Customer Reviews

Empire State Of Mind [Jay-Z + Alicia Keys] (Explicit)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a lover of rock, blues, jazz, classical and more, I would never listen to rap let alone buy a song.
When I first heard "Empire State of Mind" with Alicia Keys on the awards show I was deeply moved by the words about New York and Ms. Keys whole hearted, gigantic contribution with her voice to lift Jay Zs text to heights I never imagined existed. "Concrete jungle that's where dreams are made of, there's nothing you can do now you're in New York. These streets will make you feel brand new, these lights will inspire you. Let's hear it for New York" YES. Congratulations to you both from another born and raised Bronxite.

Heard it one day on the radio but did not know who it was by and then on "Later with Jules Holland" a few weeks later, had to buy!

I am NOT a big fan of 'rap', but this one, by Jay-Z caught my ear the first time I heard it. The beat and the chorus gets you going and being a Native New Yorker, I relate to all the 'shout-out's'. Playing this jam, makes me feel GOOD and PROUD! Another masterpiece, from the Master....Jay-Z!

Very good song. I wouldn't mind the hook being turned into its own song, very catchy and Jay-Z is consistently good on this track.

September 22nd, 2009

This track from the anticipated album, The Blueprint 3 is pretty hot.

It's not a classic but it's good. Jay-Z spits his usual rhymes like he never left and still proves that he has still got it.

This track is way better than that other track that Kanye is featured on (not Run This Town).

Alicia brings the fire on the hook and the bridge. I get amped when she repeats, "Let's hear it for New York, New York, New Yoooork!"

Not much else to say.

This song is a solid shout out to New York.

Closer to a 3.75.

3.5 stars.

Ignore the previous review. This is one of Jay's very best songs. A lyrically tight, passionate love song to NYC, with Alicia absolutely nailing the chorus. It's the return of one of the greatest female vocals of all time, with the best rapper alive. What's not to love?

Just buy it man its only 99 cents and its prob one of the better songs off blueprint 3

While I have been a fan of both Jay-Z and Alicia Keys since their respective initial albums and I honestly loved this song the first time I heard it, I was somewhat annoyed by the fact that the overall theme of the song (message, rhythm, harmony, and to some extent even the melody) seems to have been borrowed from another song that came out nearly 2 years before this did:

Malbec - The Visit

If you listen to Malbec's song and then listen to Jay-Z's song, you can notice a few similarities:
* The initial beat is the exact same.
* The repetitions of "New York" in both choruses have the same rhythm (Jay-Z's is slowed down by about half iirc but the ratio is nearly 100% identical) and the actual melody is astonishingly similar.
* Both are shout outs to New York.

Both songs have a great amount of musical energy and the harmonies/melodies leave one with a sense of inspiration but because Jay-Z's came out 2 years later, it feels as though his and Alicia Keys' song is nothing more than a simple hip-hop version with some musical rearrangement and new lyrics of an already good song.

If I had never known about the Malbec song, I would have given this 5 stars without a doubt... However, sadly, I'm a little disappointed in two of my favorite artists (especially Alicia Keys) for all of these similarities without even a tip of the hat to Malbec.

I know it's difficult to come up with any music that's actually "original" these days but it doesn't even seem like they were trying this time and these songs are far too similar for this to be a coincidence. It pains me to give this song only 2 stars but I feel it's the best it deserves given the above issues.