That said, the album's still tight, but you can tell it's the soon-to-be-Jigga's first outing. Technically speaking, however, Jay wasn't so much bringing the new as he was improving on what the likes of Rakim and Big Daddy Kane had done before him. A boon 'cause it was at the forefront, a band 'cause of all the weak imitations we've been forced to wade through in the aftermath. When you take into consideration that this was one of the first albums that accentuated such imagery, well then it's both a boon and a bane. The rhymes, which tend to focus on the floss (Cristal sippin' and mad loot clockin' implications), seem a little played, but perhaps that's just a result of the bling-bling burnout. Listening to the album now, seven years later, it sounds a bit dated. Technically Jay-Z first got put on when he dropped sidekick rhymes for The Jaz on his first two albums and then later as a member of Original Flavor, but this is where Jay premiered his kingpin persona and flexed on the dolo. and the rest of the Cash Money Millionaires may be credited with coining the term 'bling-bling' and perpetuating the platinum flashing, champagne chugging big Willy lifestyle, one could argue that it was Jay-Z who helped bring the nickel slick 'all about the Benjamin's' mentality to the masses (nods to Big and Puff aside).

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