Izzo (H.O.V.A.)
| "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" | ||||
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| Single by Jay-Z | ||||
| from the album The Blueprint | ||||
| Released | June 22, 2001 | |||
| Format | CD | |||
| Recorded | 2001 | |||
| Genre | Hip hop | |||
| Length | 4:00 | |||
| Label | Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam | |||
| Writer(s) | S. Carter, A. Mizell, B. Gordy, D. Richards, F. Perren, K. West, Alex Horn | |||
| Producer | Kanye West | |||
| Jay-Z singles chronology | ||||
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"Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" (often referred to as "H to the Izzo") is a single released by Jay-Z from his sixth album The Blueprint. It is among his most popular singles. This was the second song released off The Blueprint, after the diss track "Takeover", but the lead single from it. The song reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. It was Jay-Z's first top 10 single as a lead artist.
The song, produced by Kanye West, prominently features a sample of "I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5, the second major hit in 2001 to sample that song (after "My Baby" by Lil' Romeo).
The music video features cameo appearances from Nelly, Eve, OutKast, Destiny's Child and Kanye West.
[edit] Lyrics
The first verse deals with the rapper's early career as a drug dealer, including his escape from conviction. The second verse narrates his struggles with the exploitative recording industry, while in the last verse he reverts to his childhood growing up in the Marcy Houses housing projects.
The song's lyrics "H to the izz-O, V to the izz-A" use the -izzle language code to spell out H.O.V.A. which refers to one of Jay-Z's nicknames, "Jayhova" being a pseudonym for his self-proclaimed status as the god of MC's.
[edit] Notes
Jay-Z performed this song on the 2001 BET Awards.
This song was used in Jay-Z and Linkin Park's 2004 mash-up album, Collision Course. It was featured against Linkin Park's "In the End", creating a new song, "Izzo/In the End", which is track 5 on the album.
The song is mixed with Eminem's song "My Name Is" on the video game "DJ Hero"
Diddy-Dirty Money sampled this song for "Love Come Down" for their album Last Train to Paris.
In 2009, the song was honored by Pitchfork Media as being the 79th greatest song of the Noughties.
The song is featured in Beaver Falls (Series 1 Episode 3)
[edit] References
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