专辑。这张专辑也启用了当时的一批制作新人，包括日后走红的：The Neptunes, Just Blaze, Kanye West和Bink!，这张专辑也是Jay-Z第一次尝试soulful风格的歌曲，最终专辑卖出超过200万张，获得了双白金的销量。 Jay-Z有意在《The Dynasty》里重振旗鼓，这次他带来了Roc-a-Fella旗下的新生力量—技术派的Beanie Sigel、激情派的Memphis Bleek和野兽派的Freeway，不过最抢眼的还是三组新制作人：The Neptunes的Pharrell在《I Just Wanna Love U》中带来惊艳的假声；Kanye West精致的采样贴合着Jay-Z与休斯顿老将Scarface的合声，在《This Can’t Be Life》中诉说着人生，Just Blaze则打造出大气澎湃的《1-900-Hustler》，顺带捧红了嗓音奇特的Freeway。这张是他完美的第二起点！ by Jason Birchmeier At the time of The Dynasty Roc la Familia's release, Jay-Z had already established himself as a towering figure in the rap world. His previous two albums -- Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life and Vol. 3: Life and Times of S. Carter -- spawned numerous gigantic hits and were filled the brim with the biggest hitmakers in rap: producers like Timbaland and Swizz Beatz; rappers like Juvenile and DMX. So rather than try to one-up these albums with yet more super-producers and big-name rappers, Jay-Z took a different approach on The Dynasty. He brought in a stable of up-and-coming producers (the Neptunes, Just Blaze, Kanye West) and handed the mic to his in-house roster of Roc-a-Fella rappers (Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, Freeway) with the intention of bolstering his rap "dynasty" (i.e., Roc-a-Fella). The approach works well. The Dynasty Roc la Familia still sounds like a Jay-Z album, but it's different enough from his past work to make it exciting and unique. In particular, the productions set Jigga apart from his peers in 2000, especially "I Just Wanna Love You (Give It 2 Me)" by the Neptunes, a fun, playful song a world apart from the rugged Ruff Ryder beats Swizz Beatz had been offering Jay-Z a year earlier. In terms of rapping, the omnipresence of Beanie Sigel and Memphis Bleek spices up "Parking Lot Pimpin'," another album highlight, but is a drag on other songs, where Jay-Z seems like a guest on his own album. Guest appearances by Snoop Dogg and Scarface are much more welcome, two of only three non-Roc-a-Fella guest features here. The Dynasty plays overall like a Roc-a-Fella mixtape rather than a Jay-Z album, which means you'll have to endure a lot of promotional posse tracks, particularly toward the end of the album. Still, the few standout tracks here are career highlights for Jay-Z and well worth wading through the occasional filler to find.