Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3 (September 8, 2009)

Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3

And here's Jay-Z's latest album, the third in a series, The Blueprint 3.

Jay-Z was set to drop his second sequel to 2001's The Blueprint eight years to the date the original released (and eight years to the date of the attack on the Twin Towers). However, around the beginning of September, Jay's new album leaked the internet and was downloaded and discussed the interbutts. Possibly feeling the heat, Jay and Roc Nation/Atlantic decided to push the date up to the earliest release date possible, yesterday, hoping to catch the misinformed off guard ("well, since it is out...").

Jay-Z's eleventh album is the first to be released under Roc Nation, after he chose to leave Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella. The hype for this album has lasted pretty long, especially for an album not named Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 or Detox. Back in January 2008, former Roc-A-Fella-signed DJ, DJ Clue, released a mixtape featuring a Jay-Z track titled "Ain't I", which Clue stated was off The Blueprint 3 (which Jay-Z firmly denied). Then rumors started up that Timbaland was producing the whole album, then Kanye West was producing the whole album. Then during Kanye's Glow in the Dark Tour, Hova himself came out on stage to perform "Jockin' Jay-Z (Dope Boy Fresh)", a Kanye-produced track that utilized a Run DMC sample ("I see you jockin' JC, 'cause he got a Mercedes and you know about his ladies"). Then another Kanye-produced song came out ("Brooklyn Go Hard", which featured Santogold), this one was released on the soundtrack for the film Notorious. The final of the trilogy of Kanye West produced supposed Blueprint 3 tracks would be "History" (my favorite out of the three), a song Jay-Z recorded after being on inspired by then-President-elect Barack Obama. He even got to perform the song at the Neighborhood Ball on Inauguration Night.

However, it wasn't until June of this year that the first ACTUAL song from The Blueprint 3 leaked/was released. "D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)" was dropped as the "street single" for TB3, with the first single, at that time it was supposed to be "Off That" featuring Drake, coming out in July. The first single was released in July, but "Off That" was replaced for the Kanye West & No I.D.-produced "Run This Town", featuring the previously mentioned producer (not No I.D.) and Rihanna. From there on, the album slowly leaked like molasses, until early September the whole jar fell to the floor.

And here we are... oh, and Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 is tomorrow.

1. What We Talkin' About (feat. Luke Steele)
Produced by Kanye West & No I.D.
First thing I noticed, Kanye (and No I.D.)'s production is not what you'd expect, especially for a Jay-Z album. Luke Steele, of The Sleepy Jackson and Empire of the Sun, has a really unneccessary chorus, as he could've easily been replaced by Uncredited Studio Singer #53 (he is the best USS after all, well, since USS #28 crushed his larynx in that lawn mowing accident). Oh, and Jay-Z's live freestyle that sparked the completely uninteresting Game/Jay beef (even though Jay hasn't even acknowledged the beef's existence) are here, too. Overall, though, this is a decent song, lackluster intro, though.

2. Thank You
Produced by Kanye West & No I.D.
Kanye and No I.D. channel some Dr. Dre here. The beat is really good and Jay actually sounds good on here. Jay thanks his fans on here. The lyric that stood out the most to me was "I was gonna kill a couple rappers/but they did it to themselves/I was gonna do it with the flow/but they did it with they sales/I was gonna 9/11 them/but they didn't need the help/and they did a good job/them boys is talented as hell", while I admit I do like that block, I must say I feel the phrase "9/11 them" was... oh... I don't know... unneccessary. Plus, there's actually a lot more 9/11 references in that verse. But, hey, at least he didn't call him and his co-horts "nine Bin Ladens" (looking at you, Raekwon).

3. D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)
Produced by No I.D.
If you have been at all paying attention to hip-hop during the summer, you've heard this song. You've formulated your opinions and you'll probably skip a review of it because you'd rather read about the songs you may or may not heard yet... but, too bad. I'm the boss 'round these parts. One thing I don't like, Jay-Z tells rappers to get aggressive in their songs, but throughout the song he has a flow that is anything but aggressive. One thing I do like, No I.D.'s beat. Let's hope he gets some more work soon. Also, I find it hilarious that this song was released in June and T-Pain is JUST NOW dissing Jay-Z.

4. Run This Town (feat. Kanye West & Rihanna)
Produced by Kanye West & No I.D.
When this song first dropped, I really was a fan. Despite Jay's annoying "WASSUP?" and "JEAH"s, this song is still really good. Rihanna sounds good on the hook, and this is coming from someone who does not fancy himself a Rihanna fan. But the best part of the song (not including Kanye and No I.D.'s beat) is Kanye's verse. Kanye murders Jay on his own shit. Also, the video's pretty good, too.

