Like 30 to 40 grand cocksucker beat it!

It’s funny how one verse can fuck up the game.

I was meant to start a series called Time Capsule, where I talk about rap albums as if they just dropped, but life and shit got in the way. So I’ve decided to talk about Jay, specifically the song Imaginary Players on his sophomore album In My Lifetime Vol.1.

I don’t know about you, but to me this is the second best Jay song because of how it’s a preamble to what he was to become. The cockiness, and the braggadocio lyrics all whilst continuing with a mafia theme in this song allows Jay-Z to reassert himself and he’s leaving no prisoners behind as he tells us what he is and reminds us that we aren’t that, and we can’t be that. This is summed up in the line “Those ain’t Rolex diamonds wtf you done to that” which is also a diss to Ma$e who was Bad Boys’ flagship artist after Biggies untimely death. I mean, there’s nothing I love more than rappers telling us what they are and how we aren’t that e.g. on the Clipse’s debut album the last track “I’m not you” shares a similar sentiment.

The thing that draws me to the track isn’t only that Jay reminds us that he is something the listeners can’t become, but the fact that he tells us all the different ways that we ain’t him. He lets us know in the first 20 seconds “I gotta be the pioneer to this shit I was popping Cristal when y’all thought it was beer, wearing platinum when y’all thought it silver and shit”, where he effectively shows us that he is the trend and we’re all jus borrowing from him. Or clearly not knowing the difference between a 4.0 and a 4.6, which he even explains later for us to get a glimpse into his life. But the song also samples “Imaginary playmates” by Rene and Angela, and Jay is able to ride this beat so smoothly it’s like heelies on a freshly waxed wooden floor.  It’s jus smooth.

Really, Jay’s ability to describe dough in the first verse is a particular highlight of mine and he so aptly concludes it with “I got 996 plus 4 mo dough”. Now this might be a stretch but I think the reason he says 1 million like this, apart from the musical aspect, is cause of his drug dealer background where you have to keep the count correct.

Ultimately, why I think this track is a keepsake in the Hov time capsule is because of the fact that he never makes a song like this again. I know people will point to ‘Dirt Off Ya Shoulder’ but there is no song where he constantly reminds us what we are (Imaginary players) and we love him more for it. I genuinely believe this is one of his best songs because it’s one of a kind and remains an early notch on his early infinity gauntlet on the way to conquering rap and becoming its most successful artist and mogul. These reasons are why I think it’s a completely unique song in Jay’s illustrious catalogue

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