THIS ONE TOOK JIGGA BACK TO THE TOP, ARGUABLY HIS BEST
after jay z had dropped reasonable doubt, a classic in every sense, and in my lifetime, a very underrated good album,it seemed he had fallen off, he dropped hard knock life vol, 2, which lost major points for having a guest appearance on every song, and the terrible(and i hate to say it) vol.3, jay z obviously took a long look at his mistakes, and made 1 hell of an album, this is album is a(as is the title) a blueprint for modern rap, jay z hired some brilliant producers for this, such as just blaze, the then unknown kanye west(this album made him the most wanted producer aside dr dre) and timbaland, and is lyrically excellent on it too, this album is extremely complete, as in, jay z is not afraid to show his soul to the world, and he raps about a variety of different things, the mood of this album is very soulful, and has beautiful samples on it, and, as i said before, the lyrics are brilliant, and after listening to this, you actually realize the lack of realy lyricism in alot of modern(commercial) rap, the album kicks off with the rulers back, the title is very self explanatory, jay z spits nice lyrics over nice production, the producer of this uses trumpets very nicely, the takeover comes next, arguably the best song on the album, which is a lyrical bashing of nas and mobb deep, nice doors sample, and jigga really comes ferocious on this, next is a track everyone knows, the radio hit h to the izzo, even though it is a radio hit its still a very good song, jay z basically talking about the struggles of hustling, next up is girls girls girls, another radio hit, and a very funny description of all jay zs girls, not my favourite track, but still worth a listen, after that its jigga that nigga, a track designed to get the club bouncing, very good timbaland beat, jay z has some very nice punchlines, and flows well, next is u dont know, a classic track, great just blaze beat, one of his best, and jay z comes hard rapping about his environment, and some very clever verses about, well, hustling, next is hola hovito, another radio track, very good timbaland beat, jay z basically adressing haters, next is the brilliant heart of the city, very good uses of samples, and jay z adresses haters on this, and pays tributes to some of his influences, never change is next, a great song basically about the struggles of hustling and crew loyalty, brilliant sample, yet another great track, song cry is a classic love song, apparently about a real life ex girlfriend, jay z is very personal on this, next is all i need, a good song repping the rocafella click, not my fav, but listenable, renegade, is arguably the best song on the album, jay z is lyrically at his best, and eminem is very good on it too, jay z spits very intelligent and introspective lyrics about the ghetto, and the stuggles of the ghetto, next is blueprint(momma loves me)jay z paying tribute to all the people who helped him in life, familiy and friends, overalll this album is terrific, order it nowRead full review