5. Empire State of Mind (feat. Alicia Keys)
Produced by Al Shux
This song is awesome. My favorite song from the album. Al Shux (who)'s beat is good and Alicia Keys's chorus is good. It just makes me wanna toss on my Yankees hat ("I made the Yankee hat more famous than the Yankee game") and insult some Sox fans... myself being a Sox fan. When I first listened to the song, the accent Jay put on at the end of some of his words kind of annoyed me. Now, however, I'm used to it. So I got over that... you can, too.

6. Real As It Gets (feat. Young Jeezy)
Produced by The Inkredibles
Ugh. The beat's boring and Young Jeezy does nothing but annoy me The only good thing I can say is at least Jeezy didn't ruin a good song, like he did to Kanye's "Amazing". However, I can only say this because this isn't a good song.

7. On to the Next One (feat. Swizz Beatz)
Produced by Swizz Beatz
I don't understand why Swizz Beatz continues to get feature credits. NOTHING he's done vocal-wise has ever been of importance. "Hov on that new shit, n---as like how come/N---as want my old shit, buy my old album", this makes little to no sense, since The Blueprint 3 is a sequel to The Blueprint... surely, there'd be some continuity in the sound, right? As for the song quality, this would classify as a SKIP.

8. Off That (feat. Drake)
Produced by Timbaland
What was supposed to be the first single. I listened to the leak when it's came out and I admittedly didn't like it. After a couple more listens, I could at least stand it. Here? It's still not my favorite Jay song, or Jay/Timbo collaboration for that matter, but it could be worse. A lot worse. I do have to admit, I like lines directed at Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh. "This ain't black vs. white, my n---a, we off that/please tell Bill O'Reilly to fall back/tell Rush Limbaugh to get off my balls/it's 2010, not 1864".

9. A Star is Born (feat. J. Cole)
Produced by Kanye West & No I.D.
Jay provides to time to give the first Roc Nation artist not named Shawn Carter some time to show off. J. Cole (who's dropped two mixtapes so far, The Come Up and The Warm Up, I downloaded the latter). In Jay's three verses, he drops more names than The Game on any given Sunday. Jay even mentions Eminem's guest appearance on "Renegade", calling it "fucking awesome". J. Cole's only verse is pretty good. Overall, chalk it up to "good".

10. Venus vs. Mars
Produced by Timbaland
Timbo provides a minimalist beat for Jay laces the song with some simple, yet awesome lyrics. The chorus sucks, though. A lot.

11. Already Home (feat. Kid Cudi)
Produced by Kanye West
Kid Cudi, who's album drops next week, drops by for the chorus, which sounds pretty good. Kanye's production is the best he has on the album. Jay's lyrics are good, making this a pretty good track, rivaling "Empire State of Mind" as the best track on the album.

12. Hate (feat. Kanye West)
Produced by Kanye West
Kanye gives Jay something that really wouldn't have sounded out of place on Yeezy's 808s & Heartbreak. I seem to be in the minority here, in the fact that I actually enjoy this song. While it's not the best song these two can put out ("Diamonds of Sierra Leone (Remix)" comes to mind) and while I have to admit that The Ye & Jay Connection's lyrics aren't what up to the standard they could be, for some reason I enjoy the song. You probably don't...

13. Reminder
Produced by Timbaland
This isn't bad... not very good, either. Let's just say "meh" and move on.

14. So Ambitious (feat. Pharrell)
Produced by The Neptunes
Admitedly, I am not a fan of Jay and Neptunes/Pharrell collaborations, but something about this makes it more enjoyable than other collaboration. I like the beat. And Pharrell doesn't bother me too much. In fact, I'd actually say his chorus is... good.

15. Young Forever (feat. Mr Hudson)
Produced by Kanye West
I'm also in the minority on this song, too. Most people don't like this song, the typical complaint being Mr Hudson's chorus and the fact that the song samples and interpolates "Forever Young" by Alphaville. On first listen, I was unsure about the song. And then every other listen I began to like it more and more, going from "very, very meh" to "decent", and now, to "good". I'd also place this as one of my favorite tracks from the album. Good ender, in my opinion

Conclusion: The Blueprint 3 is a good album. It's nowhere near the garbage that some people claim it is. Nor does it live up to the original Blueprint album. It's better than the second, though. My main problem lies within the fact that the album is supposed to be a continuation of The Blueprint, but it sounds nothing like the acclaimed album, thanks to Kanye West's production, Jay-Z's heavy reliance on guest artists (even if 8 out of the 12 guests only appear for the choruses), and the fact that the album has more of a pop influence than other Jay-Z albums. Overall, I think the album is worth a purchase (I'd suggest Best Buy, $9.99 if you get it soon).

