For the past 10 days, we have been celebrating Jay-Z’s discography and the release of his latest effort, Blueprint 3. We have concentrated heavily on his best work; however, as a Jay stan I realize that Hov is not perfect. He definitely has had his share of WTF moments. So with that said, let’s countdown his Top 10 worst songs…
10. Guilty Until Proven Innocent (feat R. Kelly)
From: The Dynasty – Roc La Familia
- This was the beginning of Jay & Kell’s Best of Both Worlds collaboration. Thankfully the music got better, cuz Jay was definitely guilty of this song.
09. I Did It My Way
From: The Blueprint 2 – The Gift & The Curse
- A lot of people dislike Blueprint 2. I actually like most of the tracks for one reason or another. I could not find any reason to like this track. Jay, Frank Sinatra you are not!
08. Anything
From: Vol 3… Life & Times of S. Carter
- A really, really bad attempt to redo “Hard Knock Life.” I may be one of the few that doesn’t even like “Hard Knock Life,” though I’ve grown an appreciation for it. “Anything” was a straight rip and Annie should NEVER be sampled again!
07. Anything (feat Usher & Pharrell)
From: Kingdom Come
- A second track named “Anything.” You see a pattern here? Jay likes his bounce, I can dig that, but this should have just bounced onto the cutting room floor.
06. City Is Mine (feat Blackstreet)
From: In My Lifetime… Vol 1
- Volume 1 suffered heavily because of joints like this. This was a bad attempt to go mainstream.
05. Things That U Do (feat Mariah Carey)
From: Vol 3… Life & Times of S. Carter
- I actually have nothing to say about this song. It just sucks.
04. Hollywood (feat Beyonce)
From: Kingdom Come
- I understand you sometimes have to do things for your girl that you don’t want to do; this should not have been one of them. This was quite possibly a leftover from B’s album.
03. Dig A Hole
From: Kingdom Come
- Kingdom Come is still my least favorite Jay-Z album. Just about every song after “Lost One” could have made this list, but what fun would that be?
02. I Know What Girls Like (feat Puff Daddy & Lil Kim)
From: In My Lifetime… Vol 1
- Do you know what your fans like? Puffy killed Volume 1 (which was actually not that bad of an album). Take off the Puffy tracks and add a few from Streets Is Watching and Volume 1 could have been in my Top 5 Jay-Z album. This track was just horrendous and was my number one worst Jay-Z song until…
01. Ghetto Techno
Unreleased Blueprint 3 Sessions
- Jay gains points for not putting this on Blueprint 3…. however, he lost major points for recording it in the first place. A huge WTF moment for both Jay and Timbaland.
{ 89 comments… read them below or add one }
i agree very much so with this list, except for “Anything” and “Dig A Hole.” Anything is what it is, a stripper song and not really a bad one. “Dig A Hole” might have been better with someone else on the hook. i guess i like “Kingdom Come” better than a lot of people did.
I agree with the list, but my nostalgic feeling attached to “City Is Mine” has to disagree with that choice. Yeah, the track is absolutely ridiculous, but I can’t help loving it.
i know what girls like wooooooooorst song everrrrr ohhh my goodness!!
We need Sean Deez’s version of this list for additional controversy.
Hmm, I would have put As One on there, probably switching it in for Hollywood. Anything is Hard Knock Life devoid of all suave, happiness or energy whatsoever. Chad Hugo really is the only good thing about The City Is Mine. But I think that I Did It My Way should be ranked worse than at least The City Is Mine.
oh I loved Anything (both actually, but the first one mostly) and Dig A Hole! Dig A Hole goes so hard to me! Kingdom Come isn’t my least favorite CD though…that would be somewhere between Roc La Famila and BP2. City of Mine wasn’t that bad either….since I already mentioned which CDs I pretty much dislike let me see if I can think of some not on those that are worse than songs already mentioned:
Dope Man
30 Something
…aaaaaaaaaand, I prob would have ranked I Know What Girls Like as the worst song.
