Jay Z = Unoriginal...

[Diesel]

I don't have a Jay-Z album and I'm not really a Jay Z fan. I heard his grammy nominated song 99 problems. I said it was a take off from something Ice-T (the actor) did in 1992 called 99 problems.. Well, the rabbit hole goes farther than that. A hiphop head shared this list with me.

--Jay-z on Squeeze First

"That's why I, squeeze first ask quesions last. That's how most of these so called gangstas pass"

Biggie smalls on Hypnotize

"That's why I, squeeze first ask quesions last. That's how most of these so called gangstas pass"

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Big L (RIP) on the 7 minute 95' freestyle with Jigga

"All I got for chicks is hard dic*k and bubble gum"

jay-z on A Million and One Questions

"All I got for chicks is hard dic*k and bubble gum"

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jay-z (takeover)

"Get zipped up in plastic when it happens that's it"

Dre on the 2001 LP..

"You get zipped up in plastic when it happens that's it"

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Jay-Z (give it to me)

"When the Remi's in the system, ain't no tellin

Will I fuc*k 'em will I diss 'em, that's what they be yellin

I'm a pimp by blood, not relation

Y'all be chasin, I replace them, huh?

Drunk off Crist"

Biggie: (the world is filled)

"When the Remi's in the system, ain't no tellin

Will I fuc*k em will I diss em, that's what these hoes yellin

I'm a pimp by blood, not relation

Y'all still chase on, I'll replace on, punks

Drunk of Dom"

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Jay-Z: (squeeze first)

"That's why I, squeeze first ask quesions last

That's how most of these so called gangstas pass"

Biggie: (hypnotize)

"That's why I, squeeze first ask quesions last

That's how most of these so called gangstas pass"

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Jay-Z: (- "Squeeze 1st" )

"thou shalt not fuc*k with raw me, or he

Face a thousand deaths...

Biggie: (- "Who Shot Ya" )

"Thou shalt not fuc*k with raw C-Poppa

Feel a thosand deaths...

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Jay-Z: (- "Friend or Foe 98" )

"Do me a favor dude, get 2 ice cubes I pass them

Take that ice up, for the nicest MC"

Biggie: (- "Unbelievable" )

"Get ready to die, tell God I said hi

And throw down some ice, for the nicest MC"

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Jay-Z: (- "The Ruler's Back" )

"Your reign on the top was shorter than leprechauns"

Biggie: (-"Kick in The Door" )

"Your reign on the top was shorter than leprechauns"

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Jay-Z: (-"Girls...RMX" )

"isn't this great, my flight leaves at eight

her flight lands at nine, my game just rewinds"

Biggie: (- "One More Chance" )

"isn't this great, my flight leaves at eight

her flight lands at nine, my game just rewinds"

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Jay-Z: (real nig*gaz)

"On the road to riches and diamond rings

Real niqqaz do real things"

Biggie: (real nig*gas)

"On the road to riches and diamond rings

Real niqqaz do real things"

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Jay-Z: (- "Frestyle" )

"Old school, new school need to know this

I burn like Left Eye Lisa Lopez"

Biggie: (- "Who Shot Ya" )

"Old school new school need to learn though

I burn baby burn like Disco Inferno"

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Jay: (- Is That Yo B1tch )

"I don't chase em I duck em I replace em"

Biggie: (- One More Chance )

"I don't chase em I replace em"

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JIGGA: (jigga my ©˜©˜©˜©˜©˜)

"From the crap tables down in A.C.

back on the block Jay-Z motherfuc*ker from the, the, the Roc

Went solo on that ass but it´s still the same

Brooklyn be the place where I serve them thangs

...You heard the name"

"he is I, and I am him

Slim with the tilted brim on twenty inch rims"

SNOOP: (Who Am I -What's My Name?-)

"From the depths of the sea, back to the block

Snoop Doggy Dogg, funky as the, the, The D.O.C

Went solo on that ass, but it´s still the same

Long Beach is the spot where I served my cane

...what's my mother****in name"

"He is I, and I am him, slim with the tilted brim"

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Jay: (bonnie Clyde 03)

"All I need in this world of sin is me and my girlfriend"

2pac: (-Me and my girlfriend )

"All I need in this world of sin is me and my girlfriend"

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jay: (never change )

From the womb to the tomb, from now until my doom

Drink army from one cup pass it around the room,

That's the ritual

Nas: ( verbal Intercourse )

From the womb to the tomb, presume the unpredictable

Guns salute life, rapidly, that's the ritual -

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BIGGIE

"i fuc*ked this girl, ate a ham sandwich and managed/

to damage like jeru, hey you, let's fuc*k, i like boners"

JAY-Z

"i fuc*ked this bit*ch, ate a spam manwich and managed/

to dama-ja like nero, hey you, let's fuc*k, i like ****"