And below is an alternative cover that I personally like better and use for iTunes and my iPod...

Video Music Box: Jay-Z - Run This Town (feat. Kanye West & Rihanna)

Jay-Z |MTV Music

http://www.mtvmusic.com/jay_z/videos/429303/run_this_town.jhtml

Introducing the newest of the gimmick posts, Video Music Box. With it's name swiped from the TV show of the same name, I'll take a look at the newest hip-hop video drop. For it's first edition, we begin with Jay-Z's new Rihanna & Kanye West-assisted single, "Run This Town."

Directed by Anthony Mandler (who also directed the video for Jay's other Blueprint 3 single, "D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)" looks sort of post-apocalyptic, sort of underground. The premise is pretty much that Jay, Kanye, and Rihanna are the leaders of a militia. Fire's everywhere, everyone's dressed in black ("all black everything"), there's plenty of torches, black bandanas, police batons. Let me just put a quick description of this video in two words: Shit's hot.

The moment this video drops on iTunes, I'm downloading it and sticking it on my iPod. That's how damn good it is. But if that wasn't enough, I'd go so far to say "Best Video of 2009". It doesn't hurt that the song ain't to shabby, either.

Just a quick definition of Video Music Box, I do a quick review about a music video. This isn't emant to be album review length, it's just a quick post for me to not get distracted or too procrastinated and to raise up the total post count.

EDIT: The OnSmash link went down, so I embedded to what is probably one of the few reliable links, MTV.

Jay-Z - Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life (September 19, 1998)

Jay-Z - Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life

Review #11|Post #16

Oh, I'm sorry, is my East coast bias showing?

I seem to be flipping around through the Jay-Z discography, though my reason for skipping In My Lifetime, Vol 1. is simply that I don't have the album. Since Reasonable Doubt is already reviewed, I might as well continue the Jay discog by going to the next album I have.

Shawn Carter's second album, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1, was criticized for being too commercial and marked towards the club. Jay, facing what could've been the end of his street credibility, learned from his mistakes and tried to make most of the album what made Reasonable Doubt so great.

Most.

Jay still wanted women to shake their asses to his song in the club. And as such, it was still more radio/club-friendly then Reasonable Doubt. But it was more for the street and for the hip hop head. So radio-friendly hits combined with songs for the street.

Was it a good combination?

1. Intro: Hand It Down (feat. Memphis Bleek)
Produced by DJ Premier
DJ Premier's only contribution is a two minute intro. It features Memphis Bleek spitting. And, to be honest, he doesn't sound that bad. Just goes to show you how anyone can sound good over a DJ Premier beat.

2. Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)
Produced by The 45 King
You've heard this before, don't play that game. You know that it was Jigga's biggest charting single at that time. And should also know that this song still holds up today, despite being a little under eleven years old.

3. If I Should Die (feat. Da Ranjahz)
Produced by Swizz Beatz
Swizz's beat here sucks. And it gets annoying pretty quickly. And what the hell ever happened to Da Ranjahz? They sound decent here...

4. Ride or Die
Produced by Stevie J for The Hitmen
The only track produced by a member of The Hitmen. And with good reason. The beat is boring. The chorus sucks, too. Jay's lyrics get boring after a while.

5. N---a What, N---a Who (Originator 99) (feat. Big Jaz)
Produced by Timbaland
Back in 1989, Big Jaz had a song called "The Originators" which featured a young Jay-Z. Jaz was doing Jay a favor and giving him a chance to shine (in the same way Big L and Big Daddy Kane featured Jay on their albums). Well, now it's nearly 10 years later, and Jay's bigger than Jaz will ever be. And as a way of saying thanks, Jay allows Jaz to hop on the first Jay/Timbo collaboration. Jay even uses the quick flow he had on pre-Reasonable Doubt tracks. Both Jay and Jaz sound good, and have good chemistry with each other, too bad that nowadays, Jay is tossing in lame shots at Jaz on Ludacris tracks ("shout to Grandmaster Flash and the cash and even Jaz bum ass").

6. Money, Cash, Hoes (feat. DMX)
Produced by Swizz Beatz
Wow, you know a track is old when it was released back when DMX was relevant. At one point in time, he was a hot commodity, now he's too busy dressing up like cops and not understanding Barack Obama's name to release an album. Onto the song, once again, Swizz Beatz's beat annoys me. Primarily the keyboard thing that repeats itself. Jay and DMX sound good, though.

