13 years ago, close to the release of his new album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, Jay-Z ranked his own discography from best to worst:

He added a few words to the ranking on his website: lifeandtimes.com/the-scoreboard

This list came to my mind recently and I decided to listen to Jay's entire discography and try to understand the ranking and form my own thoughts.

Of course, long time Jay-Z fans and rap listeners would have more nuanced thoughts and memories than me so you guys are welcome to share your thoughts.

Listening to these albums made me realize Jay-Z's discography is great and possibly one of the best in hip hop. Even the lower albums on the list show Jay's talent as a rapper and performer and have a few amazing songs in them. Jay-Z was always willing to adapt and progress his sound while still keeping the essence of his character and style.

I also think... the ranking is really solid, I agree with it mostly. This makes more wonder if Jay-Z decided the ranking himself or was it a team? It also made me think what criteria did he have ranking one album over the other. Is it just off the quality of music or also from reception and impact?

12. Kingdom Come - listening to this album for the first time I understand why it was a disappointment at the time and considered his weakest. But it's not bad by any means it's just kinda boring. It has less highlights than his albums usually have. I agree with ranking it last it's just pretty weak and he made up for it quickly after.

11. The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse - In Jay's own words it's too many songs... yeah this was kind of a rough listen, too much fluff. It does have its moments and highlights but half of it is pretty forgettable. And actually the list of producers is hot. Kanye, Just Blaze, Timbaland... I think maybe this was just rushed. It's lacking The Blueprint's magic which was making a rap classic look easy. This felt try-hard instead.

10. Vol. 3: Life and Times of S. Carter - This one is a little messy but has a few good songs, mostly the Timbaland productions had a nice style to them. Ofc Big Pimpin and So Ghetto. I think this album at least has a fun vibe to it so I might've ranked it a bit higher.

9. The Dynasty: Roc La Familia - My hot take that might not be that hot. This album should be much higher it's actually really great. I like posse cuts and collabs and this is like a soft collaboration album marketed as a Jay-Z solo. The production is hard and crisp and imo a step up from the 90's albums. This has a lot of underrated songs and barely any misses. Jay mentioned the Intro and yeah it's fire.

8. The Blueprint 3 - This is an album I wish I loved bc I usually really like pop rap and I think the hits here are really good. Run This Town and Empire are really nostalgic. He went for inspirational and a lot of the songs have a love for hip hop / his origins as well as cosigning new rap talent like Drake, J. Cole and Kid Cudi here. But this album is hit or miss as f***. While I like most songs some of the songs here are just baffling to me lol. Also he might have dumbed down his rapping a little too much. I also think D.O.A. being here is funny considering this is such a commercialized album. Though, this still has its charm and it's fun to go back to it occasionally.

7. In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 - I might make people mad but this album is really overrated and in my opinion the worst of his 90's albums... This jiggy Puff Daddy sound he was influenced by at the time, ruined half the songs here and it sounds so dated. I think he got the formula in Vol. 2 and 3 a little better. I think what keeps this album high in people's minds are songs like Imaginary Players and Where I'm From. Fair enough but half of this album doesn't hold up.

6. Magna Carta Holy Grail - Lol. So I assume it's ranked so high because it was new at the time and it makes me wonder where Jay would rank it today. I have a fair bit of nostalgia to this as I actually did experience this era. And that promo video with the producers got me really hyped at the time (hilarious in retrospect). While I like some of Jay's effort on early 2010's rap sound, I think it worked a lot better in features where we only got a verse. Some of the full songs here feel kinda forced and unnatural. It made me like the more "classic" sounding Jay-Z songs like Heaven and Oceans a little more. Anyway I would definitely rank this album lower.

5. American Gangster - This is a very different album in Jay-Z's discography where I feel like unlike the others, it didn't try to have big hits or be too mainstream. It's more dark and dramatic and has this grand, luxurious sounding production. I'm not always a fan of Pharrell production but Blue Magic and I Know are fantastic. and it's actually nice to hear Jay-Z take writing a bit seriously. Not a sound that is my preference or an album that gets a lot of replay for me but in the right mood it hits really hard and deserves more love.

4. Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life - Maybe this is a "you had to be there" type of album bc I don't see a lot of conversation about it compared to how big it was at the time, this album is basically the one that made Jay-Z a star. I can understand why he called it a classic, even though it's obviously more arguable than the top 3. I actually really enjoy this album and I think it's probably the best Vol. album. This album series has its charm and I think this one has the right balance of hits and deep cuts. It's not perfect and he potentially has more cohesive albums but it might still be top 5 just off the highlights and impact.

3. The Black Album - Imagine if Jay-Z really ended his career at this point. I wonder how differently would he be looked at if he did. While it was a fake out and doesn't really have that finality, I like that the album is reflective about Jay's career. Definitely a lot of strong hits here and some good variety, creative hits like 99 Problems and PSA. I see a lot of people rank this as their top Jay-Z album I can't necessarily argue with that. It's a classic and a very tight tracklist all the way with a legendary team of producers.

