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3rd on the all-time list of top-selling Rap artists (33 million+) |
1 of only 6 artists ever to have 7 singles simultaneously debut on the Billboard Hot 100 |
Record (U.S.): Most Spotify album streams ever (14 million) |
The Source 5-mic rated albums (2) |
Albums ranked in Rolling Stone‘s list of the 500 greatest albums of all-time (2) |
6. Three classic albums. |
Reasonable Doubt, |
Despite having been the first album in Jay’s discography, RD remains the standard-bearing centerpiece of a brilliant career. His subsequent efforts have mostly lived in the shadows of this iconic piece of work. At first glance, Doubt‘s track list looks like a compilation album of timeless Jay-Z records. It’s easily one of the finest debut albums in the history of the genre. Jay-Z’s first full-length project is a voyeuristic view into the tragedy and triumph of an eloquent street tale. |
The Blueprint, |
This album is arguably the next-most widely accepted classic in Jay-Z’s catalog. The musical layout of this project briefly redefined the sound of Rap music. Producers Kanye West and Just Blaze took responsibility for more than half of the album’s 13 tracks and in turn wove a magnificent audio tapestry. Jay responded in kind by returning some of the most superb songs of his musical life in “U Don’t Know”, “Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love)”, “Never Change”, and “Song Cry.” |
The Black Album, |
Jay-Z’s eighth studio album was originally slated to be the swan song for a remarkable seven-year run. At the time, TBA was the most highly-anticipated album of his career. In an effort to construct the quintessential send-off, he enlisted the help of familiar faces Rick Rubin, Timbaland, Kanye West, Just Blaze, and The Neptunes. The decorated production team composed a sterling soundtrack as the backdrop to a poignant narrative about the trajectory of Jay’s personal and artistic lives. “December 4th”, |
“What More Can I Say”, “Moment of Clarity”, “Encore”, and “Allure” are among the album’s stellar moments. The Black Album‘s sharp and introspective writing made it one of the decade’s best Rap releases. |
7. Six tools (Lyricism/Storytelling/Charisma/Flow/Versatility/Originality). |
Jay-Z has been heralded for wordsmithing throughout his career. Eminem and Nas are typically mentioned ahead of him in discussions about the genre’s greatest lyricists, but he’s always been part of the conversation. The Source ranked him 4th on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All-Time. |
Jay’s also particularly adept in the art of storytelling. His ability to craft picturesque narratives is another career calling card. Songs like “Meet the Parents”, “Friend or Foe”, and “You Must Love Me” are among the most critically lauded in the Shawn Carter collection. |
Staying power in today’s rap milieu requires likability. Only an uber-charismatic figure could’ve taken the industry-wide Auto-Tune trend to task and walked away from it virtually unscathed. “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)” worked because Jay-Z’s presence is still welcomed and appreciated in the genre. |
It’s been nearly a quarter-century since Jay-Z and Jaz O traded rapid-fire verses on “The Originators” (1990). Six years later, when RD was released, Jay had settled into a more conversational flow in the mold of Big Daddy Kane. On “Lost One” he opts to swing his verses with lilting rhythms. “Dead Presidents”, “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)”, and “Feelin’ It” are all phrased in a precise, polysyllabic way. In short, Jay-Z’s a chameleon who can adapt his cadence to practically any beat. |
Precious few emcees, in Hip Hop’s storied history, have been as even-handed as Jay-Z. The contrast between owning the record for the most Top 10s among rappers and having three classic albums is stark. It also points squarely to a continuum of artistry and commercial viability that only a smattering of his peers (or predecessors for that matter) have been able to create. |
Taken together, I believe these seven criteria form the most comprehensive and compelling “greatest rapper of all-time” argument available. There simply has never been a parallel for Jay-Z in the Rap genre. For the foreseeable future, I’m not sure anyone’s threatening to approach, let alone surpass his career legacy. Despite all of my stubborn effort, I still don’t expect you to take my word for it. Take it from the Jiggaman himself: |
I’m supposed to be #1 on everybody list…we’ll see what happens when I no longer exist. — “What More Can I Say” |
Until next time, K.I.M. (keep it moving)! |
“Punk is dead” is a phrase heard several times throughout We Are the Best!, but it’s certainly not true for pre-teen girls Bobo (Mira Barkhammar) and Klara (Mira Grosin). The film takes place during 1982 in Stockholm, a time when people started moving toward bands like Joy Division or The Human League. Bobo and Klara, on the other hand, refuse to give up on punk, sporting mohawks and androgynous looks. When a hair metal band makes fun of the two girls for their looks, they get revenge by booking out the |
band’s practice space at a local rec centre. Bobo & Klara play around with some instruments and, despite having no musical background, decide to form a band. |
