So what are some of the worst songs that one of the greatest rappers of all-time can make? We went through all of Jay-Z’s catalog (most which we know by heart) and handpicked the worst-of-the-worst. Those songs that made you think, “what the hell was Hova thinking?” So here they are, ten of Jay-Z’s worst songs ever. We wanted to include the videos and links for these songs, but since Jay took down most of his music from YouTube to keep exclusively on Tidal, you are only left with this list. So here it is:
- I Know What Girls Like
Jay-Z thought that by teaming up with Puffy and wearing shiny suits, that he would have a huge hit, one bigger than any on “Reasonable Doubt”. Which on the surface is not such a bad idea, considering Puff’s success in 1997. Jay thought that a huge hit would help him do “Life After Death” or “Harlem World” numbers. Guess what, it didn’t. At one point in the song, the hook goes, “I know what boys like…..” and its Puffy and Jay dancing in shiny suits. Not a good look in ’97 or 2024. - Things That U Do Featuring Mariah Carey
We get the concept: put a red-hot Swizz Beatz with a red-hot Mariah Carey, laced with three verses from Jay-Z and you got a hit, right? Wrong. We are just not sure why Swizz brought out the recorders for this beat. And the hook is absolutely awful, we aren’t sure why Mariah couldn’t come up with anything better. The best part about this song was they actually released it as a single! - Fuck All Nite
Probably Jay-Z’s and Pharrell’s worst collabo together and one of the many not needed fillers on “Blueprint 2”. Pharrell stays in character with one of his classic grown and sexy beats, meanwhile Jay is rapping about Minnie Mouse and French kissing. You are better off listening to “Change Clothes and Go” or “Frontin”. - Mi Amor Featuring Angie Martinez
You might have forgotten about this one. I bet Jay-Z and Angie have forgotten about this one. Angie released a solo album in 2001, which Jay may have secretly written a few verses for her, and they recorded a song titled “Mi Amor”. The crazy thing is that from all the songs on the album, she picked this one as the lead single! The track is just awkward and dull, not anything that would get an audience hyped about an upcoming album. - Keep It Real Featuring Jon B
A classic 1990s R&B mixtape remix track. The song is alright, but Jay’s 16 bars at the end of the song are just weak sauce. Could he not have come up with anything better back then? - Jay-Z Live at Glastonbury
Not exactly a song, well technically yes, it’s the intro to his “Jockin Jay-Z” song. There were a lot of people who didn’t want him opening at Glastonbury in 2008 as there has never been a rap act headlining the event before. So, Jay-Z takes the mic and says, “My Name is Jay-Z and I am pretty fucking awesome!”. If you are that awesome, do you need to say it? - Ghetto Techno
This is a classic nightmare of a song that has made its way around the internet as one of the worst rap songs ever. This was slated for Jay-Z’s 2009 album “Blueprint 3” which featured Timbaland on the beat. Something somewhere went terribly wrong. How can a goat rapper and hit maker make junk like this? At least Jay-Z was smart enough to realize that this shouldn’t make the final cut. This song still gets talked about on Reddit and tweeted about all the time. - Lift Off
The worst song on “Watch The Throne” by far. The album opens with an amazing hype track, and then leads to this crap. Maybe this is some amazing artistic material that only Jay, Beyoncé and Kanye can understand, and just possibly it went over our heads? We hate it. They album would have better if they cut it. - Never Change
This is the one song that stops us from calling “The Blueprint” a flawless classic. The album is classic of course, but we can’t say a complete 100% classic. We love The Blueprint but hate this frickin song. The beat is nice, as all of them on the album are, Jay’s verses are great, it’s just the hook that annoys the hell out of us. We can’t be the only ones. - Stop
So, when Jay realized months after being released, that the “Blueprint 2” had too many fillers, he re-released the album as one disc with this as a bonus track. We love Swizz, but this Swizz we hate. This is one of those 2k2 2k3 mixtape throw-aways that actually ended up on the album.
Which Jay-Z tracks do you hate the most?