Jay Z Ranks His Solo Albums

In honor of his 44th birthday, Jay Z has ranked his 12 solo albums starting with Reasonable Doubt and going all the way up to this year’s Magna Carta… Holy Grail.

He posted “The Scoreboard” on his Life+Times website along with a few words about each album.

His 1996 debut Reasonable Doubt, which he calls “classic,” earns a rightful spot at No. 1, while 2001’s The Blueprint is runner-up.

Blueprint 2 is three spots below BP3, but he disagrees with critics about the latter, saying that his New York anthem “Empire State of Mind” rivaled Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.”

His least favorite album? The honors go to Kingdom Come, his first album since returning from retirement. “First game back, don’t shoot me,” said Hov.

Do you agree? See his selections below.

The Scoreboard

1. Reasonable Doubt (Classic)
2. The Blueprint (Classic)
3. The Black Album (Classic)
4. Vol. 2 (Classic)
5. American Gangster (4 1/2, cohesive)
6. Magna Carta (Fuckwit, Tom Ford, Oceans, Beach, On the Run, Grail)
7. Vol. 1 (Sunshine kills this album…fuck… Streets, Where I’m from, You Must Love Me…)
8. BP3 (Sorry critics, it’s good. Empire (Gave Frank a run for his money))
9. Dynasty (Intro alone…)
10. Vol. 3 (Pimp C verse alone… oh, So Ghetto)
11. BP2 (Too many songs. Fucking Guru and Hip Hop, ha)
12. Kingdom Come (First game back, don’t shoot me)