There isn’t much of a narrative to Lukas Moodysson’s film, but why should there? Bobo and Klara form their band on a whim, and the film carries itself with the same kind of free-wheeling sense of spontaneity. It isn’t long before a third member, the long-haired Christian student Hedvig (Liv LeMoyne), gets recruited into the band. Hedvig is, like Bobo & Klara, an outcast at school, but her excellent guitar playing skills help the band’s only song (a track dedicated to their gym teacher called “Hate Sport”) |
form into something cohesive. |
Moodysson, adapting his wife Coco’s graphic novel Never Goodnight, avoids falling into the usual traps plaguing childhood drama/coming of age tales through his decidedly undramatic approach. These are 12 to 13-year-old girls after all, and while they have problems nothing is given enough dramatic weight to detract from the core relationship between Bobo, Klara & Hedvig. That isn’t to say the film doesn’t touch on big topics; Bobo deals with her parents’ divorce along with her own insecurities, boys threaten |
to tear the band apart, and there’s even time for a religious debate when Klara teases Hedvig about her beliefs. These events are never life-changing on their own, but cumulatively end up defining these girls as they begin to grow older. |
But for the brief time Moodysson looks at his trio of young punks, he keeps it light. For all of the girls’ cursing, fighting and rebellious attitudes, there’s still a sense of youthful innocence to everything they do. Their punk song is nothing more than a protest against gym class, their relationships nothing more than holding hands with a boy they like. While the girls may have political views (especially Klara), their attraction to punk is more about defiant rebellion against the status quo. By |
showcasing so many innocent acts of protest, Moodysson might have just made one of the best definitions of punk on film. |
The childlike innocence found throughout We Are the Best! owes quite a lot to Barkhammar, Grosin and LeMoyne. Barkhammar and Grosin have a friendliness to them beneath their intimidating looks, a quality where they’re more than happy to befriend anyone on their side. LeMoyne initially joins the band out of a need for friendship, eventually developing into the glue holding their band and friendship together. All three actresses, amazingly making their debuts, are so effortless and natural in their roles it |
lends a documentary feel to the film. Moodysson’s film is hard to dislike, and while it puts more emphasis on the light in light-hearted, We Are The Best! is time well spent. |
We Are The Best trailer |
Pierce Manufacturing is recalling 135 fire trucks in the U.S. because a suspension part can fail and cause a wheel to fall off. |
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in documents posted on its website this weekend that the recall covers Pierce Arrow fire trucks from the 2010 and 2011 model years. The trucks have TAK-4 front suspensions and were built from Nov. 18, 2009, through May 11, 2011. |
The agency began investigating the trucks in March after getting reports of a wheel falling off two aerial ladder trucks that were responding to emergency calls in Portland, Oregon, and Edmond, Oklahoma. The Wisconsin-based company also told the agency of another case in Milwaukee. |
Pierce will inspect the lower control arms on the trucks and replace any that are defective. |
The Mariners enter the offseason with two first basemen projected to earn a combined $13.2MM – Mark Trumbo and Logan Morrison. Ten days ago, it was reported that the club may wish to winnow down to just one. Both Trumbo and Morrison can fake it in the outfield, but new GM Jerry Dipoto prefers athletic outfielders. In other words, there may not be a place for both guys. |
Trumbo has battled injury over the last couple seasons and will earn about $9.1MM in his final spin through arbitration. Still, it seems unlikely that the team would non-tender him. He hit .263/.316/.419 with 13 home runs in 361 plate appearances after the M’s acquired him mid-season. While a non-tender would be shocking, a trade can almost be expected. After all, Dipoto already dealt Trumbo once while with the Angels. |
As for Morrison, there are two considerations that could decide his future with the Mariners – does Seattle keep Trumbo, and do they think Morrison warrants a role. He didn’t do much for his stock this by hitting .225/.302/.383 last season. Over the last four seasons, he’s totaled negative 0.1 WAR according to FanGraphs. However, his best season was in 2014 (1.1 WAR). Management could hope last year’s success was a better representation of his talent. |
His poor numbers are partially due to mismanagement. Against right-handed pitching, he slashed .241/.323/.444 (112 wRC+) with all 17 of his home runs. Fellow southpaws owned him yet he was allowed to hit 155 times against same-handed pitching. |
As a point of comparison, Brewers slugger Adam Lind only had 112 plate appearances against lefties even though he had 61 more plate appearances than Morrison on the season. Lind had a much larger role with his club than Morrison so there’s really no reason for Morrison to see more lefties. |
