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New York, 7:41 PM
Fri Nov 27
13 posts in the last 24 hours

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  • posts about #anthems more →

    Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?

    Old Friend Shaq Consoles Kobe Bryant With a Song: 'Tell Me How My Ass Tastes'

    Journey Thrilled Cheese-Rock Anthem Finally Used In Unironic Fashion
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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of Motoko Kusanagi Motoko Kusanagi
    11/08/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    I'd like to nominate "Personality Crisis" as the song that best defines NYC for me.

    Jay-Z is frat-boy rap. Sinatra is frat boy crooning. #jayz
     Reply
    Motoko Kusanagi was starred Motoko Kusanagi was unstarred
    Image of GreatOdensRaven GreatOdensRaven
    11/08/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    I dig this song a great deal, but I keep coming back to one question when asking if "Empire State of Mind" joins or replaces "New York, New York": What happens when Jay-Z is 60?

    Sinatra nailed "New York, New York" in his latter years despite his age (64) and that the song wasn't originally written for him (Liza Minnelli). Would anyone wants to hear Jay-Z perform this song in his 60s, or hear someone else try it?

    It might be cliché these days, but "New York, New York" has proven it's staying power. The jury's still out on "Empire State of Mind." #jayz
     Reply
    GreatOdensRaven was starred GreatOdensRaven was unstarred
    Image of maureen.p.cassidy maureen.p.cassidy
    11/08/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    The woman in this picture is Bridgey Kelly, who sings the 'Empire' hook on tour - and she is way, way better than Alicia Keys.
     Reply
    allyzay approved this comment maureen.p.cassidy was starred maureen.p.cassidy was unstarred
    Image of RachelSklar RachelSklar
    11/08/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    I can't believe no one has invoked the Beastie Boys here. Compare and contrast: "Big lights will inspire you" with "Dear New York this is a love letter/To you and how you brought us together/We can't say enough about all you do/'Cause in the city we're ourselves and electric too." Like, come ON.

    Also, have to say it: Zeke Turner was way ahead of the curve on this last week: [www.mediaite.com]

    But it's still a pretty great hook. #jayz
     Reply
    RachelSklar was starred RachelSklar was unstarred
    Image of Foster Kamer Foster Kamer
    11/08/09

    @RachelSklar: Zeke was right at the curve, but I wouldn't say he was ahead of it on this one. The tipping point was City Hall. Jay-Z rapped about running New York in front of Mayor Bloomberg, who was booed. I'd say that's a moment. A VMA, a World Series Performance, and a good video is one moment short of the curve. #jayz
     Reply
    Foster Kamer was starred Foster Kamer was unstarred
    Image of Foster Kamer Foster Kamer
    11/07/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    GUYS. I know who Ty-Ty is. Come on. #jayz
     Reply
    Foster Kamer was starred Foster Kamer was unstarred
    Image of Baroness Baroness
    11/07/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    I honestly and unironically enjoy Keys' soaring vocals on this. Fuck haters saying it's trite. She's singing of the beauty, glamour and inspiration NYC does have for the unjaded. I was jaded, away from NY for a long while. To return is to be exhilarated anew. And I love this romantic, hopeful optimism in Alicia's part.

    Jay-Z is still bragging about turning nice girls into whores. I'm feeling mightily over praising guys like this merely for their massive success. Ultimately not my thing I guess. #jayz
     Reply
    Baroness was starred Baroness was unstarred
    Image of merqury merqury
    11/08/09

    @Baroness:
    Wow, who knew I could comment without signing up?

    Just wanted to state for the record that Jay was not "bragging" about corrupting nice girls. Listen to the song more carefully, and you'll hear he was illustrating the flip-side of NYC's hypnotic nature. They come for education, stay for the glamor, and end up far different (and presumably worse-off) people.

    That said, I agree that while Keys often grates, there's an undeniable beauty in her theatrical vocals on the hook. #jayz
     Reply
    allyzay promoted this comment Kaila Hale-Stern approved this comment merqury was starred merqury was unstarred
    Image of SpyMagician SpyMagician
    11/08/09

    @Baroness: The thing is her voice sounds processed to hell. It does not sound human or heartfelt. It sounds calculated. #jayz
     Reply
    SpyMagician was starred SpyMagician was unstarred
    Image of kolea kolea
    11/08/09

    @Baroness: I don't think he's bragging about that...I think he's talking more about the girls who come to NYC all young, pretty and wanting to make it and get taken advantage of. #jayz
     Reply
    allyzay promoted this comment kolea was starred kolea was unstarred
    Image of scott.edson.nyc scott.edson.nyc
    11/07/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    I'm not entrenched in music, and think this is so called music is crap. But I was reminded by a friend that this is the voice of todays' youth much like Dylan's was of his generation. I guess he has a point, but I'm very certain that Boston, and the Styx have nothing to do with me.
     Reply
    allyzay promoted this comment scott.edson.nyc was starred scott.edson.nyc was unstarred
    Image of allyzay allyzay
    11/09/09

    @scott.edson.nyc: OMG there is actually a person in 2009 who uses the "rap music? More like CRAP music!" joke? Sir! I like the reference to "the Styx" though, it is an unusual aside in a standard dad post. #jayz
     Reply
    allyzay was starred allyzay was unstarred
    Image of Aaron Altman Aaron Altman
    11/07/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    Hey, here's an idea - stop trying to define New York City with one fucking song! #jayz
     Reply
    Aaron Altman was starred Aaron Altman was unstarred
    Image of heywhat heywhat
    11/07/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    Jay-Z is so overrated. He was lucky enough to be the last guy standing after Tupac and Biggie were murdered. I will give Jay this, he is a master at marketing and publicity. He's also ruthless (check his list of enemies which include Dame, Beans and Biggs, people he used to call his family before he threw them under the bus).