Yeah, I know a lot of people who like City Is Mine, but I hated the original Glen Fry sample so this beat is just garbage to me.
I Know What Girls Like WAS #1, until he did that Ghetto Techno….. ugh!
I had avoided hearing Ghetto Techno before this list. *frown* it is terrible! LOL
HAHAHAHAHA
yeah Ghetto Techno is pretty terrible
aww… i happen to like “Dig A Hole”
I know Deez’ll be like, “Can’t Knock the Hustle is actually the worst Jay-Z song ever.” I waiting for it!!
“As One”
“Ballad of a Fallen Solider”
“I Know What Girls Like”
Would make the list.
I love “City is Mine” and “Guilty Until Proven Innocent.” ‘
“Things That You Do” was hot for its time. Jay and Swizz had that connection.
nice list… why did Kanye and Jay make “I did it my way” when Kanye already used the sample and beat for a song he did? I know it was unreleased but still. I liked Anything with annie sample and agree that I know what girls like is the worst sh*t i ever heard from Jay. You could say this is his worst released song on an album i guess. Also the best of both worlds and Kingdom Come are complete suckfests
LMAO @ charity
Yo KEV I AGREE WITH THA LIST
AT LEAST 90 PER CENT
EXCEPT THE “ANYTHING” TRACK – HOV NAILED THAT ONE I THOUGHT…
TO ME ITS LIKE SAYING This Can’t Be Life (Feat. Beanie Sigel & Scarface) IS WACK WHEN IT’S CLEARLY NOT…..GREAT JOB OTHERWISE BRO …..KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK ….PEACE !! KILLA
how did you could be my sunshine not make the list or atleast an honorable mention? if not for the song atleast the video. lol
You bugging….anything, dig a hoe, city is mine. Jigga is dope. 40 years old and still on top of his game.
I love “City Is Mine”… I can agree with the others though.
@Mike, man, KC is not nearly as bad as The Best of Both Worlds, a truly terrible album.
wow, lots of luv for City Is Mine. Sunshine grew on me… I dug the sample. But I agree that video has to be the worst.
And I actually love the Best of Both Worlds LP. You must not be a fan of the Trackmasters, Charity.
i woulda put “Trouble” in there. and “Hard Knock Life”
“Sunshine” the song is not horrible and shouldn’t be on any “worst list.” The video is what turned people off from the song.
Best of Both Worlds was a part/have fun album. The second one wasn’t very good tho.
I mostly can’t stand R. Kelly, R. Kelly’s voice, R. Kelly lyrics, the idea of R. Kelly. I’d rather listen to a Jay-Z/Bilal collaboration album.
also i probaby woulda put big pimpin up on this list
Psymun, if u think Big Pimpin is wack u should go dig a hole!!
now back to that list, how in the world can u say Anything is wack?
that is classic Hov right there with the hook and sample and everything! Thats one of my best all-time tracks of his! Child Please!
chill. maybe i just think it’s overrated. let’s make a most overrated jay song list
I like Ghetto Techno
@Charity… sho you right… Kingdom Come had 3 songs I liked whereas Best of Both had NONE songs i liked. Yep, Notta one. I can understand why Kevin doesn’t like The City Is Mine. The sample isn’t the best. I’m not sayin it’s a bad song but the production got on my nerves too and I didn’t like it for that reason. Sunshine is dope. Trackmasters had some dope records but fell the f**k off. Big tyme like Heavy D.
@ Mike, the chorus rather than the sample kills The City Is Mine for me: it’s so lame and repeated so much over the track. And yeah, the first five tracks of Kingdom Come are an impressive start to me.
I really like the Most Overrated Jay-Z Song list idea.
worrrd man we could start by thinking of overrated jay songs. “hard knock life”, “big pimpin”, “dirt off your shoulder”, “run this town”, i think “99 problems” is a little overrated
lol
damn.
you were easy on In My Lifetime and some tracks on Hard Knock Life
Worst Hov song ever has to be “D’evils” in my opinion…or maybe it’s “Dead Presidents II”. No, never mind, Jay’z worst song ever is “Regrets”. Reasonable Doubt is his worst album ever. I’m digging Puff’s new record though. It’s got that “Ghetto Techno” vibe that I’m really feelin’.
you’re tripping on not liking “Anything”
the beat is crazy! the lyrics are good too.
the song is actually on, Beanie Sigel-The Truth album, not Vol.3
Man, I feel wack. I agree with you guys on almost everything, but I actually like a lot of these songs. Maybe I’m just on Jigga’s dick real serious and never realized.
