Pitchfork

The aspirational lifestyle always agreed with Jay-Z. When he said "I'm rapin' Def Jam 'til I'm the $100 million man" on 2001's "U Don't Know", we threw fists up, knowing deep down he wasn't balling like that. Now, during Dr. Dre's mild "30 Something", we politely nod. That movement, asserting the affirmative, is antithetical to Hov's ideology-- hustle-then-move, mean and vicious. He's not a businessman or a business, man. He's the establishment, resting on laurels, hush-rapping his way through the trenches populated by "lil niggas," "young boys," and "young'ns." In other words, people working as hard as they can to make it. Didn't he used to be Young H.O.? Appealing to a new audience, or at least one that has presumably grown with Jay, isn't the worst idea in the world. But he can't have it both ways. He raps, "I'm a bully with the bucks/ Don't let the patent leather shoes fool you/ I got the fully in the tux." Don't they have metal detectors at these galas he attends? Don't tell us. Show us what you got. Thirty will never be the new 20. Sounds like a cute coffee mug for your office though.

Also, Jay, you're not 30. You're 37.