7. A Week Ago (feat. Too $hort)
Produced by J-Runnah
I'll never understand why MCs get other good MCs to appear on a track, and then just decide to make them do the hook. Hell, Too $hort only does half of the chorus. Was he really needed on the track? The song's good though. Jay's lyrics are on-point and J-Runnah's beat is decent enough to not annoy me.

8. Coming of Age (Da Sequel) (feat. Memphis Bleek)
Produced by Swizz Beatz
So to evoke feelings of Reasonable Doubt, Jay decides to make a sequel to the Clark Kent-produced "Coming of Age", which featured Memphis Bleek. Memphis comes back around spit on the sequel, and, as you presumably guessed, the original is much better. The two pass the mic back and forth in what is a good song... even if it's not better than the original.

9. Can I Get A... (feat. Amil & Ja Rule)
Produced by Irv Gotti & Lil' Rob
A top 20 charting single that could be called responsible for the fact Ja Rule was remotely popular. And as a result, I can't get behind this. Plus the fact that Irv & Rob's beat is really boring.

10. Paper Chase (feat. Foxy Brown)
Produced by Timbaland
This ain't no "Aint No N---a".

11. Reservoir Dogs (feat. The L.O.X., Beanie Sigel, & Sauce Money)
Produced by Erick Sermon
By this point, Sauce Money had decided to chase his dreams and quit the pizza delivery business to become an MC. However, he had to pay the rent, so he took up a job for delivery Chinese takeout. He got lucky again and delivered to the Roc-A-Fella studio and was given a guest verse. Beanie Sigel and The LOX are here, with Sigel providing his first verse as part of the Roc-A-Fella family. Jada provides the best verse out of D-Block, but Jay and Sauce have the best verses here. Oh, and Erick Sermon's on production.

12. It's Like That (feat. Kid Capri)
Produced by Kid Capri
Kid Capri's beat is simple and Jigga's lyrics are good. That combination makes this a pretty good track.

These are considered bonus tracks... I guess...

13. It's Alright (feat. Memphis Bleek)
Produced by Damon Dash & Mahogany
This was originally on the Streets is Watching soundtrack. Bleek actually sounds pretty good on here. However, if I'm looking for good songs featuring Bleek on this album, I'd pick the intro every time.

14. Money Ain't a Thang (feat. Jermaine Dupri)
Produced by Jermaine Dupri
Originally from Jermaine's solo album Life in 1472. Doesn't sound too bad, but it doesn't too good, either. It's a meh track.

Conclusion: I suggest you hit up a hip-hop downloads blog and download this. It's a decent album, but I can't suggest you go out and spend your hard earned money on this, when there are more important things in the world. Like rehab for that nasty heroin habit of your's. That's be a good thing to spend it on...

Also By Jay-Z
Reasonable Doubt (June 25, 1996)
The Blueprint (September 11, 2001)
The Black Album (November 14, 2003)

Coming Soon
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...
Slaughterhouse - Slaughterhouse
Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

Jay-Z - The Black Album (November 14, 2003)

Jay-Z - The Black Album

Jay-Z has considered retirement for a while. He was planning on dropping Reasonable Doubt and leaving the hip-hop game.

But that all changed when Notorious B.I.G. died. Shortly after that, Jay decided to come back. And he made a career for himself as one of the best ever in hip-hop. Having gone platinum more times than any artist should, Jay decided to call it quits. And such, he began working on his retirement album, The Black Album.

The Black Album was originally set to feature 12 tracks with 12 different producers (such as DJ Premier) and it was supposed to be a return to Reasonable Doubt. It would be a record "for the streets."

However, that's not how The Black Album turned out. Would it have been better that way? Who knows. Is it still good in it's own? Let's find out...

1. Interlude
Produced by Just Blaze
This is just really a Just Blaze produced intro. And as such, you'll probably skip it, like I do.

2. December 4th
Produced by Just Blaze
Jay-Z brings along his mother, Gloria Carter, to narrate a song about Jay's life, from birth to his leaving. This song was also Jay's "swan song," being that it was the last song performed at the Fade to Black concert. The beat, while not Just Blaze's best, is pretty good. And Jay-Z's lyrics are on point, making this a pretty damn good song.

If you can't respect that, your whole perspective is wack, maybe you'll love me when I fade to black...

3. What More Can I Say
Produced by The Buchannans
I have no idea who The Buchannans are, but their beat is pretty meh. The beginning features a sample from Gladiator, starring Russell Crowe. This song was the opening song to the Fade to Black concert. And the concert sucks. Jay-Z's lyrics are decent, making this a meh track. He also tosses in a sly 50 Cent diss and a backhanded compliment to Busta Rhymes near the end of the track.

