Jay-Z dropped his first greatest hits compilation this week and finger on the steam has put together a wish list of five songs we'd like to have seen on the disc; think of them as the greatest misses.
Let us know if we're totally off base with our selection, and what other omissions you just can't do without as part of Hov's musical memoir.
1) "Change Clothes" feat. Pharrell, The Black Album, 2003 - Apparently from Jay-Z's final studio album, this initial single would be his greatest hit until the recent "Empire State of Mind". S'pose he came out of "retirement" to make sure he finally got that #1 single, but it's hard to forget a classic like "Change Clothes".
2) "Girls, Girls, Girls", The Blueprint, 2001 - How does he go about explaining these tracks to Beyoncé? A rather promiscuous tale, this one is just too fun to pass over for some of the lesser material Hova included on his Hits collection.
3) "Takeover", The Blueprint, 2001 - A diss track that took on Prodigy from Mobb Deep before Jay-Z focused his magnifying glass on that other king of NYC rap, Nasir Jones. Forcing NaS to respond on his track "Ether" from the Stillmatic album, the beef would be a launching pad for the resurrection of NaS' previously unmatched wizardry in the booth.
4) "Jigga What, Jigga Who" feat. Big Jaz and Amil, Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life, 1999 - Jigga at his visceral best, with speed to match. Maybe not a club banger, but a stone cold lesson in clutchin' the mic.
5) "Can’t Knock the Hustle" feat. Mary J. Blige, Reasonable Doubt, 1996 - Greatly overshadowed at the time by the belter singing his chorus, Jay-Z was fortunate to get Ms. Blige on wax for his debut album.
