How could you not give this album 5 stars? Roots backing him, amazing newcomer Jaguar Wright on backup vocals, guest appearances by Mary J. Blige and Neptunes, and all the hits!! This is how a hip-hop show should be done.
For me, the live band (especially being The Roots) sold me. No pre-recorded music or djs spinning records. REAL music, and it makes even Jay's oldest songs sound fresh!
Jay Z has an amazing gift, that has always been evident to me on his albums. I have always wondered, however, if he could pull it off live. I have seen too many hip-hop acts who were not able to pull off thier studio majic when they hit the stage. Jay Z does it almost better than he does in a studio.
The entire album amazed me. Some do stand out better than others though. Take Over is one of the better battle tracks ever, and sounds even better with a live band (appropriate since it heavily samples The Doors). Jigga What's crowd participation makes it even better than the album version, and the flow into Big Pimpin was perfect. Ain't No Love is amazing because of the powerful chorus sung by Jaguar Wright - who I have seen open for Maxwell, and was impressive there as well. Can't Knock the Hussle was great also because of the chorus, sung by the Queen of R&B/Hip-Hop/Whatever... hey, she's the Queen!
There were some things that I would have liked changed. Big Pimpin sounded great with a live band, and he was right on - however, with only the two verses it seemed to be over too quickly. I know he only did those two verses on the song, but he's an artist - Freestyle! The medelys were great, but I would have liked a trak break, so that I could listen to them individually more easily.
Aside from those two SMALL complaints, this album is definately worth buying whether you are a Jay Z fan, only like a few of his songs, or if you just like live hip-hop, Roots style.

First off Jay-Z Unplugged is a phenomenal CD that all Jigga fans must have! This album is basically the whole MTV unplugged airing of Jay-Z in mid December. Just Jay-Z and a lot of help from the The Roots band. J starts off with IZZO, which is very well done, and even catchier than his blueprint cut. Takeover really gets the audience involved as they join in on dissing Jigga's haters- mainly Nas. Takeover loses nothing with this version at all. Girls, girls, girls is nice, but after hearing it a thousand times on the radio its getting a little tired, but this version helps a tad. J takes it back to volume 2 with Jigga What, and showcases his airtight flow in his 98 classic. Now for the surprise, the roots managed to make the Timbo produced Big Pimpin and make even more enjoyable to the ears. One of the top songs on the cd by far. Ain't No Love- great band play, but the plugged version still remains one of my favorite. J rocks the joint with Can I get A..., though for only verse this version is tight. Hard Knock Life slides in with an impressive job by the roots and manages to capture the feeling of despair in the hood. Next is probably the best song on the whole album- Can't Knock the Hustle. This was J's first track on his debut album Reasonable Doubt f. the queen of hip hop soul Mary J. Blige. Great song, tight flow, best MC teamed with best hip hop soul singer- probably J's best song ever. Shortly after Mary J. Sings a verse from her smash Family Affair. Jigga man slows it down with Song Cry and there's little difference from his Blueprint CD. Jay-Z turns it up to 10 with his Classic I Just Wanna Love U. He even brings Pharell from the neptunes to sing the hook along with J's boy Damon Dash. This song had the house jumping and every tight beat is converted nicely to strings, woodwinds, and every other musical instrument. Jay closes out with a sick version of Jigga that N. Let the track run and there's a hidden track from the Blueprint 2.

All in all, a fabalous album. You won't be skipping through this CD at all.Jigga delivers the goods big time. BUY IT KNOW!!!!!!

Jay to the izA has once again proved himself, with another hot album. He's puttin in work and he's getting closer to the king of New York crown. I know you all might be asking yourslelf, Hip hop and a live unplugged band...hmmm how does that work? Well let me tell you It works out fine. Jay couldn't have picked a better band cuz the Roots Crew is hip hops finest, and those cats are some amazing musicians. Plus with Jaguar singing the hooks and backup, she put it down, she got a chameleon voice cuz she sounded tight on every track. That's a soulful sista.

I never really thought hip hop could sound this good live, but rest assured it can. All the tracks are done by different producers but they all seem to work. Of course they needed a little extra help on percussion for the Crazy incessant Timbaland Hi-Hats on "Jigga What , Jigga Who" but damn quest love puts it down behind the kit. And on "The Takeover" the Roots manage switch the beat to "Shook Ones" and "Oochie Wally" just to ad a little more fire to Prodigy and Nas' pants respectively.

Mary J Blige came in and showed the love on the classic "Cant knock the Hustle" she still sounds damn good on that track after all these years, Mary still cant knock her hustle. But still even more emotionally moving is "Song Cry" I mean I've never cheated on my wifey but for some reason the song still makes me sad, It must be some of the thug love nature in me. Even Jay himself is almost moved to tears by the end of the track.

From there of course tha party gets started once again, and The roots put it down on the wild Neptunes produced "Give it to me" , with a little extra percussion the track bumps like the pores on the back of a shaven neck. Then Questlove smacks the H out his snares on the Trackmasters produced "Jigga Jigga"
Overall this album is a Jay-Z greatest Hits album , and I mean on that John Forte level. Peace and check the album ,all the songs have a little salt added, meaning they got a lil more flava.

This album... is sweet. Ever since MTV debuted it's "Unplugged" series, I'd been waiting for a hip-hop group to take the stage. Once the Roots started getting popular, I figured they might be the ones to break the mold. I was close.

While the full Roots crew would probably have been a much more exhilarating show, it's hard to complain about having Jay-Z sit in with the band, and banging through newbies and classics like it's nothin'. The diversity of instruments the Roots band plays made covering Jay's tunes pretty simple, and the sounds they couldn't replicate, they simply ad-libbed.

Jay admitted in an interview that he was really feeling the dynamic between himself, the band and the crowd during the sessions, and a good deal of that energy is captured on the album. It's been said that Jigga had to read from a teleprompter during a lot of the set, and you can kind of hear that as well, most noticeably when he stumbles during some of the more rapid-fire lines in "N***a What N***a Who." But oh well. The quality of the jams makes up for it, I suppose.

The whole disc plays in under an hour, and most of the older, better songs are cut short. But the centerpiece of the album is it's best moment, a medley including "Can I Get A...," "Hard Knock Life," "Ain't No N***a," and finally, the Big Willie classic "Can't Knock Da Hustle," featuring none other than the guest on that track, Ms. Mary J. Blige.

But Jay-Hova was clearly the main attraction, commanding the crowd, barking orders and laying rhymes like few can. Playa-hater or not, this is a solid slice of hip-hop pie anyone can sink their fork into.

If you're a fan of The Roots, this is a must because it shows how much they can make someone else's music shine. If you're a fan of Jay-Z, this is a must because you see things in him you don't normally see. If you're anyone else, it's worth a listen at the least. Jay-Z is a good lyricist and his delivery is generally strong, but I have to say that what makes this record shine is The Roots and the bonus performance by Mary J. Blige. It's amazing that The Roots haven't gotten more attention given the way they make things sound. A few of my friends who have no appreciation at all for Rap or Hip-Hop watched this on MTV and were out buying the record the day it was release (today). It sounds that good.

Just a warning - if you really hate rap, this probably won't convert you.