Jay is certainly the objectof much envy these days, so it's understandable that, on this album, hereturns again and again to defending himself and needling his rivals. "I Did It My Way," which riffs on the classictune, is so fatuous it defies any excuse-making. "Guns &Roses," his collaboration with Lenny Kravitz (yes, you read that right),is audacious and awkward. He may be dating BeyoncéKnowles, but redoing Tupac's "Me and My Girlfriend" as "∐3Bonnie & Clyde" is unimaginative and unnecessary. On the songswith guest artists"Poppin' Tags" with Big Boi, Killer Mikeand Twista "Some How Some Way" with Beanie Sigel and Scarfacehe'sjust part of the tapestry Just like The Blueprint, The Blueprint 2 sounds good, but Jay's barely there. Of late, though, he's been subbingin top-dollar production for high-brow rhymes. No, the singlemost embarrassing development of hip-hop since the turn of the millennium isthe decline of Jay-Z from the game's most cunning linguist to a man sosatisfied with his position that he's content to rest on his laurels andchurn out minimally invasive verses.Ĭertainly Jay-Z at his worst is still an improvement upon most of the hip-hopcurrently clotting the radio, but once was a time where a new Jay-Z album meanta new standard for others to follow.
The greatest shame in hip-hop today is not its avoidance of political and socialissues, not its preoccupation with materialism and attitude and not its relianceupon a limited set of producers to create a signature sound. Transmissions From Total Refreshment Centre FEARLESS Ĭrucial Crue: The Studio Albums 1981-1989 īirthright: A Black Roots Music Compendium
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