Iai
08-24-2004, 05:16 PM
Jay-Z - The Blueprint
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00005O54T.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
Released 2001.
#464 on Rolling Stone's Top 500 List.
Produced by Jay-Z, Damon Dash, and Kareem Burke.
Tracklisting -
1. The Ruler's Back
2. Takeover
3. Izzo (H.O.V.A.)
4. Girls Girls Girls
5. Jigga That Nigga
6. U Don't Know
7. Hola' Hovito
8. Heart Of The City (Ain't No Love)
9. Never Change
10. Song Cry
11. All I Need
12. Renagade (feat. Eminem)
13. Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)
14. Breathe Easy (Bonus Track)
So, let me ask you a question - when did hop-hop suddenly become viable to rock and indie fans? In recent years, OutKast, KanYe West, Jurassic 5, The Roots, Dilated Peoples, Eminem, and Jay-Z have all become staples in music magazines usually reserved for rock bands. What happened? Of course, the foundations first broke down when De La Soul dropped 3 Feet High And Rising on an unsuspecting public. Still, that album was resolutely 'indie' - it had all the qualities you'd associate with that genre, crammed into rap. Public Enemy had all the qualities of punk, and Rage Against The Machine's patronage. The Roots record and play with a live band, which you'd usually associate more with rock than rap. On The Slim Shady LP especially, Eminem showed an intense nigh-on-self-loathing introspection closely related to grunge.
So how do you explain Jay-Z?
Jay-Z is pretty much your typical rap artist. He raps about women and guns, he gets into lyrical fights (and gets pwned horribly by NaS), he calls himself and others 'nigga', he's got a healthy ego.....so what sets him apart? NaS, much the same but with better lyrics, hasn't seen his profile shoot up this much, and wouldn't have seen it shoot up at all were it not for Takeover, featured on this album. Ja Rule, much the same but much poppier, doesn't have anywhere near the respect and fanbase Jay-Z has. What the hell DOES set him apart?
In truth, not a lot. He dates Beyonce, and duets with her fairly often. But then, there's Ja Rule and Jennifer Lopez for duets, and NaS and Kelis for high-profile relationships. He's played an unplugged show with The Roots - but unplugged shows are not as uncommon to hip-hop as you might think.
What DOES set Jay-Z apart is that he makes good, sometimes great, albums. Hip-hop, as a broad representation of the whole genre, is lacking in great albums. Skits, filler, and 2 or 3 obvious stand-out singles usually make up your common or garden hip-hop album. Jay-Z, though, realises there is more fans to be gained and more money to be earned if you fill your album with 10, 11, or 12 songs that are consistently good, rather than slapping 22 tracks on an album with 3 good songs.
That's Jay-Z's intent, anyway. Whether he manages it is another matter. After all, writing great songs isn't easy. And 12 great songs doesn't make a great album - there has to be cohesion, variation, things like that. And hip-hop is a genre that moves so fast, that evolves at such a rate that it's difficult to make an album that doesn't date immediately. Think about how old Grandmaster Flash sounds now - that was only 20 years ago. LL Cool J? Even Run DMC. In recent years (the last 3, even) we've seen hip-hop and R&B's boundaries blur, we've seen rappers make concept albums (allegedly), we've seen the Neptunes produce almost every big hit with an instantly recognizable sound, and KanYe West has made chipmunks cool. Will they still be cool in 5 years? Clearly, it's very hard to make a great hip-hop album.
Jay-Z hasn't managed it here. That's not to say it's a bad album - it's just not great. It's very average, all told. There are a few great songs - Renagade (sic), Heart Of The City (Ain't No Love), and Takeover. There's also Girls Girls Girls, a contender for Worst Rap Song Ever. The remix of it, included at the end, is almost as bad. There's also the problem that most of the tracks are enjoyable, but utterly inconsequential. Jay spends an awful lot of time describing how great he is, but unlike the original Jehova, he's not going to change the world. Yes, he does compare himself to God a lot. It's annoying. Jay's voice gets very annoying too - he's always rapping, and there's no breaks that don't involve choruses. Normally, he talks over those too. At times that can make it feel like a bootleg, or a pirate radio broadcast, rather than a professional rap album.