It’s worth pointing out that Morrison did have reverse platoon splits in 2014, but those depended upon a .389 BABIP. The reverse splits were also responsible for his career best performance last season. Research has shown that reverse splits are almost always illusory and do not correlate to future production. With this information in hand, it’s tempting to conclude that his 2014 campaign was an outlier. |
Based on FanGraphs’ WAR model, his $4.1MM arbitration projection would equate to a little over half a win on the free agent market. In other words, he’s expected to be paid like a bench player. If he’s used correctly by his next manager, he could easily earn his keep. The bigger problem is constructing a division-winning roster around him if he’s used as a starter. If Morrison isn’t starting, it’s not a stretch to suggest that the roster spot would be better filled by somebody like Jesus Montero. That would |
also free up about $3.5MM for other purposes like shoring up the bullpen. |
The deadline to tender a contract in early December could work in Morrison’s favor. If the club hopes to sign Chris Davis, they probably won’t yet know where they stand. Similarly, Korean star Byung-ho Park may not even be posted by that time. The other “big” names on the free agent market include Mike Napoli, Kelly Johnson, Steve Pearce, Chris Parmelee, and Justin Morneau (if his $9MM mutual option is declined). Of course, Morrison’s likeliest rival is Trumbo. And the club may ultimately choose to keep |
both players or discard Morrison regardless of the alternatives. |
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, ICANN, has released the full list of the companies bidding on new personalisable top level domains, known as generic TLDs (gTLD). These take the place of the ".com" in a url, and allow companies to have websites at addresses like "video.youtube" or "gameofthrones.hbo". |
Any company bidding on a domain name has to pay a non-refundable $185,000, and if there are multiple bidders, ICANN will assess them on "technical merits" and may hold an auction. Winners are then also obliged to pay high annual fees to the corporation. |
Not every company bid on domain names using their own name. Google, for instance, has already revealed that it is bidding on names like .youtube and .lol, but on the ICANN document the bidder for those names shows up as "Charleston Road registry", and it is difficult to tell whether this is a Google shell or a company bidding for multiple domains for multiple clients. |
Some of the companies that did bid for domains are below: |
Guardian News and Media ltd bid for .gdn, .guardian, .guardianmedia, .observer, and .theguardian. Total cost: $925,000. |
Amazon EU bid for 76 names, including .app, .author, .book, .cloud, .drive, .fast, .hot, .jot, .joy, .kindle, .like, .mail, .new, .shop, .smile and .zero, at a total cost of $14.06m |
The British Broadcasting Corporation bid for .bbc. Cost: $185,000 |
Apple inc. bid for .apple. Cost: $185,000 |
Wal-Mart stores bid for .一号店, .asda, .george, .grocery, .samsclub and .walmart. Total cost: $1.11m |
Nominet UK (the UK's registrar, responsible for the .uk TLD) bid for .wales and .cymru at a cost of $370,000 |
Hasbro international bid for .transformers, cost $185,000 |
Microsoft corporation bid for 11 names, including .azure, .bing, .windows, .skype and .xbox. Cost: $2.035m |
Sony, through three subsidiaries, bid for .playstation, .sony and .xperia. Cost: $555,000 |
Ladbrokes bid on .bet and .ladbrokes, costing $370,000. |
Uniregistry, corp bid on 55 names including .sexy, .hiphop, .christmas, .pizza, .tattoo and .yoga. It cost $10.175m |
To the shock of European leaders, President-elect Donald Trump has reiterated his attack on NATO as "obsolete." He's right. The U.S. once created military alliances to advance its own security. These days, however, Washington treats them like social organizations, which every nation should be invited to join, irrespective of qualification. |
So it was with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s vote last week to admit Montenegro, a quaint but geopolitically irrelevant Balkan state, into NATO. If the measure is approved by the full Senate, Americans will have yet another essentially useless defense dependent, this one a corrupt, long-time one-party gangster state. Quite a model for future alliance expansion. |
NATO was established to shield war-ravaged Western Europe from the Soviet menace after the end of World War II. However, Dwight Eisenhower warned against turning the alliance into a welfare program, with the Europeans forever dependent on U.S. defense subsidies. Alas, his successors didn’t listen and today a continent with a larger population and economy than America skimps on its own military while expecting Americans to come to its aid whenever the slightest problem arises. Truly the U.S. dominated |
alliance is "obsolete." |
It was bad enough that Washington felt the need to protect larger, wealthier European nations. But after the collapse of the Soviet Union NATO acted like a gentleman’s club which every civilized European state wanted to join. Thus entered former Warsaw Pact nations and Soviet republics, extending the alliance up to Russia’s borders. That included Poland and the Baltic States, all essentially irrelevant to the security of the rest of the continent and the latter almost indefensible, at least at reasonable |
