Feature: Jay-Z & Hip-Hop

Jay-Z. Hov. Jigga Man. Shaun Carter. Whatever you call him, he's the man. Regular readers of the blog will probably know my affections for Jay-Z and my respect for him as an artist, what he has done for hip hop but more importantly, what he has done for a generation. There's so much I can't relate to about hip hop and the culture that surrounds it, I'm a white guy who grew up in a middle class tiny village in the New Forest. Hardly hip hop. But the beats of hip hop have always appealed to me and although my music taste was always domiantd my guitar music, rock, indie, metal, hip-hop is slowly but surely starting to take over my iTunes.

One of the main reasons that I listen to so much these days is because I have developed a much greater understanding of the genre as a whole. So many people, especially my white friends I'm afraid to say, dismiss the entire genre. They don't even give it a chance and that pains me. Sure some is terrible, but name me a genre of music when there isn't someone dragging down the geniuses. Hip-hop contains such great cultural references, rytheming skills, clever and intelligent word-play and above all, great story telling. Jay-Z is kind of this. End of.

Sure maybe he can't make beats like Kanye, sound like Drake, or flow like J Cole, but without Jay-Z, these guys wouldn't exist. A culture wouldn't exist. It's difficult to over-exaggerate the effect that one man has had. He trail-blazed the way for kids who grew up in rough estates, who had nothing but drugs as their only option. He showed them a way out. It doesn't have to be hip-hop but he made a generation wake up and realise that their life doesn't have to be over before it's begun. Reading his book Decoded made me realise this. It is not a book about his life, but more about himself as part of a generation. It also taught me how important hip-hop is to tell a story, and how clever it can be in doing so. There's a lot of songs about money, hoes and rims, some of these really are part of a story - but some are just terrible. It's not a life that I can relate to, and I'm thankful to that, but it's something that I can appreciate.

The key to his success is that he has managed to stay relevant, honest and smarrt which is some feat for a man over the age of 40, has a business empire and married to of the most beautiful women ever. Jay-Z is timeless, a modern day icon.