The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse

The Curse
Although the weaker disc I believe the best lyrics are saved for the curse. Opening with 'Diamond is Forever' Jay shows a depth of lyrics. 'You put on two tube socks, you couldnt walk in my shoes'. Diamond is probably one of my favourite Jays song ever. 'Guns n roses' doesnt suit Jay, I didnt like this song but the lyric 'Even a broken clock is right at least two times a day' is Jay at his best.
'U don't know' remix is more an attempt to showcase the just signed M.O.P. strange the fact they never released an album on Roc a fella and are now with G-Unit!!
'Meet the parents' is a deep and personal story telling track that should have been released as a single!! Make sure that if you buy this album you give this a listen too.
'Some how some way' and 'Some people hate' are filler tracks that are experimental for Jay. Jay's flow is still untouchable.
'Blue print 2' is my favourite song on the album, the lyrics are deep, Jay Z is very defensive on this song and it works. Also Jay takes another shot at Nas.
This song really deserves a play or two.
The rest of the album is filler music, Jay either experimenting with different fows or beats, preparing The Black Album before leaving the Game, buy this album the lyrics alone warrant the price.


Not a bad buy   October 26, 2005
C. Twigger
This is a good album, there's no doubt about that.

However.....

I'm working backwards (just about). I already owned the blueprint (excellent) and recently aquired the black album (which is absolutely amazing i might add!!1). Because of this, i think i've probably heard the best 2 albums first (in my opinion) and to be honest after very recently aquiring the blueprint 2 and reasonable doubt, neither live up to the others.

But, they are good albums, and definately worth looking into.

Another reason i think i'm not DEAD impressed with some of the other stuff is for the input of mr p. williams. It's just TOO JT!!! (Which i definately do NOT like). But then, for every not so good track, there's an amazing track. So, decide for yourselves.


More Tracks - More Duds?   August 11, 2004
Michael Roberts (Exeter, UK)
Truly 2 albums for the price of 1. On this album Jay-Z has split the tracks into The Gift and The Curse, two seperate CD's. The sound has matured from the previous album and he also works with a number of other artists (Lenny) and producers (Neptunes). Top tracks include- A Dream, The Bounce, 2 Many Hoes and Bitches & Sisters. However because there are more tracks there do tend to be more tracks that are skippable.


stunning!!   July 31, 2004
jay-z continues to blow away fans and gain new ones with these somewhat commercial hits however the variety of fresh beats and slick rhymes are undoubtedly impressive. in my opinion the first cd (the gift) could have alone carried the album to the top of the charts and proves a lot stronger than the second cd, (the curse). the album opens with 'a dream' sampling biggies rhymes, a genius track that sets the tone for following tracks (hovi baby, the watcher, poppin tags) however the disc ends with 'i did it my way' a weak filler that jay could have left out. disc two has its moments, 'nigga please, guns & roses, as one' yet the majority of listeners would argue that it was an un-neccesary record as the excellence of the first cd would have carried the blueprint 2. definately a cd that pulls together all of hova's finest qualities and delivers.


Jay-Z - The Blueprint 2: The Gift and The Curse   March 2, 2004
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

Its a showcase of some of the best producers in the world, some of the best artists and of course the man himself. The two tracks released as singles ('03 Bonnie & Clyde and Excuse me Miss) are good but there are two hidden gems on this album...1)Meet the Parents, due to the subject matter it can be understood why this wasn't released as a single but it really is incredibly hard hitting stuff. 2) The Bounce, For me (and possibly me alone) this is as good a Timbo/Jigga collabo as 'Big Pimpin'and thats saying something. Dr Dre's work is ok, but those of us who have heard 'The Watcher' will perhaps wonder what he did to earn his fee, although Rakim appears on this tracks and drops an excellent verse. The Neptunes take four tracks, the best of which is 'Excuse me Miss', the other three are like every other track produced by them during this period. Just Blaze adds the excellent 'Meet the Parents' while 'Hovi Baby' is rather overblown and 'U Don't Know remix' is quite poor. Unfortunatly the Lenny Kravitz collaboration, which had so much potential, proved a bit of a dissapointment. At 22 tracks long, spread over 2 CD's, it is too hit and miss. Too many guest artists can get a little annoying too, but again, one thing you can always depend on is that Jay-Z has something to say. Every one of his albums is worth getting purely for the excellent lyricism and wordplay.