A JAY-Z verse equates to gold these days. Not only has the Hip Hop mogul not released a solo album since 2017’s 4:44, he’s also more focused on his lucrative business endeavors than rap. So when Pusha T announced Hov was on his next single “Neck & Wrist,” the Hip Hop community collectively celebrated the impending bars from one of the culture’s most celebrated MCs.
Right on schedule, Pusha T dropped the Hov and Pharrell-assisted “Neck & Wrist” on Wednesday (April 6) much to the delight of his fans and peers alike. Top Dawg Entertainment president Punch took his thoughts to Twitter and admitted JAY-Z’s verse ruined most contemporary rap for him. At the same time, he issued a call-to-action.
“Jay Z is THE G.O.A.T,” he wrote. “Not A Goat but THE G.O.A.T…. I can’t listen to this man’s verses and then listen to what’s going on currently and say it’s good. Celebrating mediocrity stops right now.”
Jay Z is THE G.O.A.T…. Not A Goat but THE G.O.A.T…. I can’t listen to this man’s verses and then listen to what’s going on currently and say it’s good. Celebrating mediocrity stops right now.
— Punch TDE (@iamstillpunch) April 6, 2022
Meanwhile, So So Def founder Jermaine Dupri was essentially speechless and shared several head-exploding emojis on Twitter from his home in Brookhaven, Georgia. JAY-Z’s longtime friend and engineer Young Guru simply tweeted a line from his verse: “HOV was always gonna be HOV!”
Jay z verse 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
— Jermaine Dupri (@jermainedupri) April 6, 2022
HOV was gonna always be HOV!! https://t.co/LlI99g4A8G
— Young Guru (@Young_Guru) April 6, 2022
JAY-Z was able to addresses several things throughout the song in a relatively short amount of time. His verse started with a nod to Faizon Love’s 2020 interview with VladTV in which he questioned Hov’s “drug lord” past.
“The phase I’m on, love, I wouldn’t believe it either,” he raps. “I’d be like, ‘JAY-Z’s a cheater,’ I wouldn’t listen to reason either/All I know is he’s a felon, how is he sellin’?/Weed, the Caliva brothers, deep down, I believe you love us, huh/Feast your eyes, the piece unique, it’s sapphire/Rappers liars, I don’t do satire/Neither I nor my wrist move mockingly/Y’all spend real money on fake watches, shockingly/They put me on lists with these n-ggas inexplicably/I put your mansion on my wall, are you shittin’ me?”
The Blueprint legend touched on the 1997 death of The Notorious B.I.G. and rap supergroup The Commission that never came to fruition. Before Biggie’s death, Hov planned on forming the group with Biggie, Diddy, Lance ‘Un’ Rivera, Lil’ Cease and Charli Baltimore
“I blew bird money, y’all talkin’ Twitter feed,” he continues. “We got different Saab stories, save your soliloquies/They like, ‘If BIG was alive, Hov wouldn’t be in his position’/If BIG had survived, y’all would have got The Commission/Hov was gon’ always be Hov/It ’twas the universe will ’cause Allah said so, and now I’m here.”
Listen to the song below.
