t’s a well known fact that nine times out of ten, sequels suck. Also, it’s a well known fact that double albums suck. Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 2: The Gift and the Curse is both a sequel and a double album. Therefore, by rules, it sucks. And while this is only approximately 49% true, it certainly does lean towards fitting into both categories.


Jay-Z said it himself, the first record is “The Gift” and the second is “The Curse”. And it’s so very, very true. The first half is witty, imaginative, and fun, the second half is slow, boring and redundant. The culprit is most definitely not the production. Yes, looking at the names, they read rather similar – the first CD was produced mostly by Just Blaze, Kanye West, Timbaland and the Neptunes, while the second half was produced by The Neptunes, Kanye West, Just Blaze, and Timbaland. So while some of the tracks sound similar, at least musically, the second CD is a clusterfuck and disjointed. Some songs succeed, like “Meet the Parents”, an introspect into fatherhood on the street. Just Blaze’s subdued production, an offshoot of “Girls, Girls, Girls” is interesting, and Jay tells a wonderful story about not knowing his son, who he then ironically kills out of necessity. In addition, “Some How, Some Way” is another song produced by one of the holy Trinity (Just Blaze, Kanye West and The Neptunes – in this case JB), featuring Scarface and Beanie Sigel describing the struggle (see: “Back, Guess Who’s” and “Life, This Can’t Be”), but until the trio make a track that isn’t nearly incredible, they can go on making them. Unfortunately, the rest of CD two is mostly generic. “U Don’t Know Remix”, featuring M.O.P. is fun, but it’s the exact same beat as The Blueprint’s “U Don’t Know”, just with okay verses by M.O.P. “Some People Hate” is Disc one’s “The Bounce”, ‘slyly’ redone with a Kanye West track instead of Timbaland, barking at Jay’s hundreds of enemies. In the past, Jigga was known for ignoring his enemies, but ever since he and Nas had issues, Jay seems concerned, and maybe even a little scared. Without “Some People Hate” and “The Bounce”, Jay would have seemed more confident – what happened to “y’all only get half a bar / fuck y’all niggaz” confident Jay?


Disc one is a nice gift, though, and would have been a pretty good album on its own. “Hovi Baby” is a bit braggadocical, and “Excuse Me Miss” and “Fuck All Nite” are fairly generic and a waste of some awesome Neptunes tracks, but what album, even classic, doesn’t its slight missteps? The rest of the The Gift is classic Jay-Z. Many fans are down on “A Dream”, a re-imagining of Biggie’s “Juicy”, where Jay speaks Biggie’s words through none other than a dream. Coming from a huge B.I.G. fan, it sends chills down my spine each time I listen to it. “Poppin’ Tags” is a slow, down-tempo dance type track, featuring a fantastic guest appearance by Killer Mike, the MC to watch in 2003. Overall, while the first disc isn’t quite up to the level The Blueprint, it’s also no Volume 3. For better or for worse, it’s vintage Jay-Z, sometimes fun, sometimes serious, sometimes downright ludicrous. Maybe in the future we can hope for a little bit more depth.


Most people would suggest that a double album should be rated as the average of the two discs. I don’t believe in this theory, in fact I believe that if one half of the album is bad and one is good, it’s not a good album. It’s disappointing that this late in Jay’s career he has the capability to release such an inconsistent and choppy record after so many that were so good. I don’t buy any theories that he’s nearing the end of his career. He’s in his prime. His lyrics in most places are better than they have ever been, but not in every place? Why? I don’t know. Complacency after getting his first 5-Mic record in the source? Possible. Hopefully Jay-Z learns from his mistake, gets off his ass and releases us another five star classic in oh, say, another year. Hov!