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Much to my chagrin, with each new list that comes out The Blueprint seems to end up ranking higher on the 2000’s decade spreadsheet. Now, I have listened to it several times and although I can’t say I don’t like it on any level, I certainly don’t understand what the big deal is. Jay-Z is charismatic and I can see he’s a great rapper, the production is also quite good, but that’s about as far as it goes for me. His lyrics seem so one dimensional it doesn’t seem like he has much of anything worthwhile to say (case in point, he spends an entire song giving us an account of how he cheated on his girlfriend, essentially ruining the relationship, but he can’t bring himself to cry about it). The lyrics are just not very relatable and it really takes away from the album in my perspective. Am I missing something here? I can’t see how this album ranks with the likes of Stankonia or the first two Kanye albums. Can anyone give me an idea as to why this album is so highly regarded?
I like a lot but it sure is I do not understand English. This is probably the only advantage of not knowing English
The album also has alot of historical worth: without it, there may not be those Kanye albums. You need to look at the music before and after it, what kind of direction the late 90's was going with Dre's beats for Eminem slightly older Bad Boy records and the new direction Kanye and Timbaland were taking hip-hop for the rest of the decade.
I'm not sure if historical importance is something to go by when judging albums; I just like the way it sounds. It's my favorite hip-hop album along with 'The College Dropout' and 'The Marshall Mathers LP'. On the other hand, I don't see what's so special about 'The Chronic', I think '2001' (and a lot of other hip-hop albums) are a lot better.
I think I recall someone telling me West had quite a lot of input on 'The Blueprint' though, and I do think it's kind of similar to his own first two albums.. if you like those I don't see why you wouldn't like 'The Blueprint'. Yes, 'Song Cry' is not very complex lyrically, but it just sounds great. I don't know a whole lot about hip-hop though, so who knows.
I agree. Historical importance is way overrated when it comes to ranking albums.
I agree that historical importance is no way for an individual to choose favorite albums. However, critics making end of decade lists should factor this in, as it shows what albums 'defined the decade.' I haven't listened to The Blueprint, so I can't weigh in on this debate, but it is clearly an important album to the development of rap music this decade, so that's why it's ranked so high.
I just like music that sounds good and The Blueprint sounds good. A lot of people say he's a great writer- I could care less. It sounds great and I don't need to dissect that to make it more or less appealing. I like thinking I'm a critic, but in reality, I could never be one, because I don't think it would be enjoyable to tear apart music into bits and pieces. I'm not saying it's a bad thing to do so, I just couldn't do it. That's why my comments are usually short when doing polls... all I can really say is if it sounds good or bad or somewhere in the middle or maybe some bit of nostalgia. It just doesn't matter that much to me why I like or dislike a piece of art in any kind of medium.
Sure as hell helped the Sex Pistols.
That's my problem with a lot of rap.
Musically, it's awesome. Lyrically, it's mostly a lot of pulp gangsterisms. If you don't find the lifestyle of selling drugs and battling with cops and other gangsters while throwing money around and having meaningless sex at will really, really awesome, there's no ground for you to connect with it.
Then there's the obnoxious self-martyrdom you get from especially a lot of newer acts.
That's one of the reasons I like Outkast so much. They're everything from column A and nothing from column B.
I actually have The Blueprint but haven't listened to it yet cause I have so much other stuff to go through. I can comment on it more specifically once I listen to it.
Well, like I said, the production is great on much of The Blueprint (although I would argue that West really perfected that style on his first two records), it's just that West's lyrics have so much more dimension to them IMO.
Musically, it's awesome. Lyrically, it's mostly a lot of pulp gangsterisms. If you don't find the lifestyle of selling drugs and battling with cops and other gangsters while throwing money around and having meaningless sex at will really, really awesome, there's no ground for you to connect with it.
Then there's the obnoxious self-martyrdom you get from especially a lot of newer acts.
That's one of the reasons I like Outkast so much. They're everything from column A and nothing from column B.
I actually have The Blueprint but haven't listened to it yet cause I have so much other stuff to go through. I can comment on it more specifically once I listen to it.
Rock and roll music is not very different from rap in terms of lyrics.
I find that the lyrics of Radiohead, Arcade Fire, and Animal Collective (all who have highly placed albums on the 2000's list as well) are a lot easier to relate to (and they seem, IMO, to be more poetic) than the Jay-Z's.
It's just a cultural thing. As Chris Rock said about rap, "It's not for You!"
I find that the lyrics of Radiohead, Arcade Fire, and Animal Collective (all who have highly placed albums on the 2000's list as well) are a lot easier to relate to (and they seem, IMO, to be more poetic) than the Jay-Z's.
Really? Arcade Fire yes, but do you really find Radiohead and Animal Collective's lyrics relatable? Radiohead's lyrics are usually steeped in paranoia and often dont make much sense, while Animal Collective's lyrics, while much more joyous, almost never make sense.
But isn't most rap consumed by white middle class kids?
I find that the lyrics of Radiohead, Arcade Fire, and Animal Collective (all who have highly placed albums on the 2000's list as well) are a lot easier to relate to (and they seem, IMO, to be more poetic) than the Jay-Z's.
Really? Arcade Fire yes, but do you really find Radiohead and Animal Collective's lyrics relatable? Radiohead's lyrics are usually steeped in paranoia and often dont make much sense, while Animal Collective's lyrics, while much more joyous, almost never make sense.
I would strongly disagree with the idea that Radiohead's lyrics don't make sense (I will grant you, they're open to interpretation, but they really resonate with me). Animal Collective's lyrics can be pretty oblique, I wouldn't necessarily call them nonsensical though (again, open to interpretation, I suppose in a sense I do often enjoy lyrics that aren't easily digested).