OPDec 25, 2025·1 reply
humeyvol 2 over vol 1 is nasty man
Vol.2 is really great. Vol. 1 has some highs but a lot of filler and dated songs.
Money Cash Hoes, Hard Knock Life, Reservoir Dogs, If I Should Die, Jigga Who, A Week Ago all fire.
Dec 25, 2025·4 repliesIt’s a good ranking
Part of what you’re noticing I think is how good Jay has been at self mythologizing and marketing his albums long term
From Reasonable Doubt on, these are not albums that just came out and got a certain reception
Years of narratives and revisiting and referencing past works, and reframing them in the context of Jay’s greater career story, including things like this ranking, have always made the public reexamine the albums in interesting ways
Reasonable Doubt went from slept on album to undeniable classic
Vol 1 went from being seen only for its botched singles to being lauded for the quality of the rest
Vol 2 was a smash on impact, but Hov ranking it so high in this ranking had an effect. Around this time, it was a given that his top 3 were RD, BP, and TBA for most people. AG was usually the 4th. When Hov made this ranking emphasizing the importance of Vol 2 in his career, people started to follow suit and the album is thrown out closer to the top
There’s just something about Hov’s catalog, it’s kind of like The Beatles. Every piece feels like it matters. The art the titles and consistency in branding. And I really think the way that we all have a collective idea of these albums is more important than the quality itself. It’s something deeper that stands out. It’s one thing that Nas was clearly less successful with: projects like Street’s Disciple just don’t “feel important” somehow on a surface level way.
Dec 25, 2025·2 replies2wordsIt’s a good ranking
Part of what you’re noticing I think is how good Jay has been at self mythologizing and marketing his albums long term
From Reasonable Doubt on, these are not albums that just came out and got a certain reception
Years of narratives and revisiting and referencing past works, and reframing them in the context of Jay’s greater career story, including things like this ranking, have always made the public reexamine the albums in interesting ways
Reasonable Doubt went from slept on album to undeniable classic
Vol 1 went from being seen only for its botched singles to being lauded for the quality of the rest
Vol 2 was a smash on impact, but Hov ranking it so high in this ranking had an effect. Around this time, it was a given that his top 3 were RD, BP, and TBA for most people. AG was usually the 4th. When Hov made this ranking emphasizing the importance of Vol 2 in his career, people started to follow suit and the album is thrown out closer to the top
There’s just something about Hov’s catalog, it’s kind of like The Beatles. Every piece feels like it matters. The art the titles and consistency in branding. And I really think the way that we all have a collective idea of these albums is more important than the quality itself. It’s something deeper that stands out. It’s one thing that Nas was clearly less successful with: projects like Street’s Disciple just don’t “feel important” somehow on a surface level way.
Get that man's p**** out your mouth, it's Jesus birthday
- Dec 25, 2025·editedRahRahLike
Get that man's p**** out your mouth, it's Jesus birthday
Interesting comment because some people could probably look at it as lowkey hate too. Cause I’m kind of implying that Jay hustled us all into putting his albums higher than we would naturally, and caring more about his less great projects than we would care about them for other artists.
Dec 25, 2025flizzyDynasty is very underrated better than the Vols for me
came here to say this
Dec 25, 2025·1 replyI get why Vol 2 would mean a lot to him personally cause it was the album that launched him into mainstream and pop culture
- Dec 25, 2025
Vol 3 over BP3 tho
Dec 25, 2025·1 reply2wordsIt’s a good ranking
Part of what you’re noticing I think is how good Jay has been at self mythologizing and marketing his albums long term
From Reasonable Doubt on, these are not albums that just came out and got a certain reception
Years of narratives and revisiting and referencing past works, and reframing them in the context of Jay’s greater career story, including things like this ranking, have always made the public reexamine the albums in interesting ways
Reasonable Doubt went from slept on album to undeniable classic
Vol 1 went from being seen only for its botched singles to being lauded for the quality of the rest
Vol 2 was a smash on impact, but Hov ranking it so high in this ranking had an effect. Around this time, it was a given that his top 3 were RD, BP, and TBA for most people. AG was usually the 4th. When Hov made this ranking emphasizing the importance of Vol 2 in his career, people started to follow suit and the album is thrown out closer to the top
There’s just something about Hov’s catalog, it’s kind of like The Beatles. Every piece feels like it matters. The art the titles and consistency in branding. And I really think the way that we all have a collective idea of these albums is more important than the quality itself. It’s something deeper that stands out. It’s one thing that Nas was clearly less successful with: projects like Street’s Disciple just don’t “feel important” somehow on a surface level way.
The comparison to The Beatles is actually very good and I don't think I've ever seen somebody make that point. Majority of both discogs took place in a short amount of time too compared to other major artists like MJ Stevie or Pirnce who really span decades
Dec 25, 2025444
Dec 25, 2025Damn his top 3 are my top 3 too
All the ones after that can pretty much be in any order, although I do have good memories of BP3, 2 and Vol 2.
Dec 25, 2025·1 replyBp3 so good
Dec 25, 2025top 3 are correct!
Dec 25, 20251. RD
2. Blueprint
3. 4:44
4. Black Album
5. Vol 1
BLACK ☭Dec 25, 2025his top 3 is accurate
Dec 25, 2025MeAndYouMan give me $500, 000. F*** Jay Z. Yeah man. Yeah nigga give me 500thousand.
This whole debate was crazy af lmaoo
- Dec 25, 2025Mac Wit Da Cheese
I get why Vol 2 would mean a lot to him personally cause it was the album that launched him into mainstream and pop culture
For him it was probably the album were everything “clicked” for him
Dec 25, 2025Crazy not having amerocan gangster top 3
- Dec 25, 2025
1. Blueprint
2. American gangster
3. Reasonable doubt
4. The black album
5. bp3Havent heard the others
- OPDec 26, 2025JPEGMAFIA
The comparison to The Beatles is actually very good and I don't think I've ever seen somebody make that point. Majority of both discogs took place in a short amount of time too compared to other major artists like MJ Stevie or Pirnce who really span decades
True though it feels more right to compare OutKast to The Beatles
That being said I’m sure naming The Black Album references The Beatles (even before that Danger Mouse mashup came out)
- OPDec 26, 2025·1 reply
You guys should relisten to Vol. 2
Dec 26, 2025Vol 1>>> the rest of the non top 3 imo.
Some crazy tracks on there
Dec 26, 2025bp3 is way too high
- Dec 26, 2025·1 replyflizzy
You guys should relisten to Vol. 2
This how I'm starting my morning
Dec 26, 2025JPEGMAFIAThis how I'm starting my morning
Reservoir Dogs is everything
- Dec 26, 2025
I don't think I've ever listened to Blueprint without listening to Stillmatic right after