cost, as the U.S. and other Europeans finally have come to recognize. |
More recent proposals to bring in Georgia and Ukraine suggested that Washington had gone slightly mad. The two prospective members would offer nothing to America’s defense but would bring along potential conflicts with nuclear-armed Russia. Both would be security black holes, almost all obligation and no benefit. (Small military contingents offered for misguided U.S. interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq are no recompense for confronting a nuclear-armed power in its neighborhood over interests it considers |
to be vital.) |
What now? While tossing out members mistakenly inducted, like the Baltics, would be difficult, Washington should at least stop adding members who add nothing to America’s security. |
But the alliance, whose bureaucratic interest is to ever expand, even to the detriment of its members’ actual security, has invited Montenegro to join. It is a postage stamp country with about enough people for one U.S. congressional district. Montenegro deserves its own novel, like the fictional Duchy of Grand Fenwick in The Mouse that Roared. But Podgorica shouldn’t be part of NATO. |
Montenegro’s advocates attempted to rush its inclusion through the lame duck session, but were blocked by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kty) and others. Now, like horror villain Freddy Krueger, NATO membership back. Again, the Senate’s usual hawks are attempting to wave the duchy lookalike through before Donald Trump is inaugurated. After all, there is a chance that he would put America’s security ahead of that of Montenegro and kill the move. |
What is the case for adding Podgorica to America’s lengthy defense dole? Rather hilariously, the Heritage Foundation headlined a recent study “Support for Montenegro’s Accession to NATO Would Send a Message of Strength.” Yes, it would be tragic if the U.S. and entire European continent had to face the Russian hordes without Montenegro at their side. |
The duchy, er, country has 2080 men under arms. To transport them are eight, count them, eight armored personnel carriers, and seven operational helicopters. But NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg discerned that “Montenegro has some military capabilities which are important also to NATO.” Apparently all those years of declining European defense spending finally had an effect, leaving the rest of Europe dependent on Podgorica! |
Seriously, if the West’s survival depends on Montenegro’s inclusion in NATO, we should all be heading for the bunkers. And any capabilities which the country develops are likely to be paid for by American taxpayers with funds to upgrade the Montenegrin legions. If America and Montenegro step forth to conquer the world, it will be in a fantasy movie, not a reality show. |
If rebuffed by NATO, it has been argued, Grand Fenwick, er, Montenegro might offer Russia a naval base on the Adriatic. Such an inconstant partner would be a dubious treaty ally. Exactly what the inferior Russian navy would do with such a base is not evident. And such a facility, surrounded by NATO members and on waters dominated by NATO members, would be even less defensible than the Baltics. |
If not useful for military purposes, is there any other reason to bring Podgorica into NATO? Last year Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael R. Carpenter testified that Montenegro shared the alliance’s “values of democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law.” It was a unintentionally comedic performance. Whatever Podgorica’s virtues, reflecting the best of the West is not one. |
For instance, last year the group Freedom House rated Montenegro as only “partly free” in political rights and civil liberties. And the trend was down. Civil liberties took a particular hit “due to restrictions on the freedom of peaceful assembly.” There also were concerns “about the independence of the judiciary and the public broadcaster, as well as numerous failures to effectively prosecute past attacks against media workers.” Moreover, Freedom House cited “indirect censorship.” Corruption is a major |
problem, yet “NGOs that investigate corruption or criticize the government face pressure.” |
In its 2015/2016 report, Amnesty International stated: “Threats and attacks against independent media and journalists continued: few perpetrators were brought to justice. Police used excessive force during mass protests organized by opposition parties.” There was unlawful surveillance of critical NGOs. |
Finally, the State Department put out a 42-page report last year assessing Montenegro’s human rights practices. While plenty of nations are worse, Podgorica is hardly a winner in the democracy sweepstakes. |
State noted “voting irregularities and a state-party confluence that undermined popular confidence.” Corruption was pervasive, “characterized by impunity, political favoritism, nepotism, and selective prosecution of political and societal opponents.” The situation confronting journalists was deteriorating. “There were also governmental and quasi-official attacks on leaders of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in government-controlled media.” Minorities suffered “discrimination and societal violence.” |