4. Encore
Produced by Kanye West
Kanye provides production and some additional vocals (alongside John Legend), while Jay just rips the fucking track to shreds. HOVA. HOVA. HOVA.

5. Change Clothes
Produced by The Neptunes
The first single. I've never been a fan of Pharrell's hooks, and this isn't an exception. Jay sounds decent, well, as decent as he can over a radio ready track. However, I typically find myself skipping right on to...

6. Dirt Off Your Shoulder
Produced by Timbaland
The best damn song on the album. While I don't fancy myself a fan of Jay/Timbo collaborations, Timbo's beat sounds pretty damn good, and Jay-Z just kills the beat.

7. Threat
Produced by 9th Wonder & Jay-Z
Jay-Z really only gets production credits for finding the R. Kelly sample, but whatever. 9th Wonder, then of Little Brother, provides an awesome beat which Jay-Z owns. Not to mention Jay sounds like he'd kill you for giving him one too many ice cubes in his drink. So don't do that. For the record, he likes five ice cubes, doggie.

8. Moment of Clarity
Produced by Eminem & Luis Resto
Eminem drops by and decides not to murder Jay on his own shit. However, his productions sounds like every other beat he's done. And as such, it starts to sound boring, even though Jay's lyrics are pretty good.

9. 99 Problems
Produced by Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin takes a break in producing great Johnny Cash CDs and decides to provide Jay-Z with one of the best beats on the album, which he proceeds to rip, making this the second best song on the album.

10. Public Service Announcement (Interlude)
Produced by Just Blaze
Sponsored by Just Blaze and the good folks at Roc-A-Fella Records. This song is the best song out of all the Jay/Just Blaze collaborations that we've gotten along the years, right behind it are "U Don't Know" and "December 4th."


11. Justify My Thug
Produced by DJ Quik
I don't think I've heard much DJ Quik production... and this song doesn't make me want to run out and pick up anything with his name on it. Hell, it makes me want to throw any disc I see with his name on it against the wall. Because this is the worst track on the album.

12. Lucifer
Produced by Kanye West
Kanye drops by and hands Jay another good beat, and for that, he gets a shout out. "Kanyeezy, you did it again! You a genius!" Jay sounds good, and while this isn't as good as "Encore," it looks a lot better than it is, when you think that "Justify My Thug" preceeded the song.

13. Allure
Produced by The Neptunes
The Neptunes drop back and again to piss me off with a pretty bad song. Damn you, Pharrell and Chad!

14. My 1st Song
Produced by Aqua & Joe "3H" Weinberger
So for what could be Hov's final song, he enlists some no namers such as Aqua and Joe Weinberger? This is a good song, but in no way should this be the final track of Hova's career (it's not, we all know he's dropped 2 albums since then, working on the 3rd). Should be replaced with December 4th, you know... since the final line... yeah...

Conclusion: You already have this. Don't be playing that. If you don't.. what the hell, man? Go pick this shit up!

Also By Jay-Z
Reasonable Doubt (June 25, 1996)
The Blueprint (September 11, 2001)

Coming Up Next
Well, I'm not 100% sure, but I can say it's an album with Hova getting some guest credits. Get to speculatin'.

Jay-Z - The Blueprint (September 11, 2001)

Jay-Z - The Blueprint

Why am I skipping from Reasonable Doubt to The Blueprint in the terms of Jay-Z discography? Simply because I have recently watched (watching as of the write up of the history behind the album) Jay-Z's "final" show at Madison Square Garden in the movie Fade to Black, and I downloaded some Just Blaze instrumentals, AND, well, I decided to listen to Jay's second bonafide classic.

The Blueprint was released on September 11th, 2001, a date better known as 9/11. Being only 9 at the time and not having much interest in hip-hop (let alone music) and not understanding what exactly the attacks meant and how significant they were, I was more disappointed with sports being postponed for two weeks or so. However, even with what happened on that day, Jay-Z still managed to move enough units to debut at the top of the Billboard 200.

Rumor has it, the Blueprint classic/couldn't even be stopped by Bin Laden

- Jay-Z on "The Bounce" from The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse

In promotion for the album, Jay released one single before the release (Izzo (H.O.V.A.)). The single charted at 8 on the Billboard 100. Following the release, "Girls, Girls, Girls" and "Jigga That N---a" were released as singles, charting at 17 and 66, respectively. Overall, the album was a commercial and critical success, remarkable since the date it was released on.

But you should know this. So let's begin...

1. The Ruler's Back
Produced by Bink
Jay-Z decides to say "fuck the intro!" and, instead, channels Slick Rick here by referring to himself as The Ruler. MC Ricky D already did that, Shawn.

