jay-z - izzo (hova) / jadakiss - we gonna make it

inseparable for me, as club smash summer jams which both use the 'glorious soul loop + "what i represent" lyrics = anthem' equation. jigga drops ultra-quotable, ultra-confident, self-justifying fuck-you rhymes, although the mood is less decadent than big pimpin' or i just wanna love u. i think this may be why it swaggers more than that stuff: it sounds like he loves having to prove his street credentials again, that he still has a connection to the life before success after spending a while bloating his lyrics with the present. this works out as more inclusive, easier to identify with than a lot of tracks from the past. and the chorus is catchy as all fuck! (nb: let's all stop with this 'new sinatra' shit, it's fucking pointless and dull.)

jadakiss is a terrible rapper by comparison, but not even he (plus fellow lox man stylez) can ruin the incredible alchemist-produced beat on we gonna make it. it sounds like french nu-disco at rap tempo, adding a tinge of sadness to jada and stylez's high-life shtick, the repeated "we gon' make it" of the chorus becoming desperate and a little bit scary. (to be fair to jada, i do like the way he lands on. the. beat. occasionally.) its also worth pointing out that when played at serious volume in a club its the hugest-sounding thing i've ever heard (ok, second to the am to pm remix).

key moments: "i do this for my culture/to let 'em know what a nigga look like, when a nigga in a roaster/show 'em how to move in a room full of vultures/industry shady it need to be taken over" - "fuck... the.. frail shit/cuz when my coke come in/they gotta use the scales that they weigh the whales with"