Jigga Man Rocks Again!. (The Blueprint - Jay-Z)

Name: Thuggg

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Product:	The Blueprint - Jay-Z
Date:	27/09/01 (164 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Pure Hip Hop, Soulful & Funky, Crossover potential

Disadvantages: None

Here I'll attempt to talk you through the latest offering from Sean Carter aka Jay-Z aka Jigga aka Jay Hova

1: The Ruler’s Back: This is a melodic 70’s soul/funk driven track in which the “Jigga man” flosses about.... well ... being the jigga man! Smooth Bongo drum, horn & string arrangements makes for a wicked retro 70’s style cut that rolls along nicely with a teasing bassline.

2: The Take-over: This is one of those hip-hop dis tracks ala “Hit ‘em up”, in which Jay-Z takes it (lyrically) to the heads of both Nas & Prodigy (Mobb Deep). The bass line is a gritty almost rock like riff & has a percussive back drop which also includes some sporadic piano licks & a solo guitar weaving in & out of the mix. The hook is cleverly borrowed from the “Five to one” by the doors.

3: Izzo (H.O.V.A.): “H to the Izzo V to the Izzay, ...” This cut superbly uses a loop from the Jackson 5’s “I want you back”, wickedly funky & almost pop like, but I like it!.

4: Girls, Girls, Girls: Jay has a late “Tamla-Motown” type soul driven groove rolling in the back as he flows about... ? You work it out! A wicked cut to bounce next summer when you’re at home lounging or driving around.

5: Jigga That N***a: Funk, Funk & Mo’ Funk! Jigga gets straight braggadocios, Don King style, over a track that has a sneaky “Neptunes” sound to it, totally butter smooth, a definite hip hop club smash... I can see the champagne spilling now!.

6: U Don’t Know: By now you’ll have got the feel of the album, Jay’s taken it back to the old!. 6 cuts deep & he still ain’t finished braggin’ yet, more soul/funk grooves, speeded up vocal sample used for the hook ala Wu-Tang Clan, it’s all to the good though!.

7: Hola Hovito: Timbaland gets behind the boards to supply the beats on this bangin’
track, percussion to make you sick with a guitar riff to boot, man I gotta memorise the lyrics, this track is cold

8: Heart Of The City (Ain’t No Love): Jay-Z raps about the problems of holdin’ too much paper (being too rich), wicked 70’s soul/funk once again, I almost feel like I’m watching “Uptown Saturday Night” with Bill Cosby & Sydney Poitier.

9: Never Change: Almost like a follow on from the previous cut, Jay states that he will never change, regardless of the cheddar he has or how successful he becomes, still gritty! Uses a sample of David Ruffin’s “Common Man”, sounds very Marvin Gaye.

10: Song Cry: Jay spits an open letter over a beautifully soulful cut to one of his homies “I can’t see ‘em coming down my eyes, so I gotta make the song cry”, the hook says it all!.

11: All I Need: Superb! Wicked bongo driven percussion, Jay’s got me calling for the weekend, this will most definitely be on heavy rotation in my ride, the bass line is punchy & teasing, the horns are spine tingling, the vocal loop haunting, backing vocals soothing, uh uh uh!

12: Renegade (Feat. Eminem): Don’t expect any mind splitting flows here, this is a deeply meaningful track with a hauntingly addictive musical arrangement. Both MC’s flow at a steady pace but you’ll still find yourself latching onto every word as the wax about how they are perceived by those who choose to ignore the message in their music or judge without listening.

13: Blueprint (Momma Loves Me): Jay pays homage to his mom as others who played a part in making him the man he is, very simplistic musical arrangement here, Rhodes type keyboard licks & subtle percussion.

The blue print, for me , is Jay-Z’s finest hours sine “Reasonable Doubt”, yes he has come on leaps & bounds lyrically since then on his other efforts but here somehow you feel yo
u can feel the honesty in his lyrics.

UPDATE:

If you allow track 13 to play out you will find there are bonus tracks at the end of the album which are not listed, including a remix of "Girls, Girls, Girls". All bonus tracks are part of track 13 on the disc so you cannot skip to them individually.

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