I haven’t listened to the Ghetto Technology (I can’t right now cause I’m at work), I’m sure it’s garbage, but IT CAN’T be worse than “I Know What Girls Like”. That’s easily his worst song.
I’ve always kind of liked Guilty Until Proven Innocent to be honest
Idk about 8-10 but the rest is rite on. I would’ve added the song with Sean Paul from BP2 …forgot the name don’t feel like looking lol
lol Balled of a Fallen soldier Thomas?
really?
Here you go Woo Hah! “A Ballad For The Fallen Soldier.” Corrected the name. You knew what I was talking about.
half the list is good, but the other half….
GHETTO TECHNO! ghetto FKEN techno. Honestly i really almost cried. almost didn’t cop bp3 til i realised it wasn’t on there. THANK GOD 4 good judgement up in HeadCarters
I’m going to respectfully disagree… with “Dig a Hole” maybe u weren’t feeling the hook or something; however the song was dope IMO. And although I’m not a Stan I would note that when people be comparing all these albums to each other and the work of other artists, keep in mind that they didn’t all come out in 1992, that being said, a lot of Jay’s records can be “appreciated” for the time period in which they were released… and if most of yall be honest with yourselves (who’ve been quick to call Jay-Z inconsistent) you probably were also one of the people saying (when hip hop was in a state of WTF) that he was one of the emcees making it last when other cats were in failure mode. Done.
Note: Haven’t been a Jay fan that long, but among my fav records are Black Album, Reasonable Doubt.
K Nott whaddup. Fucking with the Jay hooplah… it’s a celebration! lmao.
haha, I see you knowjuander! Let’s get it!
PMSL…ghetto techno…when I heard that crap I had to throw a post…all these tracks clearly tries to fall within what was hot in the mainstream in that period of time and some fail…but ghetto techno is pure trash, objective hate. I guess he figured out that he couldnt make DoA AND ghetto techno, and he had no beef with other rappers so Ol Hova went after the young cats…mane I’m heated…BP3 isnt my fav so I guess im gonna be patiently waiting for another uninspired jigga album, I feel where he is going with BP3 but then again, it aint no classic.
Anything From: Vol 3… Life & Times of S. Carter
That shit is hot to me
Things that u do
I used to feel this song back then
Dig a hole
It’s a good track with dope lyrics
A ballad for the fallen soldier
Imaginary player
The city is mine
Fuck all nite
As One
Hello Brooklyn
Anything (feat Usher & Pharrell)
Hollywood (feat Beyonce)
I Know What Girls Like (feat Puff Daddy & Lil Kim)
Ghetto Techno
@MT …I feel your point of view… but (tell me if I’m wrong) Low End Theory wasn’t considered a “classic” when it dropped… neither was “Illmatic” neither was “Stakes is High” neither was “Reasonable Doubt” neither was a lot of the other “classic” albums… All things in their own time. And it’s 2009… so let’s talk pop… now I haven’t heard BP3… but I’m sure there are not a lot of dope MAJOR label releases out this year… maybe five at the most. Just my opinion though. But every album aint gone be a classic to everybody and every classic album has at least 2 maybe 3 songs on them… that make you say WTF. I could be wrong.
Imaginary Player?!?!? Now THIS dude is smoking crack!
and Imaginary Player is DOPE… yeah he might be smoking crack… lol.
sorry for imaginary player, i was talkin about sunshine with babyface
booooo
dont agree with the end of this list at all…
Guilty Untill was one of their best collabs between them, Id say third or fourth best…not that its sayin much but still hes had worse…
and come on he ripped I think it was the first verse of I did it my way, and his flow was so unconventional for him it was kinda refreshing…out of all the actuall trash songs on BP2, NO WAY you should put that…Fuck all night…As One…come on those were easily worse!
