He's straight showing off on "Hovi Baby": somehow flowing effortlessly over Just Blaze's ridiculous 5/4 future-cop production, Jay's lyrics sound as if they were made on the will of God, with himself as the conduit and his voice as the fluid, talking about "chasin' the hi-hat all over the track" to the point that "the snare is scared of the air in here."Įqually thrilling is the varied subject matter Hova touches on. Jay weaves his way through every imaginable style and flavor with unyielding expertise- from the natural repetition of "A Dream" to the extreme assonance of "The Bounce" to the classic cocky confidence of "2 Many Hoes"- driving home clear evidence that his top-tier emcee ranking is deserved, and that few could be as entitled. There's no deep concept or surrounding purpose behind this record: it's just pure confidence.
JAY Z BLUEPRINT 2 CD SERIES
On his mid-to-late 90s Volume trilogy, Jay had steadily lost track of his confident street corner philosophy, but a series of battles led him to re-evaluate his career, resulting in the landmark album of his career: the prequel to this two-disc blowout was an inarguable masterwork of beautiful soul-struck production and serrated bling 'n' sting street rhymes sharp enough to eclipse even the heralded, barbs on 1996's world-memorized classic Reasonable Doubt. Jay-Z has chosen his own route: The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse lobbies for a position on top of the commercial hip-hop market. For Biggie and Tupac, it led to grisly deaths. For the Wu-Tang Clan and Michael Jackson, it led to exponential career declines. The competitivespark that made him one of hip-hop's greatest talents shows in those moments,but it isn't enough to bring The Blueprint 2 to a roaring blaze.The double album can mean a number of things for an artist. Jay is certainly the objectof much envy these days, so it's understandable that, on this album, hereturns again and again to defending himself and needling his rivals. "I Did It My Way," which riffs on the classictune, is so fatuous it defies any excuse-making.
"Guns &Roses," his collaboration with Lenny Kravitz (yes, you read that right),is audacious and awkward. He may be dating BeyoncéKnowles, but redoing Tupac's "Me and My Girlfriend" as "∐3Bonnie & Clyde" is unimaginative and unnecessary. On the songswith guest artists"Poppin' Tags" with Big Boi, Killer Mikeand Twista "Some How Some Way" with Beanie Sigel and Scarfacehe'sjust part of the tapestry Just like The Blueprint, The Blueprint 2 sounds good, but Jay's barely there. Of late, though, he's been subbingin top-dollar production for high-brow rhymes. No, the singlemost embarrassing development of hip-hop since the turn of the millennium isthe decline of Jay-Z from the game's most cunning linguist to a man sosatisfied with his position that he's content to rest on his laurels andchurn out minimally invasive verses.Ĭertainly Jay-Z at his worst is still an improvement upon most of the hip-hopcurrently clotting the radio, but once was a time where a new Jay-Z album meanta new standard for others to follow. The greatest shame in hip-hop today is not its avoidance of political and socialissues, not its preoccupation with materialism and attitude and not its relianceupon a limited set of producers to create a signature sound.
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