The Blueprint2: The Gift & The Curse by Jay-Z
The Blueprint2: The Gift & the Curse is rapper Jay-Z's seventh studio album, released November 12, 2002. Parts of the album were later reissued as The Blueprint 2.1 in 2003. This album, like Jay-Z's previous four, debuted at #1 with over 545,000 units shipped in its first week of sales, and has sold 2,117,000 units as of February 2012 in the U.S. The album was criticized for its more pop-oriented sound as well as its plethora of guests, while The Blueprint had been almost devoid of guest appearances. Though the album has no strict concept in view, the first disc The Gift generally has more upbeat, party tracks, including the hit singles "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" and "Excuse Me Miss." The Curse has a somewhat darker tone, including fewer guest appearances, disses to Nas, Ja Rule, and Jay-Z's former mentor Jaz-O on "Blueprint²" and a dramatic street tale on "Meet the Parents."
<i>The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse</i> opens with an imagined conversation between JAY-Z and The Notorious B.I.G. Call it a gesture toward continuity: Even after all his major milestones, Jay still wonders what Biggie might think of his life and times—and still wants to remind his audience that, pop or not, a plant without its roots is bound to die. Not that you could fairly compare each artist’s achievements by the time <i>The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse</i> arrived in 2002. Yes, Biggie had helped introduce street rap to the mainstream. But he hadn’t lived long enough to come back to the music’s raw rudiments, as Jay had on 2001’s smash <i>The Blueprint</i>. And now, with <i>The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse</i>, Jay was looking to push rap even further, with an ambitious two-disc, 25-track album that finds him flexing his many skill sets. As a result, <i>The Gift & the Curse</i> has something for every Jay fan. He can still be futuristic (as on Just Blaze’s “Hovi Baby” and The Neptunes-produced “N***a Please”). But he can also steady himself for something as crossover as “’03 Bonnie & Clyde”—his first on-the-record hook-up with Beyoncé—or as nasty as the M.O.P.-featuring “U Don’t Know”. And while the bombast of a track like “I Did It My Way” is expected, there are subtle moments on <i>The Gift & the Curse</i> as well, like “Meet the Parents”. By the early 2000s, audiences were still getting used to the idea of rappers having first lives; with <i>The Blueprint 2</i>, JAY-Z was already starting his second.