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Jigga:

"Thug Nig*ga till the end, tell a friend, bitc*h"

Biggie:

"Thug nig*ga till the end, tell a friend, bitc*h"

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2pac

"im from the cuty where tha skinny niqqaz die"

jay-z (bp2)

"im from the cuty where tha skinny niqqaz die"

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2pac

"my attitude is fuc*k it, and muthafucaz love it"

jay-z (bp2)

"my attitude is fuc*k it, and muthafucaz love it"

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2pac

"this is payback, i knew you bitc*h niqqaz from way back.."

jay-z (bp2)

"this is payback, i knew you bitc*h niqqaz from way back.."

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Mase

"Why you over here looking at me, while my girl standing here"

jay-z

"Why you over here lookin at me, while all these girls up in here"

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Biggie

"It was all a dream"

Jay-z

"It was all a dream"

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Nas

"The rap version of sisqo"

Jay-z

"The rap version of T.D. Jakes"

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Notorious B.I.G.

"Aint no other kings in this rap think they siblings"

Jay-z

"Aint no other kings in this rap thing, ya kiddin"

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Notorious B.I.G.

"Kick In The Door waving the 4x4 all I heard was biggie i dont want it no more"

Jay-z

"Kick In The Door waving the 4x4 all I heard was jigga i dont want it no more"

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Notorious B.I.G.

"I see some ladies tonight that should be having my baby.. baby."

Jay-z

"I see some ladies tonight that should be rollin wit Jay-Z, Jay-Z"

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Nas

"Somehow the rap game reminds me of the crack game"

Jay-Z

"Somehow the rap game reminds me of the crack game"

"Rocafella is a army, better yet the navy/niccas will kidnap your baby spit at your lady"-Jay-Z

"Cash Money is a army, better yet the Navy/so if you ever playa hate me for you, it aint gravy"-BG

"in these times, atleast to me, theres alot of rappers out there tryin to sound like jay -z" - jigga

"in these times, atleast to me, theres alot of rappers out there tryin to sound like ricky d." - slick rick

"Competition is none, I remain at the top like the sun..."

- jay-z, "s. carter"

"Competition is none, I remain at the top like the sun..."

- rakim, "no competition"

How Unorigianl is that?

He's made Millions of Dollars off of others backs.... Is there a copyright or something in rap?

[chillzatl]

by the other artists. It's hard to say, but the examples you gave were pretty damned close to being blatant plagerism.

But c'mon, whether you're a rap fan or not, it's hard to dispute that 95% of the "music" they put is out a blatant rip-off of something someone else already did. That's why I find it so hard to consider rappers as musicians and respect their talent on the same level as traditional musicians. Guys like 50cent, jay-z, etc, these guys are hailed as geniuses for doing nothing more than taking the same beats/samples/synths that techno artists were pumping out for nearly a decade, slowing them down and devising catchy new slang words to replace the old, played out slang words. That's not art, that's recycling someone elses talent for your profit

that's why I tend to lump it in the same catagory as techno/dance music. It's fun, catchy, entertaining and great to dance to in the clubs. But it's hard to consider it music that's worthy of artistic praise.

That's not to say that there aren't rappers that are doing something different. But it seems that more often than not, those people/groups aren't considered "real" by the rap community at large.

[Diesel]

I think that there are some orignal guys in to that hip hop.. I think that some of the ways that many of the artist tell a story is very much genius. If Stevie Wonder is genius then some of the stuff these guys put out is genius too.

And I understand that there has always been remakes of old beats... remastered sounds. Honestly, you have to get it from somewhere. They call it sampling and for some reason, Sampling is legal or there's a legal way to sample.

But to steal lines as often as it seems Jay-Z does it makes me question his originality. I mean I know that the guy can rhyme hat and cat and that together but many of the rhymes that he probably got famous from is a total rip off of something that someone else said. So when you mix hat, that, and rat with your reign on top was short like leprechuns... then it makes you wonder... Is he to be considered Genius like these other guys or is he a guy that got just famous enough for people to excuse his habit of stealing from others and calling it "paying homage".

If you took it to the world of Poetry...

If Maya Angelo all the sudden wanted to use some of Gwendolynn Brooks poetry to start hers and passed it off as hers and when asked about it said, "well I was just paying homage" She would be outcasted from the poetry world. All the sudden investigations would go into all of her works to see if there was some unheard from genius that she had stole from he never got the credit.

I would say the same should be seen from Jay-Z.

[Plainview1981]

Welcome to the world of today's mainstream music. Funny

thing is that now I think bands like Linkin Park are

worse. Crying little b*tches. People used to be pick

on country for being whiney... Try today's mainstream

rock scene.