There's a lot right with it, mind. Eminem's production and his guest spot on Renagades are excellent. The music has got the variety it needs to ensure you could happily listen to this from start to finish and only skip one track (Girls Girls Girls). KanYe West's production spots are also great. You can hear him here in the same way you could hear The Neptunes on Kelis's Kaleidoscope - a star making his first big move. And Jay's skills as a rapper are good. His voice isn't anywhere near varied enough, which Eminem shows up on Renagades as a horrible weakness, but his lyrics command some respect. He's not the best by any means, but he's good. There's some good samples and references to classic rock, too - Takeover samples The Doors (5 to 1) and hints at David Bowie.
Events have conspired to make the Blueprint's reputation better than it deserves. It was released on September 11th, 2001, for one thing, and pretty much everything released that day became a song people turned to to help them through that period (Machine Head's 'Crashing Around You' being an exception for obvious reasons). It's pretty much the album that launched KanYe West, hip-hop's current Flavour Of The Month. There's also that Grey Album fiasco, and the fact that Jay-Z is hip-hop's most prolific artist, with Unplugged, the Black Album, Best of Both Worlds, Blueprint 2.0, and Blueprint 2.1 being released since this. That's 7 albums in 3 and a half years - one every 6 months. He also helps design for Roc-A-Wear, helps run Roc-A-Fella records....
The fact that Jay-Z is so prolific may well be the reason albums such as The Blueprint fail to transcend their essential limitations. At the end of the day, this is still a hip-hop album. There are obvious standout tracks (not necessarily the singles, though). There's some filler, but it's better filler than on most hip-hop efforts. There's no skits here, but about 6 tracks in you begin to feel like a musical interlude is everything this album needs. If Jay-Z spent more time on quality control, and took more time between recording albums, he could end up with a masterpiece on his hands. As it stands, he's just making better hip-hop than most, when he could be breaking boundaries and setting trends, like OutKast, Eminem, The Roots, and his other rock magazine-crossover friends.
3/5
Recommended Download -
Renagades, although that song is The Eminem Show. And in the wake of that terrible joke, I'll say Heart Of The City (Ain't No Love) will be a better introduction to Jay-Z's skills and the type of music you can expect here.
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00005O54T.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
Released 2001.
#464 on Rolling Stone's Top 500 List.
Produced by Jay-Z, Damon Dash, and Kareem Burke.
Tracklisting -
1. The Ruler's Back
2. Takeover
3. Izzo (H.O.V.A.)
4. Girls Girls Girls
5. Jigga That Nigga
6. U Don't Know
7. Hola' Hovito
8. Heart Of The City (Ain't No Love)
9. Never Change
10. Song Cry
11. All I Need
12. Renagade (feat. Eminem)
13. Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)
14. Breathe Easy (Bonus Track)
So, let me ask you a question - when did hop-hop suddenly become viable to rock and indie fans? In recent years, OutKast, KanYe West, Jurassic 5, The Roots, Dilated Peoples, Eminem, and Jay-Z have all become staples in music magazines usually reserved for rock bands. What happened? Of course, the foundations first broke down when De La Soul dropped 3 Feet High And Rising on an unsuspecting public. Still, that album was resolutely 'indie' - it had all the qualities you'd associate with that genre, crammed into rap. Public Enemy had all the qualities of punk, and Rage Against The Machine's patronage. The Roots record and play with a live band, which you'd usually associate more with rock than rap. On The Slim Shady LP especially, Eminem showed an intense nigh-on-self-loathing introspection closely related to grunge.
So how do you explain Jay-Z?
Jay-Z is pretty much your typical rap artist. He raps about women and guns, he gets into lyrical fights (and gets pwned horribly by NaS), he calls himself and others 'nigga', he's got a healthy ego.....so what sets him apart? NaS, much the same but with better lyrics, hasn't seen his profile shoot up this much, and wouldn't have seen it shoot up at all were it not for Takeover, featured on this album. Ja Rule, much the same but much poppier, doesn't have anywhere near the respect and fanbase Jay-Z has. What the hell DOES set him apart?
In truth, not a lot. He dates Beyonce, and duets with her fairly often. But then, there's Ja Rule and Jennifer Lopez for duets, and NaS and Kelis for high-profile relationships. He's played an unplugged show with The Roots - but unplugged shows are not as uncommon to hip-hop as you might think.
