THE BLUEPRINT

I'm still just poking and prodding with rap, and I decided a good next step would be what might be the most acclaimed hip hop album of the last decade. It was released way back on 9/11, the same day when the towers fell. I don't know what it means that one of New York's most prominent rappers released possibly his best album on the same day of the city's worst tragedy, but there's definitely something interesting about it. Unlike using the events of that day to make political points though, The Blueprint still feels relevant nine years later. It helped lead a shift back towards using samples in rap beats, as Jay-Z and the various producers on the album (including Kanye West before he launched his own career) took a lot of 70s R&B and soul, and even a bit of The Doors, and made it sound new, with pretty much every track having its own sound yet a consistent feel with a heavy dose of bass. Some of the vocal samples are pitch-changed, and they're all used to add depth to the sound, and the album never sounds boring. I think Jay-Z is a talented lyricist and a pretty good rapper, but the star of the record for me is definitely the music.I still remember a couple of the album's singles from back when they were playing on MTV, though they're honestly among my least favorite songs. They're not bad, and "Girls, Girls, Girls" redeems itself a bit with the second part crammed onto the end of the twelve minute final track, but most of the other songs just seem to have more heart and more interesting moments. The content of the album is heavily autobiographical as would probably be expected, and also a bit defensive, as he was getting some backlash at the time for being presumptuous about his place in the scene, although he's still very confident in his own greatness. To be honest though, I think the single best verse on the album belongs to Eminem, who collaborates on the track "Renegade" which is apparently a remake of one they did earlier. It's overall an extremely good song, with a beat that's unique to the album and some extraordinary lyrics from both rappers. "Takeover" is another one that sounds a bit different from the rest, and features some pretty brutal disses including two bars at the end that pretty brilliantly wave aside just about everyone. There's plenty of other good songs on the album, and there's not really a point in naming them because it's just such a consistently high quality achievement.

Peep "Renegade," "Heart of the City," and "Hola Hovito"

Exceptional..a must have

Some of us still like to buy cd’s so I’m glad there’s somewhere to come buy them!

“If you haven’t heard,I’m Michael Magic and Bird,all rolled in one,cause none got more flows than Young”Best Jay album, no question. I bought it when it came on on 9/11/01I’ll never forgot playing the album for weeks; kept rewinding every song and listening to each track 1000 times over., Then one day, I was cleaning my room when the last song on the album was coming to an end. I couldn’t make it to my stereo to restart the album because I was busy cleaning. Then...the unthinkable happened!!! Another song! Wtf?!!! Then I let that one keep playing and ANOTHER song!!! It literally blew my mind. I was 12 when this came out. This was my first Jay-z album. My friend brought it over one day because I told him I’d never really cared to hear a Jay-z album. I’m from L.A. so Jay-Z wasn’t really that big as far as 12 year olds were concerned.This album changed my life!! Lol! Straight up. After this album, I went back and bought “Reasonable Doubt” and just started going through all of his albums in order.I couldn’t find this on iTunes, so I decided to replace my original with a CD(can’t believe I’m going to buy a CD again).Best rap album of my generation, period. Excluding nobody.

The price was perfect with the shipping included.. However, some plastic was broken from the inside where it grabs the CD.. So idk if it was re-sealed or if it was broken due to heat or something.. But that was the only issue I had.. Otherwise, everything is good.

The album that may have started to show who is the king of hip hop in the late 90s early 2000s. After Vol 2 his rap got smooth and hard at the same time. His rap meant I'm here to stay I'm better then Nas I, been in this 5 and hes ontop. The hidden lyrical excersize shows bes not afraid to show you how to spit bars on a track and put it on an album after you slowed down your flow to make it actually better.

I trust seller that this CD plays perfectly. I bought this out of nostalgia. I've finally made the purchase after listening to a ripped copy of this for a decade. Finally owning the real original copy somewhat feels rewarding. So I'm going to buy CD's that I have extreme reply value.

Excellent c'est neuf

Stelle

All the tracks in the album are very good.

Definitely one of them must have essential album