Jay-z - The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse
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Jay Z - 'The Blueprint 2: The Gift And The Curse
(Tuesday November 19, 2002 3:13 PM
)
Released on 18/11/2002
Label: Roc-A-Fella
Not since prog rock has a genre succumbed to such self-indulgence as hip-hop. Remember, this most resilient and evolutionary of musics, that started out from the streets of the South Bronx and clambered all the way to arrive at the pampered and pedicured dandy that presented the recent MTV Europe Awards, has tripped on its ego many times. This grossly over-inflated double album stands alongside the greatest excesses of ego ever committed to wax, a close cousin of flawed giants like 2Pac's 'All Eyez On Me' and Wu-Tang's 'Wu-Tang Forever'.If the levels of US media expectation that preceded Jay-Z's 'The Blueprint' album at that time seemed bizarre to a European audience that knew him as the MC responsible for that 'Annie' abomination, now we're all party to the hype. Jay-Z was catapulted to levels of global fame (and self-congratulation) that only Eminem amongst his contemporaries can hold a torch to. But, 'The Blueprint' succeeded in keeping its focus tight, concentrating on New York and the sound that Jay-Z comes from. It's sequel attempts to prove the master can turn his hand to every style from stalking West Coast Dre beats ('The Watcher 2') to skittering Dirty South rhythms ('Poppin Tags').It's a mistake. As is the absolute failure of this album to exercise any kind of process of selection. Lucky, then, that Jay-Z is working with some of the most talented producers in hip-hop and still getting grade-A beats from most of them. Timbaland once said that he was reserving the best of his work for a handful of artists, amongst them Jay-Z. On the evidence of his contributions to this album, the statement stands true. Both 'The Bounce' and 'What They Gonna Do' outshine almost every hip-hop production that the great man has put his name to (the majority of the recent Missy album included) since 'Hola Hovito'. Dre's here as well and Kayne West, Heavy D, Just Blaze and those Neptunes fellas. On the mic, appearances by Dre, Rakim and M.O.P. serve only to highlight the shortcomings of their host's monotone delivery.But things get off to a terrible start with the saccharine soundtrack portentousness of 'A Dream', which, perhaps in deference to the master that Jay-Z dared suggest had been surpassed, gives pole position to a posthumous performance from Biggie Smalls. Then there's 'Hovi Baby', as daft as the name suggests, with synths that would make Jean Michel Jarre hang his head in shame. Too often the production is tacky with synths dominating where Kayne West's triumph on 'The Blueprint' was to reintroduce the organic euphoria of classic soul. This album bathes in the sort of studio polish that might be expected from a 40-year-old veteran grown aesthetically numb (just listen to the Sergio Leone-sampling title track on which Jay-Z falls painfully short of rising to the occasion).But the weird thing is, as you plough on through this huge album, you discover that...
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