Shawn Carter is my favorite rapper. Period. But that holds no bias to this article. Lately, I’ve been seeing memes saying he’s not releasing another album. I’ve searched Google high and low in a search for truth to this rumor. Though I found no supporting evidence, I began to think: Does Jay-Z need to release an album post Magna Carta Holy Grail? That album was definitely above average with the few expected “Hova Hiccups.” Tom Ford is cool for the radio but annoying as shit to be song #3, FuckWithmeyouknowigotit fitted Rick Ross‘ upcoming album rather than this album, and the Lazy lazy lazy La Familia’ [Welcome home Emery!] Other than that, I felt this album had the confidence of Kingdom Come, the vision of American Gangster, and the maturity of Blueprint 3. My question is, what else does Jay have to say? If you ask me, I would say nothing at all. In the hip-hop world, the usual career sequence is the climb to the top of the culture and taking your brand to levels imagined. Jay seemed to hit that mark almost 15 years ago. On posse cut 4 Da Fam, Hov boasts

Roc-A-Wear 80 Mil in 18 months, you can bullshit with rap if you want.

Since he dropped that line, we saw Jay as more than just a great MC. He became a trendsetter to pop culture. From T-Shirt style durags, ditching jerseys for button up shirts, the embrace-turned-boycott of Cristal, being the first rapper with a sneaker, to an exclusive release of Magna Carta through an app, Jigga‘s influence has helped push the hip-hop culture to incogitable heights. Also, the 150 million dollar deal for Roc Nation in 2008 is still arguably one of his best business moves. He’s responsible for a handful of careers including Rihanna, J Cole, the rebirth of Fabolous, and of course, a mentor/big brother to Kanye West. 2016 marks 20 years since his cult classic Reasonable Doubt. What better way to wave goodbye to the game than on the anniversary of one of the greatest albums of all time? So Jay, if you’re reading this, we don’t need another album. Just keep pushing our culture forward.

Hip Hop Foreva, Karlito