2. Takeover
Produced by Kanye West
You've heard this song. Don't play that. You know he disses Prodigy and Nas. You know that if it weren't for Ether, we'd probably classify this song as "the diss that crushed Nas's career." You know this... maaaaaan.

3. Izzo (H.O.V.A.)
Produced by Kanye West
The first and biggest single released from The Blueprint. And for a radio ready track, this is pretty damn good.

4. Girls, Girls, Girls
Produced by Just Blaze
Q-Tip, Biz Markie, and Slick Rick all share hook duties... what a waste of talent. At least it could've made a potential consumer do a double take when he looked at the tracklist. In the song, Jay describes all the women he's currently dating, listing their qualities. A really cheesy idea, but it sounds pretty good.

5. Jigga That N---a
Produced by Trackmasters
Well... doesn't this suck.

6. U Don't Know
Produced by Just Blaze
One of the best Jay/Blaze collaborations. This song received a remix featuring M.O.P., which you can find on The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse, which is pretty good and one of the better tracks on a lackluster album.

7. Hola' Hovita
Produced by Timbaland
Timbo drops by for his only contribution, which sounds pretty good production-wise, but then Jay ruins it with lackluster rhymes. This could've been good, damnit!

8. Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)
Produced by Kanye West
And here's the best Kanye produced track on the album. Really soulful. One of the best tracks on here. Plus, it was in the American Gangster trailer. So... you know... that gives it some points (if only because American Gangster is an awesome movie).

9. Never Change
Produced by Kanye West
Good track... though, that's really all that I can think of to describe this.

10. Song Cry
Produced by Just Blaze
This track is just fucking awesome. Not your typical Blaze production, but it still sounds good. Plus, Jay's lyrics sound sincere. Overall, second best song on here.

11. All I Need
Produced by Bink
I'm gonna channel some Max from Hip Hop Isn't Dead here and just say meh.

12. Renegade (feat. Eminem)
Produced by Eminem

And Eminem murdered you on your own shit...

- Nas on "Ether" from Stillmatic

13. Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)
Produced by Bink
And Jay lets us roll out with a downbeat song. Pretty good, but in the term of downbeat outro songs, "Regrets" and "Where Have You Been" own this. Not complaining, though.

These are considered bonus tracks, hidden within the realms of "Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)"...

Breathe Easy (Lyrical Excercise)
Produced by Just Blaze
Hov swipes Cormega's "Dead Man Walking" and just rips it to shreds.

Girls, Girls, Girls (Part 2)
Produced by Kanye West
Kanye West drops by and provides his remix to an already good song. It's not really necessary, but meh, it's decent.

Conclusion: I'd say you should pick this up. Odds are, you already have it. In which case, I say you should listen to it again.

Also by Jay-Z
Reasonable Doubt (June 25, 1996)

Coming up next is Jay-Z's The Black Album.

Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt (June 25, 1996)

Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt

Here we go, blog #3. Shawn Carter was born December 4, 1969. After spending years selling crack and freestyling and appearing on other artists' (Jaz-O, Big Daddy Kane, Big L, Mic Geronimo), Shawn started up his own record label, called Roc-A-Fella, alongside his mentor Jaz-O (who he's now taken to dissing) and Dame Dash (who split from the label).

With the release of this album, Jay took the subgenre "mafioso rap" to the highest point it's been since Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... (OB4CL2 is coming out September 8th, with the first single coming out Tuesday... supposedly). Hov's debut has been cited as a classic, and used to justify his positioning on a "Top MCs of All Time" list. It's also placed on the "Top Hip-Hop Albums of All Time." All this despite not selling a lot of copies, but you know that the best albums usually seem to be the ones ignored by the consumers.

For Reasonable Doubt, Jay brought along some good producers (DJ Premier, Ski, DJ Clark Kent, Big Jaz) and good features (The Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Big Jaz, Sauce Money) for his mafioso classic.

...another boring intro. Damnit.

1. Can't Knock the Hustle (feat. Mary J. Blige)
Produced by Knobody & The Hitmen
Pain in da Ass does a 40 second, uncredited intro over the sound of a heartbeat before Jay jumps into rhyming. I don't like the beat on this. It sounds like first beat I learned when playing the drums. The lyrics are good, though, but as a total package... it's boring.

2. Politics as Usual
Produced by Ski
Much better beat. The lyrics are on point. This would've been a much better opening song, as it actually keeps your attention.

