The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse

The Blueprint2: The Gift & The Curse
Studio album by Jay Z
Released November 12, 2002
Recorded 2001–2002
Genre Hip hop, pop-rap
Length 112:02
Label
Producer
Jay Z chronology
The Best of Both Worlds
(2002)
The Blueprint2
(2002)
The Black Album
(2003)
Singles from The Blueprint2: The Gift & The Curse
  1. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde"
    Released: October 10, 2002
  2. "Hovi Baby"
    Released: November 12, 2002
  3. "Excuse Me Miss"
    Released: February 4, 2003

The Blueprint²: The Gift & The Curse is the seventh studio album by American rapper Jay Z. It was released on November 12, 2002, by Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings. The album serves as a sequel to his sixth album The Blueprint (2001). Parts of the album were later reissued for his compilation album, titled Blueprint 2.1 (2003). Unlike this project than his other four previous albums, it debuted at number one, shipping with first-week sales of 545,000 units. As of February 2012, the album has sold 2,117,000 units in the United States.[1]

Background

The three-month recording sessions took place after Jay-Z's critically acclaimed and commercially successful sixth album The Blueprint (2001), at the age of 32. The production on the album was handled primarily by Just Blaze and Kanye West - both of whom had recently established themselves as both of one of hip-hop's most celebrated producers due to the success of The Blueprint - Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo (also known as The Neptunes), and Timbaland, while other producers includes No I.D., Darrell "Digga" Branch, Charlemagne, Big Chuck, Dr. Dre, Jimmy Kendrick, Heavy D, and Ron Fennster. Unlike The Blueprint which was almost void of guest appearances, The Blueprint² features many featured guests, even out-of-genre artists that include Lenny Kravitz and Sean Paul. Other features include West Coast rapper and producer Dr. Dre, Rakim, Beyoncé, Faith Evans, Beanie Sigel and Scarface. The album also includes an uncredited verse from Kanye West on the Timbaland-produced track "The Bounce". Pharrell also provides vocals and hooks of many of his produced tracks, for example "Excuse Me Miss" and "Nigga Please". Though the album has no strict concept, the album contains two discs. The first disc entitled "The Gift" features mainstream, pop-oriented music. The second disc entitled "The Curse" contains dark, emotional, and bravado street songs such as the dark-toned retelling of "Meet the Parents", the emotional substance of escaping the dangerous ghetto in "Some How Some Way", the Nas-diss "Blueprint2", and the bravado "Nigga Please".

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Blender[3]
Christgau's Consumer Guide[4]
Entertainment WeeklyC[5]
NME8/10[6]
Pitchfork7.5/10[7]
Q[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
Spin9/10[10]
Uncut[11]

The Blueprint 2 received lukewarm reviews from critics.[12] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 64, based on 19 reviews.[13] According to Nathan Rabin, the record "led many to claim that [Jay-Z] lost his vise-like grip on rap music". In his review for The A.V. Club, Rabin deemed it "overreaching but surprisingly solid", featuring a first disc of clever pop-rap jams and a second that was "darker and more erratic".[14] Rolling Stone critic Christian Hoard said The Blueprint 2 was another "strong record from hip-hop's most dependable voice" but felt Jay-Z's flow was more impressive than the production, finding it "long on both bouncy funk and forgettable R&B samples".[9] AllMusic's John Bush believed Jay-Z showcased some exceptional songs but could not carry the 110-minute double album as consistently as its predecessor.[2] Soren Baker was more critical in the Chicago Tribune. He felt Jay-Z's reworking of other rappers' music ("It Was All a Dream", "'03 Bonnie & Clyde", and "The Watcher 2") was unimaginative while the rest of the album lacked his usual enthusiasm.[15] "It reminds me of nearly every other double CD", David Browne wrote in Entertainment Weekly. "It could have been a good single disc."[5] Robert Christgau named "U Don't Know (Remix)" and "Poppin' Tags" as highlights while writing in his Village Voice consumer guide that he was disappointed Jay-Z sampled Paul Anka for "I Did It My Way" when he could not get permission to use Frank Sinatra's recording of "My Way".[16]

Rollie Pemberton was more enthusiastic in his review for Pitchfork, writing that Jay-Z "weaves his way through every imaginable style and flavor with unyielding expertise".[7] Billboard hailed it as "the most ambitious and most fully realized album of his career",[17] while Q felt it surpassed his previous album.[8] In the opinion of Spin critic Chris Ryan, The Blueprint 2 found Jay-Z "tightening the screws of his delivery" and discovering a "bruising poetry in a flow that once seemed clumsily conversational".[10]

