Fuck Critics
In “99 Problems,” Jay-Z blasts, “Fuck critics, you can kiss my whole asshole! / If you don’t like my lyrics, you can press fast forward.” Nevertheless, Jay cares what critics write about his work. After reading Elizabeth Méndez Berry’s scathing review of Reasonable Doubt; Vol. 3 … Life & Times of S. Carter; The Blueprint, Jay called her and said “You write like I rap.” Motivated by her criticism, Jay rewrote “P.S.A.” for The Black Album, in which he claimed, “I’m like Che Guevara with bling on / I’m complex / I never claimed to have wings on.”
Having read Ms. Méndez Berry’s essay on Jay from Classic Material: The Hip-Hop Album Guide, edited by Oliver Wang, I appreciated the art of music criticism. I read as many reviews I could get my hands on. I also started to write my own music reviews on my blog as a way to hone my writing skills.
For me, hip-hop has always been about lyrics, and yet I was not impressed with Jay’s materialistic, misogynistic rhymes. I enjoyed Vol. 2 … Hard Knock Life, but I couldn’t get past his doses of braggadocio in records such as “Can I Get A…,” “Money, Cash, Hoes,” and “Money Ain’t a Thang.” It took The Black Album, his statement on retirement, for me to pay attention to his lyrics. In the outro of “December 4th,” he said, “If you can’t respect that, your whole perspective is wack / Maybe you’ll love me when I fade to black.” He was right. The Black Album showcases Jay’s articulate storytelling, witty wordplays, sharp punchlines, and poetic prose. In his book, Jay-Z: Made in America, Professor Michael Eric Dyson describes Jay-Z as “Robert Frost with a Brooklyn Accent, Rita Dove with a Jesus piece.”
After listening to The Black Album on repeat for months, I went back to The Blueprint, Reasonable Doubt, and the rest of his catalog. Reading his lyrics in between the lines, I discovered so many hidden gems that I created a webpage, “Beacon of Hov,” to highlight my favorite quotes.
For this particular project, I would like to put together a collection of essays that were critical of Jay-Z’s music. I called the project: “Hovacritical.” These essays were written by critics and authors I respect: Greg Tate, Elizabeth Méndez Berry, Kelefa Sanneh, Sasha Frere-Jones, Hua Hsu, Zadie Smith, Michael Eric Dyson, and Yannick Giovanni Marshall. They were pulled from various print and online sources. While I enjoyed the content, I found the reading experience, especially online platforms with moving, pop-in ads obscuring the text, to be distracting and unpleasant.
These well-written essays deserve a better reading experience; therefore, I decided to create a space for them. My focus was on typography. For the main text, I chose Turnip, designed by David Jonathan Ross. For big headings, I selected Nickel Gothic, also designed by Ross. For small texts, I went with Forma DJR, also designed by Ross. While I prefer reading black text on white background, I also provide a dark theme if you prefer the reverse.
This project is created for my own reading pleasure, but you are more than welcome to check out Hovacritical.