In Kanye’s best moment yet, he’s almost completely out of the spotlight. Pure joy, the sound of a young man who’s waited his whole life to share a studio with the city’s prodigal son. After debuting in the late 90s with Reasonable Doubt and. Kanye has a surprisingly generous history of welcoming up-and-comers on his albums (King Louis on “Send it Up,” Post Malone on “Fade,” a then fresh-faced Lupe Fiasco on “Touch the Sky,”) but nobody has ever looked better than the 23-year old 'Coloring Book' rapper from Chicago. From the projects to the throne, New York rapper, producer, and entrepreneur Jay-Z embodied the quintessential rags-to-riches dream, becoming one of the most successful MCs of his generation while creating an empire that made him one of the richest artists of the era. There are far too many moments - the beautifully clipped choir bursting from the shadows and immediately dissipating, the bookend prayer from one of the cutest kids laid to tape - but mostly we hang our hat on the Chance the Rapper verse.
Songs like 'Dead Presidents II,' 'Can I Live,' '22 2’s,' 'D’Evils' and 'Friend. “Ultralight Beam” is shrouded with the sort of transcendence that makes art critique feel extremely disposable. If we’re being honest, a list of the best Jay Z songs could just have been the tracklist of Reasonable Doubt.
It’s early, but “Ultralight Beam” is making a pretty good case for joining the pantheon with “Untitled,” “99 Problems,” and, like, “God Only Knows” of songs that simply can’t be written about.