Finally, noted State: “Other human rights problems included impunity for war crimes, mistreatment by law enforcement officers of persons in their custody, overcrowded and dilapidated prisons and pretrial detention facilities, violations of the right to peaceful assembly,” and more. |
Alas, Montenegro has gained the reputation of a “mafia state.” Analyst James Nadeau reported that the long-serving Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, who stepped down after the last election but remains influential, had a “long history of corrupt and criminal activity.” Some uncharitable observers called him “Mr. Ten Percent.” |
On his way out of the Oval Office President Barack Obama argued that Podgorica’s inclusion would “demonstrate to other countries in the Balkans and beyond that NATO’s door remains open.” But that frankly is a stupid message inconsistent with U.S. security. The Balkans is irrelevant to U.S. security and only indirectly relevant to the protection of Europe. European peoples worry far more about migrants streaming through the Balkans than recent hatreds reigniting. And the Balkan wars always were more about |
tragedy than security. Since America should not take on Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Serbia as defense dependents, there is no reason to send the message that the membership door is open. |
Instead, Washington should declare that Europe’s cheap ride is over and the U.S. no longer will add nations to NATO like most people accumulate Facebook friends. However attractive Montenegro might be to filmmakers—it provided the setting for the James Bond reboot Casino Royale—Podgorica should be told to concentrate on fixing its domestic affairs and preparing for European Union membership. |
Most likely the Obama administration is using Montenegro to strike at Moscow. Carpenter argued: “Montenegro’s NATO membership will be a powerful rebuke to Russia’s malign influence in the Western Balkans and demonstrate that no country has a veto over NATO’s decision to admit new members.” |
Actually, adding Montenegro is a losing hand for the West. The action is laughable on military grounds and would not enhance U.S. or NATO capabilities. Russia’s armed services certainly would not be bothered. |
But the proposed move demonstrates continuing hostility toward Moscow. That won’t make America safer. Indeed, it is positively foolish for Washington to seemingly validate the security concerns of a power which allied officials claim threatens to harm America and Europe. |
Donald Trump has rightly described NATO as “obsolete” and criticized the cheap-riding Europeans. The Senate should resist the Neoconservative rush to stifle debate and allow the incoming administration to reconsider the issue of Montenegro’s membership. |
The American people desperately need someone in Washington who cares about defending them, rather than making them forever protect other nations, especially those which won’t bother with their own defense. The transatlantic alliance shouldn’t include the Balkan mouse. |
After a roller-coaster year, it seemed like 2017 was going to end on a serious down note for Apple. As millions of people were unwrapping their fancy new iPhone Xes on Christmas morning, thousands of users with older phones were signing on to class action lawsuits following reports that the company was purposefully slowing down older handsets to save battery life. |
iPhone users have long accused Apple of forcing older handsets into obsolescence as new models arrive. After a Reddit post detailed a systematic slowdown on older iPhones that began with iOS 10.2.1, Apple conceded that it was indeed throttling iPhones with older batteries in an effort to “deliver the best experience for customers.” In plain English, that means sacrificing power and performance for longer battery life. |
While that explanation might make technical sense, it didn’t sit well with many users. For one, Apple admitted it was purposefully slowing down handsets that were barely three years old. But more importantly, Apple only came clean after independent investigation, giving the whole situation an air of underhanded secrecy. Following a series of serious and embarrassing bugs in iOS and macOS, it was a rotten cherry on top of a melting pool of ice cream. |
But in a note on its website just before the new year, Apple plainly and clearly explained what it was doing with performance throttling, why it was doing it, and how it would make it up to unhappy users. In less than 800 words, Apple may have swung the pendulum back to good vibes. |
Act of contrition |
Apple’s “Message to Our Customers about iPhone Batteries and Performance” is straight out of Steve Jobs’s playbook. Reminiscent of “Thoughts on Flash” and “Thoughts on Music,” the battery memo lays out a problem that affects the entire industry and explains the decisions Apple made to mitigate it. |
Blair Hanley Frank/IDG A new battery will let you play Pokemon Go on your iPhone 6 for longer. |