The Guardian "In praise of Jay-Z":

Most people will not have heard of Jay-Z until this week, when newspapers reported that Glastonbury's top billing for some American rapper had led to disappointing ticket sales. ... The subject matter is standard hip-hop fare, reflecting an upbringing in Brooklyn's housing projects and a street culture of drugs and guns (along with tiresome sexism and money-worship), yet the lyrics avoid cliche: "Blame Reagon for making me a moster / Blame Oliver North and Iran Contra / I ran contraband that they sponsored." His later work is marked by increasingly inventive delivery: instead of firing off words, the rapper slows down, stretches his words or simply stops.

(The Guardian, April 10, 2008, p. 36.)