I loved City is Mine … apparently that’s a hit or miss. Hollywood is absolutely terrible on both ends, smh.
This half verse alone proves that “Guilty Until Proven Innocent” shouldn’t be anywhere on this list.
“But I ain’t gon’ lie, the head was sick
But what we need to do, is put that mouth on a betta bitch
You hear the rhetorhic, “Jigga hit me over the head
with a champagne bottle at the bar, can he buy me a car?”
Naw,
How do y’all equate your pain?
Would it all go away if I bought you a Range?
I got one or two of those, nothin gon’ change
For nothin else, you gotta live with yourself”
DIG A HOLE? WTF? that song is tight…THis list needs HELLO BROOKLYN and S.CARTER w/ Amil !!!…actaully take off GUILTY because thats the only Jay/R Kelly song that was good and add anyother song from one of their horrific albums.
Adam’s right, I can’t believe “Hello brooklyn” is not on this either. That song was so boring
My favorite post.
See Matt we don’t give Jay passes.
lmao @ Matt
I agree… I dropped the ball on including Hello Brooklyn. It’s so bad, i forgot about it.
I’ve came out of my hangover from last night, “can i live”, lol… so what about his lyrics from the song “Oh Girl” w/Rapheal Saadiq..that was the worst.
Hello brooklyn was such a shit sandwich, stuck out like a sore thumb. How that got on that album…smh That track from the AG sessions was faaar better.
@ knowjuander, sure, albums grow with time to be considered classics, but it’s jigga and I believe he is the GOAT, because he is consistent and doesn’t bend over for the pressure. So when I heard that ghetto techno, I was really disappointed, felt like I just took a low blow to the gut.
But for me, a classic is when after you have heard the album you wanna hear that shit again because your mind just got blown away, and it just keep growing again and again after each play. BP3 doesnt do that for me, it got some highlights though (ATM “A star is born” is my fav, luv that retrospective feel).
Don’t know if I can agree with you on “Illmatic” not being an instant classic, that man had so much hype back then, and he nailed it on first go. But hey, I’m not trying to step on any toes, just expressing my view and some might tell me to STFU when I say “Thug Motivation 101” is a classic
Sitting and thinking of classics that doesn’t have one lame track on it, one album pops into my mind – 36 chambers!!!! That shit was F. grimey…
I Did it My Way was ill
Anything(1st was very dope)
Any 3 joints produced by Timbaland can appear on here
my worst definetely NYMP on vol 3, absolutely hate that track always skip it.. like dig a hole though quite gangsta.
Wow I see alot of joints here that I actually like, such as Anything on Beans album, City is Mine, My Way, and Things That You Do and I seen somebody bring up Hello Brooklyn, I liked that shit. He has WAY MORE SONGS THAT SUCK and are terribler (yes i made it up lol)
My top 10 worst Jay Z songs
1. Anything (Kingdom Come) Jigga making a stripper song??? WTF?
2. Pop 4 Roc (Vol. 3)
3. Money Ain’t a Thang (Vol. 2) Hate it with a passion!!!
4. Dig a Hole (Kingdom Come)
5. Paper Chase (Vol. 2)
6. Ride or Die (Vol. 2)
7. NYMP (Vol. 3)
8. Always Be My Sunshine (Vol. 1)
9. Hollywood (Kingdom Come)
10. I Know What Girls Like (Vol. 1)
Not surprisingly Vol.2 and Kingdom Come are tied for his worst albums IMO
The other Anything song is in my top 10 Jay-Z songs ironically.
@ Gee Tee
No song from BP 2 ?
Why the fuck is City is Mine on this list?
That is a good song…..
And why the fuck isn’t Sunshine on this fucking list.
Epic fail there man.
@ ThaFuck!?
