Follow The Leader: The Many Trends Set By Jay-Z
Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter said himself that he sets the most trends. And for the most part, that may be true.
We witnessed rap music change and the hip-hop culture switch when Jay declared something cool or uncool. He made 30 sound like the new 20, and made fans embrace producers and artists we had never heard of. A co-sign from Hov goes a long way.
Take a look at some of the influential moves made both on and off record by a cultural icon and arguably the most consistent rap artist ever.
Platinum Jewelry
On one song, “Imaginary Player,” Hov set the record straight and set a standard for the industry. If you claimed you had money, forget the gold and rock platinum. Even if his records weren’t platinum yet he proclaimed he was, “Wearing that platinum Shyte when all y’all chicks thought it was silver…”
Louis Roederer Cristal Champagne
“I was popping that Cristal back when a lot of y’all niggas thought it was beer…” We saw it early in his videos, he praised it on his songs, after awhile he figured out they were racists and took his business elsewhere building his own brand of champagne, Ace Of Spades.
The Whips
If you knew what a Range Rover 4.0 was, in 1997 you may not have known the price differential between a 4.0 and a 4.6. Until you saw Jay break it down in his video that the 30k difference separated the ballers from the frauds. Couple that with, “We don’t drive X5s we give ’em to baby mamas” from “Show You How To Do This” and Hov literally affected the motor industry.
No Pen aka The Rain Man
Supposedly Biggie didn’t use a pen either but we got to see firsthand during Jay’s Fade To Black film what it was like for him to go in the booth without writing words to complete a song.
Since then, everyone from Kanye to Ja Rule claims they don’t need paper, they just think the rhymes. We didn’t care about rap construction before the “rain man.”
Fashion
Who knew that rappers had so much of an effect on what people wear? Jigga rocked jerseys representing different cities where he was performing during the Hard Knock Life Tour and a jersey revolution began.
Throwback jerseys took over the industry until Jay declared, “I don’t wear jerseys, I’m 30 plus, gimme a crisp pair of jeans N***a, button-ups…”
Jay also switched it up to cardigans and rosary necklaces after being the first rapper with his own sneaker endorsement deal with Reebok.
Soul Sound
Sure people had flipped soul samples before but Hov’s Blueprint LP showcased newcomers Just Blaze, Kanye West and Bink while making the sped-up voice soul sample the standard sound for years.
The Jays
We know there was Jam Master Jay and LL Cool J before him, but after Jay-Z, a whole mess of “Jays” started popping up. This isn’t necessarily a trend but it says something about his star power. He even signed a few of them. Maybe Jay Rock and Jay Sean might get a second look as well.
DOA
So he didn’t kill Autotunes. He made a valiant effort to thwart the forces of the vocal effect that plagued the sound of music for a few years. He did slow down the fad a tad bit and maybe halted some new Autotuners from surfacing.
