After a very busy week in the spotlight, Jay-Z is this week’s selection for Throwback Thursday with his 1997 track titled “Imaginary Player”.
This week saw Jay-Z release his new single “Open Letter” relating to his controversial trip to Cuba with his wife Beyonce; Jay-Z applying for an agency role in Major League Baseball; speculation over the possible sale of his shares in the Brooklyn Nets and also Kid Rock appearing on Piers Morgan‘s show condemning Jay-Z’s concert ticket prices.
“Imaginary Player” is from Jay-Z’s second album titled “In My Lifetime, Vol. 1”. Even though “Imaginary Player” has a video made for it, it was never released as an official single. The song is based on the wannabes who think they have the money and status to live the flashy lifestyle that Jigga is actually living:
You got show dough, little to no dough
Sell a bunch of records and you still owe dough
I got 900 and 96 plus 4 more dough
You crazy, you fugazy I’m loco with dough papo
At this time, Jay-Z ditched the fast rapping style that he used when he first introduced to the Hip-Hop genre.
“Imaginary Player” was produced by Daven Vanderpool of The Hitmen – Diddy’s in-house producers for Bad Boy Records in the late 90’s and early 00’s. He sampled 80’s R&B duo Rene & Angela’s “Imaginary Playmates“.
The video is ruined by the constant skits which appear during Jay-Z’s verses so, if you want to hear the song properly check out this link for the full song.
“In My Lifetime, Vol. 1” went on to reach platinum status and is still available on Amazon.