Most people dislike those songs cuz da beats aren’t dat good and it wasn’t what they were expectin from Jay when he dropped Vol1 …
Personnally i can’t even listen to City is mine rite now …
@ FreeWeeze
seriously man, City Is Mine is waaaayyy better than Sunshine.
Lyrically, flow wise, and production wise.
@ ThaFuck!?
I agree with u on this one … Still da beat is average
Yeah, I’ve said my piece on City is Mine. Sunshine wasn’t that bad. The video is what really made it suck.
@ Freeweeze
For the most part I think BP2 is an ok album. After those 10 there would definitely be some songs from BP2 though. The Gift disc has the most horrible songs that I recall, Curse disc was pretty good. Hovi Baby and Fuck All Nite are amongst the worst IMO
top ten? choose any song from THE BULLSHIT 3.
ps Ride or Die is great!
“I bruise wack rap niggaz severely punish them
Especially those that get fucked for they publishing, heh
Always gotta be the weakest nigga out the crew
I probably make more money off yo’ album, than you
You see the respect I get everytime I come through
Check your own videos, you’ll always be number two
Niggaz talkin real greasy on them R&B records
but I’m platinum a million times nigga, check the credits
*S. Carter, ghost writer, and for the right price
I can even make YO’ shit tighter”
‘Nuff said.
*as sampled by Skillz
@GeeTee
Yeah, BP2 was an ok album, but the problem is dat there’re too much wack songs on it like Fuck all nite, I did it my way, Hovi baby, As one, What they gonna do …
The gift is wack but the curse is too underrated …
If it was a one cd album, it would’ve been a 18/20 album…
I really don’t think Hello Brooklyn should be on the list guys, that bass hits so heavy, how can you not like that? lol
@ Brenda
I don’t know a lot of people who love Hello Brooklyn. Most of people i know who got American Gangster just hate dat track and they don’t even listen to it, when they play da cd they skip it.
I don’t know what he wanted to do with this track, thiw shit is mad wack
@Freeweezee
The Wayne part is pretty horrible, but I’m just saying I like the beat. I didn’t at first, but it’s grown on me. I bought American Gangster and I remixed the whole thing, so maybe that’s given me an appreciation for the album more because I have seen the songs in so many different lights. I could be wrong though.
Yeah, but I love Hello, Brooklyn on the Classic Gangster mix.
Nah Thomas I wasn’t making fun of you or anything but I don’t think Ballad For The Fallen Soldier was REALLY dope imo.
I always hated Change clothes and go…seems like i’m the only one
Hello Brooklyn was atrocious, would of been my worst.
I actually really dig that Anything song with usher…that beat is hot.
@ Dash
This is da first time somebody says dat Anything is hot … Most people don’t feel it
I move hollywood up one slot. Take City Is Mine off the list and add As One from BP2.
Party Life deserves mention as well. This knee-grow quoted himself in the hook, TWICE! Unacceptable. Take Guilty til Proven Innocent off and add Me and My Girlfriend. Money Ain’t a Ting is also Basura Caliente.
10. DECEMBER 4TH TO DAMN LOUD 9. POP 4 ROC. WACK AS f#CK 8.HATE ON BP3 WHY JAY??? 7. FUCK ALL NITE 6. BALLAD FOR THE FALLIN SOLDIERS. 5. NIGGA PLEASE. 4.SO MANY HOES. 3. SUCCESS. 2. ANYTHING 1ST ONE 1.GIRLS BEST FRIEND
OH AND AS ONE. THATS 11 4 YA
damn December 4th and Success?
@ BC
I don’t know what u smokin man . Decembner 4th and Success ? Damn …
in my opinion venus vs mars has to be top 25
Venus vs Mars is my shit. This song is hot . Plus a list of 25 wack songs is too large in my opinion. I suggest u do one …
On da other hand “On to the next one” is 1 of the wackest Hov’s songs ever. I’d rather even listen to Sunshine.
Swizz Beats proved dat since 2005-2006 he’s wack as hell. Can u tell me da last time he dropped a “monster” beat? Me i can’t. He shouldn’t even be on this album …