The Blueprint saw the partial return of the art of sampling, particularly soul samples exploited for hooks. Sampling as a deliberate art form had largely been abandoned due to the legal implications of copyright infringement. In 2001, hip hop production was dominated by the keyboard driven sounds of artists like Timbaland. It evokes another simple piece of poetry from another all-time great “dare I squeeze three, at your cherry M3?” What is amazing is the cadence that makes it stick in your memory. “I’m an 88, ’96 a reasonable doubt,” he says on Hola Hovito. It’s a delightful change from that East Cost tradition of simply speaking over a backing track (think Ghostface Killah). It makes even the most simplistic track (and there are many) positively bounce. It feels like a song, rather than being yelled at. He does a quickstep, and then is motionless. He lands a complex move on one beat, and then relaxes. Jigga is forever changing his flow he treats rapping like dancing. A fair criticism against Nas and that East Coast school of stream of consciousness flow. “Switch up your flow,” he warns Nas on The Takeover. It doesn’t satisfy that aural urge to hear a rapper ride the beat. Consider the schizoid flow of Kendrick Lamar in For Free? – as mesmerising as it is, it loses a great deal of its impact. You forgo the sonic joy that comes with landing perfectly on beat. But as impressive as this ability is, you run the risk of talking rather than rapping. In 2015 it seems that we have the most respect for rappers who can ‘go in’ – rappers like Kendrick or Eminem, who can give us a relentless 4-minute barrage of lyrics without breath or pause. What more proof do you need that Jigga and Bush jammed out to On to the Next One at some Eyes Wide Shut sex cabal? There are 4 letters in the name ‘Bush.’ George Bush’s daughter, Jenna Bush revealed in 2014 that her father “ likes Jay Z.” Wait, did I say 420, 000 copies? Illuminati confirmed. You don’t get to half a billion dollars by writing a whole lot of cheques. Further, Jay Z reportedly donated one dollar from the cost of every ticket sold from his tour to relief organizations. Album sales were strangely unaffected by the cataclysmic terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre, selling over 420,000 copies in its opening week. Jay Z’s The Blueprint was released on September 11, 2001. And lord knows Jay Z has the technology to make that happen. If you had to pick just one hip-hop album to beam into space as exemplary of the entire genre – it would be this. A boastful ode to hustling and rags to riches success. The perfection of that tried-and-true formula, that same blueprint that had worked for so many rappers that had come before Jay Z. Yet what makes The Blueprint so memorable is its complete mastery of these conventions. Musically, it’s a half-hearted blend of old and contemporary. It explores the same themes as countless rap albums before it. It’s not innovative, it’s not groundbreaking. There’s nothing special about The Blueprint.
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