3. Brooklyn's Finest (feat. The Notorious B.I.G.)
Produced by Clark Kent
I think this might be the only collaboration between Biggie and Jay that was released in B.I.G.'s lifetime. I could be wrong though, but I can't recall any. The beat's not what you think it would be for a collab like this, but I like it. The two trade the mic back and worth, with a quick chorus interrupting them. I really like this song. Biggie's "joke," I say that because it doesn't come off as one, is really... awkward.

4. Dead Presidents II
Produced by Ski
Jay released the original "Dead Presidents" as the first single off Reasonable Doubt about four months before the album dropped. And when it did, the song was off it, but replaced with this one, it's got the same beat and the same chorus, but different lyrics. Why? Oh, and a track called "Dead Presidents III" was put on tracklists for American Gangster a while back (so were collabs with Kanye and T.I.). If I recall correctly, the song actually leaked... I should go find it. ANYWAY... this track is my second favorite off the album. Oh, and it started the whole Jay/Nas feud... so that's worth noting... yeah.

5. Feelin' It (feat. Mecca)
Produced by Ski
The final single off the album... it brings one question to my mind: Who the fuck is Mecca? Still a good track.

6. D'Evils
Produced by DJ Premier
The first of three Premo contributions to the album. I'm gonna keep this track short and just describe it with one word: AWESOME.

7. 22 Two's
Produced by Ski
Somewhere, I remember reading a 44 Four's when looking over a Jay-Z track listing. I think it was of the Reasonable Doubt 10 Anniversary Concert. He swipes the chorus from A Tribe Called Quest's "Can I Kick It?" The random talk show intro in the beginning is not really necessary. The "freestyle" (yeah, right...) is awesome. The beat's decent, too.

8. Can I Live
Produced by DJ Irv
"DJ Irv" would obviously be Irv Gotti... heh. Sounds pretty good... which is weird considering "DJ Irv" here is responsible for giving the hip-hop world Ja Rule.

9. Ain't No Nigga (feat. Foxy Brown)
Produced by Big Jaz
Big Jaz drops by to give Jay a beat and then leaves (don't worry, he'll be back). It's all good up until Foxy's verse.... which doesn't sound too bad, but I don' feel like it fits the song.

10. Friend or Foe
Produced by DJ Premier
Hey, Premo's back. That's always good. Third favorite off Reasonable Doubt. This needs to be longer. Had it been around 3 minutes, it would definitely be second favorite. (OOOOOOO... SECOND FAVORITE.)

11. Coming of Age (feat. Memphis Bleek)
Produced by Clark Kent
Oh, hey, look, it's Jay-Z's replacement. Thank God that when Jay retired, we got Memphis Bleek in his place... right? Wrong. What the hell is Memphis doing nowadays? The only time I've seen his name pop up this year was when he randomly got a guest appearance on that Wale/9th Wonder mixtape that dropped a month ago. But it's not like he deserves to be Jay's replacement... he almost ruins a good song. Almost. Oh, and part of the final verse (where Jay and Bleek steal the mic from each other) comes off as gay...

Jay: Hey, fella, I been watchin' you clockin'.
Bleek: Who? Me? Holdin' down this block, it ain't nothin'. You the man n----, stop frontin'.
Jay: Haha, I like yo style...
Bleek: Nah, I like YO style.
Jay: Let's drive around for a while.
Bleek: Cool, n----.
Jay: Here's a thou.

Bleek: Till death do us part.

You can check Cracked for more unintentionally gay lyrics.

12. Cashmere Thoughts
Produced by Clark Kent
This beat sucks... just saying. Hov's lyrics are good, though. That's beginning to be a running theme throughout the album... I'm not complainin'.

13. Bring It On (feat. Big Jaz & Sauce Money)
Produced by DJ Premier
Jaz must've drove around in circles and had to reenter the studio to ask Jay for directions and decided to hop on Premier's final contribution for the album. Sauce Money must've brought the pizzas to the studio, and since he was a such nice delivery boy, Jay offered him a spot on the album. That's not to say he's not good on the track, much better than Memphis Bleek. Same with Jaz. The beats good, ut the song is my least favorite out of the three Premier contributions, but it's still awesome.

14. Regrets
Produced by Peter Panic
Who the hell is Peter Panic? Whoever he is, he produced a simple beat. Pretty good song, would start a trend of downbeat songs ending the albums.

I have a version containing one more bonus track...

15. Can I Live II (feat. Memphis Bleek)
Produced by K-Rob
YAY. ANOTHER TRACK WITH MEMPHIS BLEEK. YIPPIE. And who the hell is K-Rob? I'll just finish this here by saying that I personally prefer the first one.

