Song: Jay-z: Can I Live
What makes this track successful is Jay-z's smooth delivery and impeccable lyrics, coupled with an astounding Irv Gotti production that samples "The Look of Love" by Isaac Hayes. On this record, Jay-z vividly spawns a tale of the desperation and paranoia that are joined with ones desire for materialism through hustling and street life. With rhymes like, it gets tedious / so I keep one eye open like, C-B-S, ya see me / stressed right? Can I live?!? Jay-z successfully allows listeners to gain a sense of the emotional ailments that a hustler endures on a regular basis. The choruses alone are like a cry for help. They are compelling because the beat seems to prepare itself for Jay-z to belt out Can I Live?!? with its trumpets exploding in the background. All the while, Jay-z begs his enemies and his critics to allow him to live in peace as he had already been through enough. He does it so well that his audience has no choice but to feel the sympathy that he readily admits people don't have for him because he is a crack dealer; My pain wish it was quick to see, from sellin 'caine / til brains was fried to a fricassee.
When Jay-z is not openly expressing his bouts with paranoia, he does a great job of doing what he was well known for in the 90s...bragging. Steve Huey from Allmusic describes Jay-z's personality as cocky bordering on arrogant but also playful and witty. This I couldn't agree with more. Jay-z came up with some of Hip Hop's most promising lyricists with the two prime examples bring Nas and Biggie. All these rappers came out in a time when rappers were actually 'spitting'; in a time where though Hip Hop wasn't popular on the radio, rappers were still striving for their stories to be heard. This is what is missing in Hip Hop today, as Hip Hop became more mainstream, its regard for true lyricism began to decline and only few rappers still attempt to deliver lyrical rhymes. What Jay-z has that neither Nas nor Biggie have is slickness. When bragging, Jay-z doesn't just drop braggadocios rhymes about all the cars and money he has, but rather he brags in a way that makes those who can't live as he is feel bad about themselves and he does so playfully. For instance, Jay-z rhymes, Viva, Las Vegas, see ya, later at the crap tables / meet me by the one that starts a G up / This way no fraud Willie's present gambling they re-up. With lines like those, it is evident that he kind of teases those whose statuses are lower than his and though it may come off as arrogant; the slickness with which he says the lines makes him a likeable character that the audience wishes they could relate to.
The only thing that disappoints me about this record is that Jay-z did not make it a single. When the album Reasonable Doubt was released, the only four singles it had to support it in terms of marketing were: "Dead President's", "Aint No N-gga", "Can't Knock the Hustle", and "Feelin It"; all of which failed to top the charts. Therefore, though the album was recognized as a classic, the album did not go platinum until 2002. I feel like, had Can I Live been a single, it would have been at least a minor hit and this would have boosted its commercial performance a little. In my opinion, it should have been released instead of "Feelin It". The subject matter is more relatable and the production is INCREDIBLE. Though it is not really a dance along song, it is sure to keep heads banging as it is the type of record you would wind down your window for and blast during the summertime.
