That being said, the song takes on a new meaning when you consider the narrative surrounding his latest album, Redemption: Two years before its release, Jay was involved in a near-fatal motorcycle accident-on the night of the 2016 Grammys, no less-which left him with a broken leg and a cracked pelvis.įor the 31-year-old rapper who went from being the face of TDE (as its first signee back in 2005) to, at best, third banana behind Kendrick and Schoolboy Q, this was his second chance. Boi-1-da's triumphant horn loop is a little too on the nose, while the repetitive hook ("Win, win, win, win") isn't the most creative thing in the world. If you aren’t familiar with Jay Rock's journey, it’s easy to chalk up "Win" as nothing more than a conventional banger. Seventeen years on, "Lose Yourself" remains one of his biggest hits-the moment when he was at his absolute apex. Has a rapper ever sounded this hungry? Ever the underdog, Eminem manages to convince listeners he’s still a struggling MC trying to make it. When he raps "Success is my only motherfucking option, failure’s not," you practically forget he’s a mega-star who is years removed from this reality. And yet, his greatest achievement came later that year, with the release of "Lose Yourself," the first single to 8 Mile’s soundtrack. By then, he had become one of the biggest pop stars on the planet, thanks to his latest album, The Eminem Show, which had already sold 6.7 million copies domestically (more than any other rapper has in any one year) on the strength of massive singles "Without Me" and "Cleanin' Out My Closet," which peaked at No. In October 2002, the last thing Eminem needed was a hit he already had plenty of those. Brad CallasĪlbum: 8 Mile: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture 1 album, The Massacre, which hit shelves in March of that year. He hadn’t lost his hunger, which he made apparent on the soundtrack for the loose biopic, Get Rich or Die Tryin'. While “Window Shopper” was, and still is, the most popular track on the project, opening cut “Hustler’s Ambition” doubles as the unofficial theme song for 50’s rags-to-riches story. After signing a million-dollar record deal, he scored the biggest opening-week hip-hop debut of all time with his first proper studio album, 2003’s Get Rich or Die Tryin'.īy the end of 2005, though, Fiddy was coming off his second straight No. One tape landed in the hands of the biggest rapper alive, Eminem, who invited him to come to Los Angeles and meet Dr. He recorded song after song after song in a Queens basement and got hot on the mixtape circuit. Think Eminem’s iconic “Lose Yourself.”Ĭue up the theme music to Rocky, and let’s get to it.Īlbum: Get Rich or Die Tryin': Music from and Inspired by the Motion Pictureĥ0 Cent’s come-up was mythical: After getting shot nine times outside of his grandmother’s home, he was dropped from Columbia and blacklisted from the industry. While not every rap song that inspires is necessarily an anthem, all anthems are inspirational, so it’s hardly surprising that our canon of all-time great motivational hip-hop songs is chock-full of them. There aren’t many musical experiences more beautiful than when a rapper waxes poetic over an earth-shattering beat-a core tenant of all anthems. An anthem is like a banger or slapper, in that it’s carried by the type of production that’ll have your group of friends throwing bows in the club like Disturbing the Peace circa 2000, only it doubles as gospel. Then there is the top tier of motivational rap songs, which is made up of tracks that embody qualities similar to the aforementioned group but share an unmistakable identity. Banger isn’t the word anthem, more like. Somewhere in the middle lies rags-to-riches classics (see “C.R.E.A.M,” “Juicy,” “Exhibit C”) that are inspirational largely because they tell tales of young men fighting their way out of poverty by any means necessary. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there are uplifting hymns like “Keep Ya Head Up,” “Ultralight Beam,” and “Love Yourz,” which inspire by radiating hope and positivity. There are certain tracks -songs like “Dreams and Nightmares” and “Knuck If You Buck”- that are motivational to the extent that, if played at a specific volume with a particular group of individuals, can convince you to commit violence against another person. You just know one when it smacks you upside the head. You know the ones that get you hyped, and the ones that make you move. Every interpretation of music is subjective, and people are motivated by different things, so there is no single way to define a “motivational” hip-hop song .
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