Album: God Forgives, I Don’t
Year: 2012
Cutman: Jake One
While the title may be “3 Kings”, in reality it features two transformative rap legends…and Rick Ross, who while noteworthy, is far from deserving a crown.
Each rapper touches on their own variations on the tried and true rap trope of rags to riches. Dre opines (likely through the pen of Ross) about how “We started out mopping floors/And now we front row at the awards”, before wrapping up with a straight up baller recommendation of ” You should listen to this beat on my headphones.”
Not to be outdone Ricky Rozay, who famously invested his duckets into a chain of Wing Stop restaurants suspiciously raps, “I came a long way from the weed game/Twenty stack seats at the Heat game/And I’m still strapped with the heat man”. Unlike Dre and Jay, Ross is still working towards getting to that upper echelon in both the rap game as well as outside ventures, ambition for which he should be commended. Ross is at an in-between place both in this song and in his career as compared to his collaborators here. His business ventures pale in comparison to the dumptrucks of money Dre made on the Beats franchise, and his MMG label/stable hasn’t nearly garnered the respect, stability or sales that Jay’s Roc Nation outfit has to date. But Ross remains relevant while “Still tryna be a billionaire”.
The song concludes with Jay Z phoning in a freestyle verse, or at least that’s what he says in the song. The lack of quality aside, Jay Z completely embodies the spirit of the song. We all know that Hov went from being a broke man, to a dope man, to the president”, and then went on to being an owner, to an agent, to meeting the President of the United States. Seriously, Hov has had more high profile jobs than Homer Simpson. Jigga used the last minute of the song to remind us of the “Millions on the wall in all my rooms/Niggas couldn’t fuck with my daughters room/Niggas couldn’t walk in my daughter’s socks. Banksy bitches, Basquiats.” The line draws ire from Jay Z detractors, but…”It’s just different.”
Jake One created a smooth beat for Ross and friends to ride on with a definite regal feel to it worthy of the artists. “3 Kings” is perfect for a smooth summer ride where you can just vibe out to it.