2. The Blueprint - It's called The Blueprint for a reason it just feels like he was in a different bag in this one. You get glimpses of this Jay in the albums before but he just sounded the most charismatic in this one and like it all just came natural to him. A lot of classic songs from Takeover and Renegade to more introspective songs like Song Cry. This also has amazing production throughout but I think Jay's rapping and style is the heart of the album and makes it one of the best albums ever. To me this is more of a definite Jay-Z album than RD because it sounds more like Jay-Z's essence, just perfected. I get why Jay-Z wouldn't, because he is from an early generation of a hip hop listener and comes from different standards. But I would rank this #1.

1. Reasonable Doubt - To me RD is very different than all the albums that came after it because while you do get some of this Jay-Z in the storytelling deep cuts he puts in his next albums, this is entirely focused on technical rap abilities and writing and feels way more serious than any other album he released. Unlike later on where he takes it easy and lighter, this album feels like he is trying to be the best rapper he can. The big highlights here like Dead Presidents II and Can I Live has impeccable writing and performance. However for a personal preference this is probably not my favorite Jay-Z album as I prefer his 2000's style more. But yeah his bars here are undeniable.

In short I understand where his ranking comes from, mostly. I am a little surprised that his preference isn't towards his 90's material. Either the list is influenced by public perception of these albums or Jay-Z is open minded about his newer music too, which I really hope is the latter. Jay does seem to have appreciation for new rappers and sounds and isn't afraid to progress. I also think it's pretty interesting to make a list like this and hope more rappers do this in the future.

I also wonder where 4:44 would rank in this list. I definitely consider it one of the best Jay-Z albums. I wonder if he considers it a classic (it is). It's definitely one of his most beloved and well received albums. And would be a good career closer if he decided to just never drop another album. Though, he might still have another surprise left so I guess we'll see.

Anyway, what is your Jay-Z album ranking? What do you think about Jay-Z's own order? share your thoughts.

Man give me $500, 000. F*** Jay Z. Yeah man. Yeah nigga give me 500thousand.

BP2 is underrated to me

Well he was right about Reasonable Doubt being his best.

Personally I'd swap Vol. 2 with Vol. 1 just off the strength of Where I'm From and Imaginary Players.

He was wilding putting MCHG over Vol 1

Friend or Foe “98 is Jays best song and objectively one of the best hiphop songs ever

Its the type of song id show an alien to explain hiphop

Yeah Preemo put his foot down on that neck. I think the Vol 1 intro is a better song but this is top 3 on there for sure.

New album promo, reasonable at the time

Would honestly be interested in him doing this again with 4:44 included to see how different it is

Vol 1 is top 4

A couple bullshit tracks shouldn't be enough to bring down that albums rep

Vol 1 is my fav Jay Z album, BP is the best, American Gangster is 2nd in both categories to me

Imo

Its classic

He went 12/14 and the 12 is some of the best rapping of the entire 90s

Just don’t get how The Black Album isn’t clear number 1

He was dumb as hell putting Magna Carta and Blueprint 3 over Dynasty. Mangna Carta above Vol 1 🤮

MCHG is dumb high

Blueprint 2 is his worst, followed by Blueprint 3 then Kingdom Come then MCHG

Blueprint 1 is his best, followed by Reasonable Doubt then American Gangster then Vol 2

Everything else is in the middle

My positive hot take Vol 3 is a personal fav of mine, I would replace AG with it as "best" on personal feeling

My negative hot take is that Black Album is mid, it's not terrible but I think way overrated and the mixing is imo weird

We don't talk about the collab albums outside of WTT

Blueprint
Reasonable Doubt
The Black Album
4:44
In My Lifetime, Vol 1
American Gangster
Volume 3
Volume 2
The Dynasty
Blueprint 2
Kingdom Come
Blueprint 3
Magna Carta Holy Grail

Probably my ranking.

His bottom four are largely unlistenable as whole albums. Volume 1 has nostalgia value for me since it was the first Jay album I bought, but at worst it only drops a place imo. Very underrated

its the way they put city is mine right next to girls like LMAO

I did revisit Hov's discography earlier this year.

Black Album, Reasonable Doubt, and Blueprint are like his top tier

I think 4:44 > Vol 1. > Vol 2 > Vol 3 > Dynasty > Blueprint 2 in the middle tier

And Kingdom Come > American Gangster > Blueprint 3 > MCHG in the bottom tier

I really don't like the era of Jay Z after his comeback and before WTT, and his first run I just like each album a little less as it goes with the exception of the top 3

Really an amazing discography as a whole

Blueprint
Black Album
Reasonable Doubt
American Gangster
Vol 1
4:44

Keep da rest

it just came out. wonder how he feels about it now. its aged the worst out of his albums

American gangster bottom tier is a horrid take

he had to lmaooooo, imagine putting your new s*** at the bottom

Artists should never rank things, especially their own