No he did, and I still think it's weird that he did but there's other rappers that mention God or spirituality a lot but get no s*** for it

Well there's a difference between "undertones" like that poster said and when it actually feels like it's being shoved down your throat which is how JIK and AWT made some ppl feel (I like both albums tho)

pretty much this

But was it really shove down ur throat on Awt or even act 2 ?

The difference between awt and JIK, is that jik is a full on gospel album EVERY lyrics is about christianity, while awt just has Islamic undertones and references that people exaggerate "he only talks about islam....one dimensional"

I think theres like 2-3 verses on awt that could be considered fully about Islam if even that

Well it's presented as the main theme through the album art and Farrakhan on the intro. That was enough to alienate some listeners but I'm sure Jay already expected that.

I mean I guess but by listening to this album, the takeaway shouldn't have been "he only talks about religion" like some of these posters itt are saying

I agree. I think the point of AWT was to give thanks to the Nation for getting him thru some tough times. I think it’s pretty Introspective tho.

Jay E falls in that category where what his raps sound better than they actually are when you actually look at what he's saying. he's not a bad rapper by any means and he's certainly up there but he's a lot better at presentation than he is actually substance. i also personally think Killah Priest is far better in terms of the same topics Jay E is covering so I can't even give him credit for that.
it's like, I like DOOM a lot, but i'd honestly put him in a similar category where the flow and rhyming technically is better than it is actually is on a rapping level. Aesop Rock is kinda similar here where it's technically impressive especially on a skill level but the actual substance doesn't always match how cool or exaggerated it sounds.
people like Nas aside where Illmatic is basically indisputable lyrically or others like Andre 3K who are also virtually indisuptable as like at minimum top 5, i'd say the best lyricists of all time are like Ka and Billy Woods. I also think other contenders could be like Black Thought and GZA.
The problem to me is you also get into weird categories when you talk about "Greatest Rapper" like what does it actually include? Flow like Ghost Face? Storytelling like Slug? Discography like Kendrick or Kanye? Influence like 2Pac?

Even if Jay E got salty after the reception of the song (not just the yt comments) everyone said how underrated his verse was because 1. Kendrick name dropped a bunch of rappers and 2. It's Big Sean's song and he had the intro. Imo if Kendrick didn't name drop the consensus would be that he had the worst verse, and I agree with it.

Jay put his verse on Control first. Kendrick came out firing because he heard it

I just dont think this is true at all lol his best songs are his best songs because of what hes saying not because of some technical skill or anything

which songs do you think are his best? I don't think he's a bad rapper or anything but i don't really get which parts of his career would qualify as the best over people with stronger traits in terms of either influence, lyricism, discog, etc.

I disagree.

I think op was mostly talking about lyricism with this thread, I'm kinda confused if it's about lyricism or the Goat rapper or best at expressing emotion but here's some songs that show his technical skills, emotion and substance, he's definitely a top tier rapper

Better in tune
DMT
Exhibit A and C
APIDTA
Voodo Man
FYI
Because he broke the rules
Life on mars
Prayer for michael Vick and ti
The announcement
Dear moleskine

OP a wrong liar

I'd go with Better In Tune as clearly his best

Then Dear Moleskine

APIDTA

Act 1, verse on to me, to u. I mean honestly theres a ton to me. I'll go through and put together a list soon

No one who listened to what he is saying would say that its just about islam. They must have heard Arabic words and said it's all about islam. The album is not about Islam at all. There isnt even 1 verse dedicated to Islam lol, there are just references here and there and some Arabic words.

Exactly what I'm saying his references to islam is very much similar to how so many other rappers reference religion/spirituality
The only verse I can see is part of fruits of the spirit, and the beginning of his verse on flux capacitor

he has like the best beat selection ever

I think it was but it wasn’t because of Jay Elect. It was hov basically mentioning Islam in every one of his verses. Just sounded like a reach in some ways. S

OP is correct

Honestly this is the only song I can think of when jay elect was rapping wild s***...but that was intentional hence the song title and themes.

Still slaps to me

24 pages into this thread, has anyone posted any of his top tier bars?

his debut album is him getting slapped around by Hov

YOUNG!

But even then it's not like hov is rapping the islamic version of "god is" or something it's just some slick references