Jay-Z's whip game... From the past to present

Jay-Z has always been a trend setter, whether it be from the clothes he wears, the influence on pop culture to the hood, even the way to wear the Yankee fitted as seen on my sister blog http://www.luxekultur.com/2009/09/classic-caps.html .

It’s easy to believe Jay-Z when he says things like, “I don’t want much, fuck, I drove every car” And it’s not just because he’s sitting atop the Forbes richest rappers list—that’s only one of the reasons. The other is his music videos. Since his Reasonable Doubt days Jay has consistently brought out the hottest rides on available on the market, and some only available to those with money longer than Weezy’s dreads. So we weren’t surprised when we learned that his upcoming video for “On To The Next” off Blueprint 3 will feature the all-new 2010 Jaguar XJ (shown above with BP3 livery) before it even hits showrooms. To mark the occasion, I went back and looked through every Jay-Z video to see just how dope his whip game really is. And take it from me, it’s pretty damn dope…


VIDEO: “Dead Presidents”
YEAR: 1996
CAR: Lexus GS
• They may not be talked about as much nowadays, but before rappers were copping all German fleets, this Japanese midsized luxury sedan was that shit. It also had great trunk space, for, you know, stuff.



VIDEO: “Ain’t No Nigga” Feat. Foxy Brown
YEAR: 1996
CAR: Ferrari 348
•Hov could of pushed a Testarossa, but the roof didn’t come off.


VIDEO: “Can’t Knock the Hustle”
YEAR: 1996
CAR: Bentley Continental
• This was the first hint at Jigga’s love affair with the British luxury marquee.


VIDEO: “Who You Wit”
YEAR: 1997
CAR: Cadillac Eldorado
• Jay must love old gangster flicks. In this visual for “Who You Wit” he throws on some 70s rags and sits back in what appears to be a fifth generation Eldorado Biarritz (the most luxe of the line). Why he didn’t go with a sedan is beyond me, but we can’t knock his hustle. Or pimpin’.



VIDEO: “The City is Mine”
YEAR: 1998
CAR: Mercedes-Benz CL600
• It was all good just a decade ago when Jay and Dame were cruising through the city in Mercedes-Benz’s grand tourer. Fact: The CL stands for Comfort Leicht in German, or Comfort Light in English.



VIDEO: “Imaginary Player”
YEAR: 1998
CAR: Rover Range Rover 4.6
• What’s the difference between a 4.0 and a 4.6? About 30 to 40 grand, cocksucker, beat it. That’s all I gotta say, Classic Jay



VIDEO: “Money Ain’t a Thang”
YEAR: 1998
CAR: Bentley Continental, Range Rover 4.6, Porsche 911 Carrera, Ferrari F355
• Jay caught an L when he tried to do the Jiggy thing with “Sunshine”, but Jermaine Dupri gets him to successfully try again in this ode to conspicuous spending. For the record, we don’t condone racing on public roads with models climbing all over you and no seat belt.
But maybe I'm just hating



VIDEO: “Hard Knock Life (The Ghetto Anthem)”
YEAR: 1998
CAR: Bentley Azure
• Jay uses Bentley’s drop-top as one of his biggest hits chauffeurs him onto the pop music charts


VIDEO: “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)”
YEAR: 2001
CAR: Mercedes-Benz G-Class, Mercedes-Benz S-Class
• Hov gets presidential with a motorcade of Mercedes-Benz’s finest in the first video for his now classic, Blueprint.


VIDEO: “Song Cry”
YEAR: 2002
CAR: Ferrari 360 Spider, 1988 Saab 900 Turbo
• Jay-Z didn’t always drives six-figure whips. He too came from humble beginnings as he shows in this video where his Ferrari 360 Spider morphs in the 80s D-boy and prepster whip of choice: the Saab 900.



VIDEO: “‘03 Bonnie & Clyde”
YEAR: 2002
CAR: Aston Martin V12 Vanquish
• If I was running from the cops across the country and had a couple hundred thousand to blow, I'd also go with Aston Martins V12 Vanquish. Beautiful, comfortable, fast (0-60 in 4 sec) and, well, beautiful. Seriously, if we had to choose between the Vanquish and Beyoncé … I'd choose Beyoncé , but I'd ask her to buy me a Vanquish.



VIDEO: “Show Me What You Got”
YEAR: 2006
CAR: Ferrari F430 Spider, Pagani Zonda
• Mr. Carter brings Danica Patrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr to Monaco for the first video for Kingdom Come, and what are they driving? Only two of the best supercars on the market at the time. No offense to either driver, but we’re not sure Jay should have trusted either of those oval racers on those winding roads. Just sayin’.




VIDEO: “Lost Ones”
YEAR: 2006
CAR: Maybach Exelero
• Well, we guess Jay does have friends at Maybach. For this video, Jay gets to push the reported $8 million, 700hp, bi-turbo V12 coupe that could have easily been used as the Batmobile.



VIDEO: “Blue Magic”
YEAR: 2007
CAR: Rolls Royce Silver Wraith, Rolls Royce Corniche II
• Skateboard P and Jay creep through the city in vintage Rolls Royces. We clearly see whose pockets are deeper as Hov is in the classic Silver Wraith and P is just in a Corniche II, which if you couldn’t tell by looking, also sold as the Bentley Continental.