Conclusion: Reasonable Doubt definitely holds up after 13 years its been out. With a total of 14 tracks (15 on my version), there's 6 great songs on here, 6 good songs, and 2 meh songs (3 with Can I Live II). What does that all mean? Well, it means you should go get this right now, because it's a great fucking album. Run, children... run.

Depending on how tired I am, there might be another review in a couple hours. If not, then you can expect it during the day.

Track Reviews #1: Crooked I, Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Royce da 5'9", & 2Pac

Introducing the first of several "gimmick" posts, I'll have, I'm introducing Track Reviews. Yes, I know. Very creative name, right? Basically, what I'll be doing here is reviewing random tracks that came out in the past week/24 hours. This one is based around the tracks that came out today, since a lot of shit dropped. We have two Crooked I tracks, the first Jay-Z single, a Kid Cudi joint, a Royce joint, and fifteen unreleased Pac tracks (I only have two).

Let's go in...

Crooked I - 8-11
Crooked jumps on 50 Cent's "Ok, You're Right" (produced by Dr. Dre). At the beginning, Crooked talks about installing a studio on the tour bus to release a track every week (Hip Hop Weekly: Part 2?). As Slaughterhouse fans know, the title is obviously a reference to the Slaughterhouse debut (an album I'm gonna cop and one you need to). In the middle of the song, the beat stops and all you hear is a siren, while Crooked references the short-lived Slaughterhouse/Inspectah Deck feud that went on for a minute. The beat starts back up and Crook goes back in. A really good track, got me looking forward to Slaughterhouse's debut and to the possible Hip Hop Weekly 2.

Crooked I - 8-11 (Pt. 2)
So, I had just finished up the first edition of Track Reviews when I decided to hop on NahRight to make sure I got everything. Turns out, I didn't. 14 more unreleased Pac joints are out there, plus Crooked I released a second 8-11, this time over a local producer called Qwest. One thing I noticed immediately was "The House of the Rising Sun" sample which is pretty prevelent through the whole song. The beat's more mellow than "Ok, You're Right," which is actually better. I think part 2 is better than the original. "I just sit and watch the internet ride rapper's dicks, giving 'em five stars, I kill 'em in five bars." Best line. Once again, Slaughterhouse drops August 11th. Cop it.

Jay-Z - Run This Town (feat. Rihanna & Kanye West)
Produced by Kanye, this is the first REAL single from The Blueprint 3, replacing "Off That" with Drake. This is one I've been waiting for, a Jay/Kanye collabo on a Jay album (not counting "The Bounce," which sucked). Rihanna's on the hook and sounds good. This along with "D.O.A." really has me looking forward to The Blueprint 3. I've heard Kanye and Rihanna refered to as Jay's little bro and little sis respectively and I actually agree with that. I've also heard a lot of people claiming Kanye was better than Jay on this song. I'd say that's true, but Jay wasn't bad himself. The Blueprint 3 drops September 11th.

Kid Cudi - Call Me Moon Man
An unreleased Cudi joint, one that I'm not exactly sure is going to be on Man on the Moon, but that won't stop by from looking forward to it. September's looking good, Raekwon, Kid Cudi, Jay-Z, Megadeth, Dethklok (yes, I'm gonna be reviewing metal. Yayz?) This joint's like Mr. Solo Dolo and Day 'N' Nite, it's not your typical hip-hop song, but it's great. September 15th.

Royce da 5'9" - 8-11
Royce joins Crooked in releasing a track dedicated to hype up the Slaughterhouse debut. I have no idea what beat Royce is on, or even if he's on one, since the beginning features a woman singing "8-11... all must fall." Royce is my favorite out of Slaughterhouse, looking forward to the Street Hop album he's putting out this year (6 Premier joints). I actually prefer this to Crook's joint.

2Pac - Changed Man (feat. Big Syke & Nate Dogg)
I have no idea where this song is from or if it's unreleased as I picked it up when Ivan from Hip Hop Is Read linked me to it on Twitter. Anyway, I still don't like Big Syke. Never have, never will. Nate Dogg on the other hand, he's awesome. Tops everyone in the hook department. 2Pac sounds good, which he always did.

2Pac - If There's a Cure (I Don't Want It) (feat. Snoop Dogg)
I also got this from Ivan on Twitter. I prefer it to Changed Man. Whenever Snoop and Pac are on the same track, you know it's gonna be good (e.g., 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted). And, also, according to NahRight, 14 other unreleased Pac tracks leaked today (which I can't get, since it's on zshare).

There we go. If anything noteworthy drops tonight (like Joe and Joell's version of 8-11... maybe...?) I'll update it. Next review probably coming later tonight... depends, I'm on a roll at the moment.