What DOES set Jay-Z apart is that he makes good, sometimes great, albums. Hip-hop, as a broad representation of the whole genre, is lacking in great albums. Skits, filler, and 2 or 3 obvious stand-out singles usually make up your common or garden hip-hop album. Jay-Z, though, realises there is more fans to be gained and more money to be earned if you fill your album with 10, 11, or 12 songs that are consistently good, rather than slapping 22 tracks on an album with 3 good songs.
That's Jay-Z's intent, anyway. Whether he manages it is another matter. After all, writing great songs isn't easy. And 12 great songs doesn't make a great album - there has to be cohesion, variation, things like that. And hip-hop is a genre that moves so fast, that evolves at such a rate that it's difficult to make an album that doesn't date immediately. Think about how old Grandmaster Flash sounds now - that was only 20 years ago. LL Cool J? Even Run DMC. In recent years (the last 3, even) we've seen hip-hop and R&B's boundaries blur, we've seen rappers make concept albums (allegedly), we've seen the Neptunes produce almost every big hit with an instantly recognizable sound, and KanYe West has made chipmunks cool. Will they still be cool in 5 years? Clearly, it's very hard to make a great hip-hop album.
Jay-Z hasn't managed it here. That's not to say it's a bad album - it's just not great. It's very average, all told. There are a few great songs - Renagade (sic), Heart Of The City (Ain't No Love), and Takeover. There's also Girls Girls Girls, a contender for Worst Rap Song Ever. The remix of it, included at the end, is almost as bad. There's also the problem that most of the tracks are enjoyable, but utterly inconsequential. Jay spends an awful lot of time describing how great he is, but unlike the original Jehova, he's not going to change the world. Yes, he does compare himself to God a lot. It's annoying. Jay's voice gets very annoying too - he's always rapping, and there's no breaks that don't involve choruses. Normally, he talks over those too. At times that can make it feel like a bootleg, or a pirate radio broadcast, rather than a professional rap album.
There's a lot right with it, mind. Eminem's production and his guest spot on Renagades are excellent. The music has got the variety it needs to ensure you could happily listen to this from start to finish and only skip one track (Girls Girls Girls). KanYe West's production spots are also great. You can hear him here in the same way you could hear The Neptunes on Kelis's Kaleidoscope - a star making his first big move. And Jay's skills as a rapper are good. His voice isn't anywhere near varied enough, which Eminem shows up on Renagades as a horrible weakness, but his lyrics command some respect. He's not the best by any means, but he's good. There's some good samples and references to classic rock, too - Takeover samples The Doors (5 to 1) and hints at David Bowie.
Events have conspired to make the Blueprint's reputation better than it deserves. It was released on September 11th, 2001, for one thing, and pretty much everything released that day became a song people turned to to help them through that period (Machine Head's 'Crashing Around You' being an exception for obvious reasons). It's pretty much the album that launched KanYe West, hip-hop's current Flavour Of The Month. There's also that Grey Album fiasco, and the fact that Jay-Z is hip-hop's most prolific artist, with Unplugged, the Black Album, Best of Both Worlds, Blueprint 2.0, and Blueprint 2.1 being released since this. That's 7 albums in 3 and a half years - one every 6 months. He also helps design for Roc-A-Wear, helps run Roc-A-Fella records....
The fact that Jay-Z is so prolific may well be the reason albums such as The Blueprint fail to transcend their essential limitations. At the end of the day, this is still a hip-hop album. There are obvious standout tracks (not necessarily the singles, though). There's some filler, but it's better filler than on most hip-hop efforts. There's no skits here, but about 6 tracks in you begin to feel like a musical interlude is everything this album needs. If Jay-Z spent more time on quality control, and took more time between recording albums, he could end up with a masterpiece on his hands. As it stands, he's just making better hip-hop than most, when he could be breaking boundaries and setting trends, like OutKast, Eminem, The Roots, and his other rock magazine-crossover friends.
3/5
Recommended Download -
Renagades, although that song is The Eminem Show. And in the wake of that terrible joke, I'll say Heart Of The City (Ain't No Love) will be a better introduction to Jay-Z's skills and the type of music you can expect here.