The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse
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CRITIC REVIEWS
90
The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse approaches the difficult task of trumping a creative and commercial peak the way you’d expect: by turning the music (and the bombast) high, high, higher.
10y
80
Jay-Z has upped the commercial rap ante once again. ‘The Blueprint 2’ has state of the art club tracks, introspective ditties, violent face-offs and ghetto truths ripped from memory, tweaked sound-wise by Timbaland, The Neptunes, Dr Dre and Just Blaze amongst others.
10y
80
Its predecessor’s praise was due in-part because it revolved around the same soulful sound. But in the same breath, The Gift & The Curse wins because of Jay-Z’s experimentation and the fact that he didn’t try and make the same album again.
11y
75
There's no deep concept or surrounding purpose behind this record: it's just pure confidence. Jay weaves his way through every imaginable style and flavor with unyielding expertise.
13y
60
Though his raps can't compete with the concentrated burst on The Blueprint, there's at least as many great tracks on tap, if only listeners have enough time to find them.
13y
60
On Vol. 2 Jay-Hova ups the ante, producing something of a hip-hop “White Album”: two discs worth of party anthems and serious songwriting, with a small army of guest rhymers and producers in tow.
60
While the first Blueprint was lean and focused, this one is a flabby beast within which lurks a potentially great single volume.
60
Ultimately, Jay-Z might be the best MC of his generation, but he needs an editor. Cut to a single album, The Blueprint 2 could be classic, but at 25 tracks it's more mess than magic.
10mo
Picks up Webster's dictionary
Looks for definition of "bloated"
Next to it is The Blueprint 2
Even though this is a huge double album, Jay-Z holds his own and keeps it mostly interesting across its 25 tracks. The album isn’t without flaws and obviously has a good amount of filler tracks and about a/4th of the tracks could have been removed. But most of this album is filled by solid or decent performances from Hov, the features are pretty good, and the production is good. It isn’t as great as Blueprint 1, in fact it doesn’t come even come close but I feel like despite ... read more
RATING: 78.6/100
1 year after the amazing Blueprint, Jay released The Blueprint 2, which is a double album???
A double album was a first for Jay, I'm saying that it's not complete garbage.
Is it perfect? No. It is as awful as people say? Also No.
The thing is, it's pretty bloated, but the "filler" tracks aren't half bad.
There isn't many bad tracks, the production is brilliant.
The biggest flaw i have with it is the remix of "U Don't Know".
I swear that's one of the worst ... read more
This is Jay's worst album in my opinion. Its too long, bloated and has some of Jay's worst tracks like Fuck All Nite, A Ballad Of A Fallen Soldier, What They Gonna Do and As One. Meet The Parents, Excuse Me Miss, Poppin' Tags, The Bounce, I Did It My Way, Hovi Baby and Some People Hate are all great but that's not enough for this album, let alone one from Jay-Z
Side A
A Dream (ft Faith Evans, Biggie Smalls) — 9/10
Hovi Baby — 9/10
The Watcher 2 (ft Dr. Dre, Rakim, Truth Hurts) — 7/10
‘03 Bonnie and Clyde (ft Beyoncé) — 8/10
Excuse Me Miss — 8/10
What They Gonna Do (ft Sean Paul) — 8/10
All Around the World (ft LaToiya Williams) — 8/10
Poppin’ Tags (ft Big Boi, Killer Mike, Twista) — 9/10
Fuck All Nite — 7/10
The Bounce (ft Kanye West) — 7/10
Side B
Diamonds is Forever ... read more
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Track List
The Gift
| 1 | A Dream 4:12 feat. The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | 78 |
| 2 | Hovi Baby 4:21 | 80 |
| 3 | The Watcher 2 5:57 | 87 |
| 4 | '03 Bonnie & Clyde 3:26 feat. BeyoncΓ© | 88 |
| 5 | Excuse Me Miss 4:41 | 81 |
| 6 | What They Gonna Do 4:54 feat. Sean Paul | 56 |
| 7 | All Around the World 3:53 feat. LaToiya Williams | 79 |
| 8 | Poppin' Tags 6:00 | 86 |
| 9 | Fuck All Nite 4:19 | 71 |
| 10 | The Bounce 4:19 feat. Kanye West | 74 |
| 11 | I Did It My Way 3:43 | 76 |
The Curse
| 1 | Diamond Is Forever 3:56 | 74 |
| 2 | Guns & Roses 4:26 feat. Lenny Kravitz | 57 |
| 3 | U Don't Know (Remix) 4:27 feat. M.O.P. | 70 |
| 4 | Meet the Parents 4:59 | 81 |
| 5 | Some How Some Way 5:38 feat. Scarface, Beanie Sigel | 72 |
| 6 | Some People Hate 4:32 | 69 |
| 7 | Blueprint² 4:49 | 75 |
| 8 | Nigga Please 4:38 feat. Young Chris | 47 |
| 9 | 2 Many Hoes 3:34 | 42 |
| 10 | As One 3:49 | 54 |
| 11 | A Ballad for the Fallen Soldier 4:42 | 64 |
| 12 | Show You How 2:59 Bonus Track | 61 |
| 13 | Bitches & Sisters 2:39 Bonus Track | 55 |
| 14 | What They Gonna Do Part II 3:47 Bonus Track | 46 |
Total Length: 1 hour, 48 minutes
