“Dear Summer” has always occupied a strange place in Jay Z’s catalog. It’s technically a Memphis Bleek song, but Bleek is nowhere to be found on the actual song. It was mostly a marketing ploy to get people to buy Bleek’s 534 album (back when people had to buy the whole album).
On the song, Just Blaze samples Weldon Irvine’s “Morning Sunrise” for a soulful, yearning track that brings up nostalgia for the summer months. Few people are as skillful at making personal metaphors out of abstract concepts like summer, and Jigga was at his lyrical prime when this album came out.
This song didn’t make our #TBT list of Just Blaze productions, but it deserves its own shine as today’s throwback track. Check out the list for more from the legendary beatmaker.
Quotable Lyrics
You don’t really want it with Hov, for the record
I put a couple careers on hold, you could be next kid
Keep entering the danger zone
You gon’ make that boy Hov put your name in a song