After thoroughly enjoying The Blueprint last year, I kept a keen eye out for any news related to Jay-Z's newest album "Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse." Let me say that after I heard that this release would cover 2 CD's and would sport a large amount of guest appearances, my anticipation started to turn to fret. Would this be like a Vol. 3 with only a few good songs and a lot of filler or would it be another Roc La Familia with only a few songs not being littered with other rappers? When the day of release finally arrived, I approached cautiously.
After a few listens I was a little worried but digging deeper revealed that it wasn't going to be as bad as a I feared. The first CD starts of with "A Dream" featuring a rip of "Juicy" by the Notorious BIG himself. Jay-Z has been criticized for taking a lot of Biggies lyrics and he addresses this in an imaginative way here. A few songs later we get "The Watcher 2" featuring Dr. Dre, Truth Hurts and the legendary Rakim. The beat is smooth and gives you the impression that someone has their eye on you. Jay-Z's verse is just as tight and while Dre holds his own, Rakim is once again at top form. "03 Bonnie and Clyde" is the next song and it's what you would expect from a Jay-Z single. Sean Paul lends a hand on the chorus on the up-tempo "What They Gonna Do?" A jazzy piano loop and a soulful chorus make "All Around the World" a great track. Jay reverts to his old, faster rapping self in "Poppin Tags" a song that reunites him with the similiarly quick-tongued Twista which leaves you reminiscing over their previous collaboration, "Is that your b*tch?" The uber-player Jay-Z returns in "F(&* All Night," a song the works surprisingly well. Timbaland teams up with Jay-Z again to create "The Bounce." Despite the club-esque beat, Jay tells us that he is deeper than the singles he releases and the people should listen to his other songs before forming their opinion. The first CD wraps up with "I Did It My Way," which borrows from the late, great Frank Sinatra. This song doesn't do Franky much justice though.
While the first CD was dominated by singles-quality songs and upbeat tempos and lyrics, CD 2 is a little darker and more Rocafella related. "Diamond Is Forever" starts it off with a haunting beat and gives us a little sampling of Jay persevering and making it to the top. Lenny Kravitz makes an appearance on the very average "Guns and Roses." M.O.P is featured on the "U Don't Know" Remix. This is one of those songs that has me wondering what Jay was thinking when he included this. Not to demean M.O.P., a respectable group, but this song sticks out like a sore thumb. Luckily Hova gets back on track with his next track "Meet the Parents." As you might guess, this song has Jay thinking back on his childhood family life and his lack of a true father. An ominous guitar loop with a piano mixed in the beat creates an amazing mood. Following the trend set in his last album couple albums, "Some How Some Way" has Jay teaming up with Beanie Sigel to reminisce about their hardships as youths in the hood. Beanie is getting almost too good with this type of song. You can really feel his pain on his verse. My favorite song comes up next in the form of "Some People Hate." Jay really works well with the sample used here when he addresses all the people who hate on him and his success. Up to this point you may have forgotten that Jay-Z has had beef with Nas but "Blueprint 2" addresses that issue. It's definitely more subtle than Nas' "Ether" but, then again, it doesn't go too far like it either. The Neptunes provide the beat for "Nigga Please," another "single minded" song that doesn't have much replay value. What follows is definitely one of the weakest parts of the album. "2 Many Hoes" doesn't have much value outside of a club scene. "As One" is a ROC cut that sounds like it came straight from Roc La Familia--way too much sythensizer and and lyrics that leave a lot to be desired. "Ballad For the Fallen Soldier" is one of those "filler" songs that I worried about. After this you get into the "Bonus Tracks," none of which are particularly noteworthy. Definitely not a good way to end the album though.
Where the Blueprint was a intricately crafted return to someone who resembled the Jay-Z from Reasonable Doubt, "Blueprint 2" takes it a little too far. There is enough decent material on these two CD's to warrant the purchase but you'll still be wishing that Jay would have weeded out a lot of these songs and put the good ones all on one CD. Alas, we have to take what we get. I feel this song is worth 3.5 stars but since there is no such thing as a half star I decided to be kind to the Jiggaman and give this release 4 stars and hope for a better showing next time.
Blueprint 2 Much?
Jay-Z Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse
25 tracks
25 tracks
