Disco de Jay-Z: “Best of Both Worlds [Clean]”

Jay-Z, R. Kelly & Trackmasters - a formula which has proven to be successful in the past ("Fiesta Remix", "Guilty Until Proven Innnocent"). And now a whole album of 13 potential smash hits? What could possibly go wrong? Well, the problem with this piece of work is that all songs just sound the same due to the weak production by Trackmasters. You'll get tired of it very quickly. Yes, the beats are probably the biggest weakpoint of "Best of Both Worlds".

Speaking of which... The best of both worlds? Definitively not from the hiphop world. Jay-Z's rhymes are too simple and his flow lacks the certain something. After his epic debut "Reasonable Doubt", his follow-ups were plain wack. With his latest solo album "The Blueprint" though, he came back with a vengeance. So expectations for his appearance on this collabo were high and he couldn't fulfill them at all.

R. Kelly on the other hand does a pretty good job. His voice never sounded better and his pseudo-gangster-flow is pleasing to the ear. Unfortunatly, this isn't enough to save the record. The best cuts are "Take You Home With Me A.K.A. Body" and "Break Up To Make Up"; "Somebody's Girl" is o.k. - The rest, well, don't mention it.

So don't cop this one and save your money, unless you're a die-hard fan of R. Kelly or Jay-Z.

Sometimes it's better to not even bother to figure out with Jay-Z is thinking. Such is true when he teams up with R. Kelly for The Best of Both Worlds. This whole album is just a crime. Calling R. Kelly the best in R&B is a joke, and Jay's lyrics come off as some of the worst heard in hip hop.

Where does one start? Maybe at the Intro. It's good. In fact, it's the best song on the album, which says something about the quality of this disc. It's obvious that this album is targetted towards the club girls, but that is no excuse for how bad this album is. The problem with this CD is how absolutely shallow it is. It sounds like Jay did his lyrics for this entire album in 1 sitting, and R. Kelly is laughable. One listen to Naked and you'll understand.

So why is this album not worthy of 1 star? The Intro, It Ain't Personal, and Streets are all good songs. They aren't great, but compared to the rest of the album, they're gems.

It doesn't matter how big of a Jay-Z fan you are, do not buy this album. Nobody deserves to be put through the torture of hearing this, nonetheless pay for it.

There aren't many Rap albums that are so bland and unlistenable like this failed collaboration project really is. Both of the artists who were involved in this flop are talented, too bad none of it is shown on this CD. Every song is just totally awful. Avoid this album. If you like Jay Z, Get "The Blueprint" or "Hard Knock Life" instead. For R.Kelly, brushing aside the legal problem, get "12 Play" and "T2.com" instead. "Best Of Both Worlds" is just [bad]. Jay Z and R. Kelly are both better than this! End of story!

This comes from a fan who has followed R. Kelly from Public Announcement and Jay-Z from Reasonable Doubt. This could have been the stuff of legend, a collaboration for the ages. Instead, we get a preproduced package album with unimaginative beats and even weaker lyrics. What should have been a groundbreaking album, turned out to be two established hip-hop heavyweights treading over the familiar ground of Cristal, Money, and the pull of the female anatomy. Take a pass on this one and hope for better things to come.

The Best of Both Worlds is a corporate label's wet dream. Both Shawn Carter (Jay-Z) and Robert Kelly (R. Kelly), have proven themselves to be the best at their art at the current time. Hence, this LP's title. Unfortunately, if you are extremely familiar with both artists' work, it's quite easy to see both could have created a better album than this one. But nonetheless, this album shines. From the dramatice opening song (The Best of Both Worlds), to the playful closing ending (P_s_y). Once listening to the entire LP, it's plainly evident that these two talented brothers had fun creating this music. The best track without a doubt is "Take You Home With Me a.k.a. Body". The latter demonstrates Jay-Z's creative, witty word play that has made him the great lyricist that he is today, and also showcases R. Kelly's ability to make just about every song he is involved with a hit. "P_s_y", which graces us with a playful appearance by Devin the Dude, is what sexy, explicit, hip-hop songs are all about. "Somebody's Girl" leads us to assume how successfully Jigga can make up a rap with ease. While other rappers struggle to make hits, S. Carter can create them so easy that it is downright scary. The same thing could be said for his counterpart, R. Kelly. Songs like "Naked" seem completely out of place as it seems like it's a left over track from Kelly's TP-2.com. "It Ain't Personal" and "Shake Your Body" are pure filler cuts. The albums one and only flaw is the production. Trackmasters are no doubt, premier producers in the hip-hop music genre, but this album makes you feel like they're uncapable of carrying an entire LP. At mid-point their production seems tiring and way familiar. It should be noted that Tone of the Trackmasters was responsible for the majority of the production. Maybe he should've let Poke have more say. A beat from The Neptunes would have been perfect for this album. Even Kanye West who was responsible for a few tracks on Jay-Z's classic, "The Blueprint", would have been a nice addition to the production on this LP. Still, you get the feeling that if Hova and Kelly would have put in that little extra effort this project would have been better. But the bottom line is, this is the final product, and it's definate satisfaction for the Jay-Z & R. Kelly fans out there. As Funkmaster Flex would say, A "Club Banger!"