    Oh, and Ty-Ty is his childhood friend. #jayz
     Reply
    heywhat was starred heywhat was unstarred
    Image of TopLevelExecutive TopLevelExecutive
    11/08/09

    @heywhat: Amen. This is why you'll never see me asskissing this rhyme-jacking dude or making him out to be the GOAT. These fans of his obviously have no clue what hip hop is, but are simply jumping on the bandwagon of one rapper who, for all intents and purposes, is part of the reason why its run into the fucking ground. #jayz
     Reply
    heywhat promoted this comment TopLevelExecutive was starred TopLevelExecutive was unstarred
    Image of The-Ohio-Player The-Ohio-Player
    11/07/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    Ok very nice write-up. But let me hip you to the hip-talk. Ty-Ty is Jay-Zs best friend. They grew up together. When the Cavs were playing in the playoffs last year you see both of them salute Lebron at the end of the game.

    It's called Empire State of Mind because Nas (onetime-inspiration-turned-nemesis-turned-buddy) recorded NY state of Mind (after Billy of course) for his classic Illmatic album many moons ago and if you really wanted to do a direct comparison, this is the track you'd want to dissect as there are a number of similarities. There were rumors Nas was supposed to appear on the track.

    Beanie Sigel was once Jay-Zs protege and when Jay signed his latest deal he had to leave him and the rest of his old roster back at Def Jam. Of course Beanie feel neglected/slighted so he gotta take it to his former mentor/boss. But he's not the only rapper who's got beef, Game from the west coast has thrown a number of lyrical jabs at him.

    50 Cent is probably the biggest threat Jay is facing (ironically he was mentor/boss to Game with whom he shares a running beef as well). 50 has the money and the name and the smarts but not the clout. Few outside of rap could give a rats ass about him aside from he beefed with Kanye (publicity stunt) to sell some records.

    Aside from these asides, very good assessment. #jayz
     Reply
    Phyllis Nefler promoted this comment The-Ohio-Player was starred The-Ohio-Player was unstarred
    Image of JRS-One JRS-One
    11/07/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    Neon McDonald's arches are the most recognizable trademark behind Alicia Keys' piano scenes. Those big lights really will inspire you... Or at least get you a hankering over a Filet-O-Fish. #jayz
     Reply
    JRS-One was starred JRS-One was unstarred
    Image of dippitydoo dippitydoo
    11/07/09

    @JRS-One: McRib! #jayz
     Reply
    dippitydoo was starred dippitydoo was unstarred
    Image of Aaron Altman Aaron Altman
    11/07/09

    @JRS-One: Mc DLT. #jayz
     Reply
    Aaron Altman was starred Aaron Altman was unstarred
    Image of kappakappaspankme kappakappaspankme
    11/07/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    Erm - wasn't everyone saying the same thing about the highly overrated and much over-hyped Ryan Adams' "New York, New York" post 09.11?

    I couldn't give a toss which song would be the new anthem but the true test is time. As I see it, Sinatra and Joel (the only time I will probably ever say anything nice about him) have classics which evoke a lot of emotion. Adams - not so much. Jay-Z - for the next fifteen minutes or so. #jayz
     Reply
    allyzay promoted this comment kappakappaspankme was starred kappakappaspankme was unstarred
    Image of allyzay allyzay
    11/09/09

    @kappakappaspankme: No one on earth said that thing about Ryan Adams is the problem with this argument. Like, literally no one. I think that maybe the one person who did was thrown into the East River? Which would be a fitting end in that case. #jayz
     Reply
    allyzay was starred allyzay was unstarred
    Image of Magister Magister
    11/07/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    The Sinatra song is aspirational, it's about someone dreaming of going to New York to become a success, while a cursory listen to the Jay-Z rap is that it'd appeal to those from the city, but I don't know why a kid in Peoria or someone who recently moved to town would want to crank it. It's not about them.

    IOW: The Jay-Z thing might play better with natives, but the city's economy and its place among capitals relies a great deal on convincing folks to move to town.

    Plus, there's a lot of chest-thumping.
     Reply
    Edited by Magister at 11/07/09 4:51 PM Magister was starred Magister was unstarred
    Image of randomnessish randomnessish
    11/07/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    I went to a basketball game at Columbia University once, in their dinky little high school-sized gymnasium. They lost. At the end, they played "New York, New York," as if they were in some huge stadium like Yankee Stadium. At that moment, I knew the song had gotten old. #jayz
     Reply
    randomnessish was starred randomnessish was unstarred
    Image of randomnessish randomnessish
    11/07/09

    @randomnessish: That being said, it's not like I want to rap about Ty-Ty's at the end of every Yankee game. #jayz
     Reply
    randomnessish was starred randomnessish was unstarred
    Image of badasscat badasscat
    11/07/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    You're not a real New Yorker if you think any song other than Ace Frehley's "New York Groove" is the defining song of the city. #jayz
     Reply
    badasscat was starred badasscat was unstarred
    Image of MyNameIsChris MyNameIsChris
    11/07/09

    @badasscat: You're close but the original by Hello is the classic. #jayz
     Reply
    MyNameIsChris was starred MyNameIsChris was unstarred
    Image of Phyllis Nefler Phyllis Nefler
    11/07/09

    @badasscat: GOOD CALL. Back when the Giants used be able to score touchdowns that song always rang out at Giants Stadium. #jayz
     Reply
    Phyllis Nefler was starred Phyllis Nefler was unstarred
    Image of allyzay allyzay
    11/09/09

    @badasscat: Yes, thank you! 100% correct and true. #jayz
     Reply
    allyzay was starred allyzay was unstarred
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