madtheory's Full Review: The Blueprint [PA] by Jay-Z
The King of New York. One of Hip Hop’s most coveted titles.
New York is both the birthplace and Mecca of Hip Hop, and rappers have been battling to rule it since long before “The Bridge is Over.”. As of late, only one rapper truly deserved the title, and that was Notorious B.I.G. With the help of P. Diddy, he reclaimed Hip Hop dominance for the East Coast after West Coast “gangstas” headed by Dre, Snoop, and Tupac had been ruling it for far too long. Now that Biggie is dead, many rappers are trying to lay claim to the crown. However, the only two even worthy of the title are Nas and Jay-Z.
Recently, in an attempt to solidify his hold on the King of New York title, Jay-Z baited Nas into a battle by constantly calling him out tour. Naturally Nas responded, spitting a short freestyle on the single “Stillmatic” calling Jay “the rapper version of Sisqo.” Jay-Z, not one to take a step without having the next three planned in advance, launched a pre-prepared all out counter-attack on the QB rapper with a verse on “Takeover”, then parlayed this battle into a promotional tool for his latest album, The Blueprint.
On this newest release, Jay-Z appears to take a break from making blatantly commercial pop-rap in an attempt to reclaim his Reasonable Doubt days. Did he succeed? Somewhat. The Blueprint sports much more concrete production, relying less on gimmicks and pop hooks and more on blending great samples with good beats. Jay-Z tries to speak on issues more complex than the usual “my ice is so blue / matches the 20’s on my Bentley too,” and actually succeeds to a degree. But unfortunately, substance is not Jigga’s forte. Too many of the non-single songs fall flat. And with only 13 tracks (plus 2 bonus), there wasn’t that much room for error.
Track Listing
1. The Ruler’s Back
2. Takeover
3. Izzo (H.O.V.A)
4. Girls, Girls, Girls
5. Jigga that Ni**a
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. Renegade (feat. Eminem)
13. Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)
14. Breathe Easy (Bonus)
15. Girls, Girls, Girls Remix (Bonus)
After a quick intro and skippable first song, the listener is taken to Jay’s battle track “Takeover” . Over a tight, cleverly chopped sample of “Five to One” by the Doors, Jay launches a malevolent lyrical assault on Nas and his other adversary, Prodigy of Mobb Deep. This is probably my favorite track on the CD, because I really enjoy battle tracks and Kayne West did such an ill job with the track.
I was reading the Blueprint review December issue of The Source in preparation for this piece, and came across a term that I think personifies what a great deal of this album and pop-rap in general is about. The reviewer used the phrase (I know I’m going to catch heat for this one…) “chick singles” to describe the jiggy, club tunes that has become synonymous with Jay-Z’s music. Jay-Z knows that these tracks will sell more than straight, hard rap, so he makes sure that each album is laced with them. On The Blueprint he’s included the Motown-flavored upbeat track “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” that’s been dominating airwaves for months. Also, there’s more of the Track Masters’ spastic production on “Jigga that Ni**a” (yes, Jay, they rhyme. Can you release an album without a song that constantly repeats the words “Jigga” and ni**a”? Can you move on now please?)
- “What you think, you getting girls now because of your looks?” -
Another of the “chick singles” is the hugely popular “Girls, Girls, Girls” where Jay-Z raps about his love for women. Producer Just Blaze uses an interpolation of Tom Brock’s “I Love You More and More Every Time” to add some emotional orchestral strings and old-school singing to the music. He even gets Slick Rick, Biz Markie, and Q-Tip to sing a little in the hook, adding a pleasant touch to the song. The remix, listed after track 13, is just as good, though a different soul sample is used for the music.