Track listing

The Gift (disc one)
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."A Dream" (featuring The Notorious B.I.G and Faith Evans)Kanye West4:12
2."Hovi Baby"  Just Blaze4:21
3."The Watcher 2" (featuring Dr. Dre, Rakim and Truth Hurts)5:55
4."'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (featuring Beyoncé)Kanye West3:25
5."Excuse Me Miss"  The Neptunes4:41
6."What They Gonna Do" (featuring Sean Paul)Timbaland4:54
7."All Around the World" (featuring LaToiya Williams)No I.D.3:52
8."Poppin' Tags" (featuring Twista, Killer Mike and Big Boi)Kanye West6:00
9."Fuck All Nite"  The Neptunes4:19
10."The Bounce" (featuring Kanye West)Timbaland4:18
11."I Did It My Way"  
  • Big Chuck
  • Jimi Kendrix
3:42
The Curse (disc two)
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Diamond Is Forever"  3:56
2."Guns & Roses" (featuring Lenny Kravitz)Heavy D4:26
3."U Don't Know (Remix)" (featuring M.O.P.)Just Blaze4:27
4."Meet the Parents"  Just Blaze4:59
5."Some How Some Way" (featuring Scarface and Beanie Sigel)Just Blaze5:37
6."Some People Hate"  Kanye West4:32
7."Blueprint2"  Charlemagne4:49
8."Nigga Please" (featuring Young Chris)The Neptunes4:38
9."2 Many Hoes"  Timbaland3:34
10."As One" (featuring Rell, Young Gunz, Sparks, Peedi Crakk, Memphis Bleek, Beanie Sigel and Freeway)Just Blaze3:49
11."A Ballad for the Fallen Soldier"  The Neptunes4:42
12."Show You How" (bonus track)Just Blaze2:59
13."Bitches & Sisters" (bonus track)Just Blaze2:39
14."What They Gonna Do, Part II" (bonus track)Darrell "Digga" Branch3:47

Charts

Chart (2002) Peak
position
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[18] 8
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[19] 66
French Albums (SNEP)[20] 79
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[21] 61
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[22] 49
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[23] 52
UK Albums (OCC)[24] 23
US Billboard 200[25] 1
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[26] 1

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Canada (Music Canada)[27] 2× Platinum 200,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[28] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[29] 3× Platinum 3,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

See also

References

  1. Grein, Paul (2012-02-29). "Week Ending Feb. 26, 2012. Albums: Half of the Top 10 | Chart Watch (NEW) - Yahoo! Music". Music.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
  2. 1 2 The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse at AllMusic
  3. "Review". Blender. December 2002. p. 156.
  4. Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide Album: Jay-Z: The Blueprint 2". Robert Christgau. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  5. 1 2 Browne, David; Drumming, Neil; Serpick, Evan (November 19, 2002). "H.O.V.A. Kill". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on September 7, 2016. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  6. "NME Album Reviews - Jay-Z : The Blueprint 2 : The Gift & The Curse". Nme.Com. 2005-09-12. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
  7. 1 2 Archived April 29, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  8. 1 2 "Review". Q. January 2003. p. 120.
  9. 1 2 Hoard, Christian (November 12, 2002). "The Blueprint, Vol. 2: The Gift and the Curse". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  10. 1 2 Ryan, Chris (2003-06-24). "Jay-Z, 'The Blueprint 2: The Gift and the Curse' (Roc-a-Fella) | SPIN | Albums | Critical Mass". SPIN. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
  11. "Review". Uncut. January 2003. p. 119.
  12. Muhammad, Cedric (November 15, 2002). "Hip-Hop Fridays: In Defense Of Jay-Z And Blueprint 2". Black Electorate. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  13. "Jay-Z Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2002-11-12.
  14. Rabin, Nathan (2002-12-06). "The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse: Jay-Z | Music | MusicalWork Review | The A.V. Club". Origin.avclub.com. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
  15. Baker, Soren (November 24, 2002). "The Blueprint 2 -- The Gift & The Curse". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  16. Christgau, Robert (February 11, 2003). "Consumer Guide: The Prelude". The Village Voice. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  17. "The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse". Billboard. November 30, 2003. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  18. "Jay-Z – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Jay-Z. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  19. "Dutchcharts.nl – Jay-Z – The Blueprint 2 - The Gift & The Curse" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  20. "Lescharts.com – Jay-Z – The Blueprint 2 - The Gift & The Curse". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  21. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  22. "Charts.org.nz – Jay-Z – The Blueprint 2 - The Gift & The Curse". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  23. "Swisscharts.com – Jay-Z – The Blueprint 2 - The Gift & The Curse". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  24. "Jay-Z | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  25. "Jay-Z – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Jay-Z. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  26. "Jay-Z – Chart history" Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for Jay-Z. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  27. "Canadian album certifications – JAY Z – The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse". Music Canada.
  28. "British album certifications – JAY Z – The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse". British Phonographic Industry. Enter The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
  29. "American album certifications – JAY Z – The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
Preceded by
8 Mile Soundtrack
Billboard 200 number-one album
November 24, 2002 - November 30, 2002
Succeeded by
Up! by Shania Twain
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