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Life & Arts

'Blueprint' is the plan of a hip-hop mastermind

Jay-Z's 2001 album introduces the music world to Kanye West

by ELI JABBE
The Daily Cougar

Editor's note: On the Record is an article that explores the relevence of a past album in today's music culture.it also gives writers the opportunity to explain why the work is significant to them.

The Blueprint is the second classic coming from hip-hop mastermind Shawn Carter, aka Jay-Z. Just like Reasonable Doubt, the 2001 album featured great lyrics, varied in subject matter and featured elite production. Jigga's fifth album continued his legacy and introduced the world to a future hip-hop megastar Kanye West. On "All I Need," Jay shows his usual witty lyricism with, "Y'all want to act out a movie? I'll give you a clip / But no adlibbing, you gotta stick to the script."

"U Don't Know" is one of many classic collaborations between Jay-Z and Roc-A-Fella Records in-house producer Just Blaze. It features a sped-up sample, which was found often on Blueprint because of Just Blaze and Kanye West, and more classic quotables like, "Momma ain't raised no fool / Put me anywhere on God's green Earth / I'll triple my worth / I sell ice in the winter, I sell water to a well / I am a hustler, baby, I'll sell water to a well."

"Heart of the City" is one of several classic collaborations between Jay-Z and Kanye West. Over a catchy guitar sample, Jay refers to former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham while lamenting the negative vibe, "I did handle my biz, I scrambled like Randall, with his, Cunningham / But the only thing running is numbers, fam, Jigga held you down six summers / Damn, where's the love?"

Jay teams up with frequent collaborator Timbaland for the Spanish-influenced classic "Hola Hovito." Instead of giving it all away, I'll just quote, "One life to live, notice you get no sequel / So I truly have to live this like my last movie." 

"Never Change" features a beat and chorus from Kanye West: "I never change, I'm too stuck in my ways." 

On "Renegade" Jay is outshined by Eminem with the lyrics, "I go to war with the Mormons / Take a bath with the Catholics in holy water / No wonder they tried to hold me under longer."

On "Song Cry," Jay admits being heartbroken to an ex with the lyrics, "I can't let you know it, pride won't let me show it / Pretend to be heroic, but deep inside I'm so sick / I can't see them coming down my eyes, so I gotta make the song cry." Any guy can relate to these lyrics because the perspective is from a male's ego, and they are genuine but not sappy. The West-produced "Takeover" is a classic Nas diss. Jay drops the gem, "A wise man told me, ‘Don't argue with fools, because people from a distance can't tell who is who,'" and warns, "So, stop with that childish stuff, I'm grown / Please leave it alone, don't throw rocks at the throne / Do not bark up that tree, that tree will fall on you."

Jay also denounces Nas' discography with, "One was ‘Nah', the other was Illmatic / That's a one hot album every 10 year average." 

On "Breathe Easy," Jay denounces lesser artists with, "My ability makes yours look like an exercise in futility."

Your collection needs Blueprint. Enough said.

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