- “First, Biggie’s your man, then you’ve got the nerve to say that you’re better than Big…” -
It’s just not pop-rap without a track from Timbaland. For this latest Jay-Z release, he creates the music for “Hola Hovito”. When I first heard Tim’s name listed as the production credit on this song, I was sure it was going to be more heavily-syncopated, gimmicky Latin-beat mess. Fortunately, here it looks like Tim is starting to move away from that type of music, and actually creates a nice solid track. It’s a little bland, but hopefully Timbaland (and maybe Missy too) will try expanding on this more genuine musical direction instead of relying on attention-grabbing beats and effects. For the lyrics, Jay-Z spits his standard braggadocio, bringing it to a head when he says this about the late, great Notorious B.I.G.: “if I ain't better than Big, I'm the closest one.” That’s classic. Say you’re better than a dead man who can’t challenge you. Nice.
- “And Eminem murdered you on your own sh*t…” -
One of the things that stand out about this album is that there’s only one collaboration. On “Renegade”, Eminem joins Jigga, rapping about why they choose to say what they say on the mic. Eminem handles the production as well, crafting a dark, sinister sounding track for them to rhyme over. On this, Slim Shady overshadows Jay so much lyrically, it sounds like Hov’s guest starring on one of Em’s joints. It’s a tight track, but you’ll be very tempted to skip past Jigga’s lazy lyrics to hear what Em has to say.
But Jay-Z does attempt to get introspective and personal on the Blueprint as well. He comes with a little bit of emotion on the slow and expressive “Song Cry” and in remembering the names of people who raised and supported him on the title track, “Blueprint.” It’s just that after years of hearing almost nothing but “ice/money/drugs/cars/hoes,” from Jigga, I’m not buying it. It doesn’t sound sincere to me.
- “His manuscript just sounds stupid when KRS already made an album called Blueprint.” -
The few Hip Hop heads whose memories of the genre actually pre-date 1993 can probably remember the third installment from Boogie Down Productions called Ghetto Music- The Blueprint of Hip Hop. On this LP, KRS-One explained how “ghetto music,” the unique blend of Rock & Roll, Soul, Funk, R&B, and Reggae that mixed freely in the streets of various urban environments in the early 1970’s, served as the primordial goo that eventually gave birth to Hip Hop music. In an attempt to pay homage to these various influences, the Teacher created most of the beats on the album to sound like the music it was spawned from. Fast-Forward 12 years later, and Jay-Z releases an album using mostly old soul, R&B and Rock samples, even calling it The Blueprint? I hope he’s giving KRS his props in some interview somewhere.
From my words and my use of Nas’ lyrics aimed at Jay, it may look like I’m riding Nas’ jock but I’m not. The truth is if you’d have asked me if either Nas or Jay was the better emcee prior to the release of Stillmatic, I would have responded with “Jay”. It’s even listed that way on my “Top Ten Rappers Alive” Editorial I wrote a few months ago. But the fact is even though Jay-Z is a skilled lyricist, Nas is much better and also tends to rap about more relevant subject matter. Jay did manage to recapture a fraction of what he was all about when Reasonable Doubt dropped, but Nas had a very firm grasp on Illmatic when he created his latest work. Neither the “jiggiest” nor “most Reasonable Doubt” Jigga can compete with Nas at his best. Stillmatic is simply a better album.
But comparisons aside, The Blueprint is definitely a very good album. Jay-Z’s deep pockets can always buy him the hottest beats on the market, and his lyrical skill allow him to craft killer lines all over them. He doesn’t get too deep or introspective with his lyrics, because that’s not who Jay-Z is. He makes club bangers and head nodders, but usually nothing that’s going to make you stop and reflect.
So if you’re looking for a fun album you can bump when you’re having friends over, I somewhat recommend buying The Blueprint by Jay-Z. I’m not sure exactly what Jay is trying to build with this blueprint, but whatever it is, it’s going to be glossy, iced-out, and have a lot of room for models to play in. (over-extended metaphors can be fun.)
This review is part of the I Must Destroy This New Talented Upstart Epinionator Cletta1201 for Daring to Have Her Own Opinion Mini Write-Off . She is a threat to all those who would read my reviews and follow my advice unquestioningly. As a result, she must be ruined by any means necessary. She also strangles cute, furry, bright-eyed little kittens. Be sure to read the reviews of these other talented participants:
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