One would hope that Ghostface could’ve closed out a decade of solid to absolutely classic releases with one more enjoyable listen but the “Back Like That”-styled, deliberately R&B-fueled Wizard of Poetry is weak sauce: the guest stars are b-list at best and while the rhymes are generally strong (this is Ghostface we’re talking about), they have no bite, except for the unquestionable album highlight and stunningly, impressively filthy fuck-jam “Stapleton Sex”. (Which Ghost has dedicated to Natalie Portman, because of course he has)

Rating: 5.5 / 10

September 29, 2009
Def Jam

On The Blueprint 3‘s first single “D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)”, Jay-Z complains about the state of rap and brags about getting back to real hip-hop, but he spends the rest of the album completely contradicting himself: this sounds like Jay-Z trying his hand at a more pop-oriented album – à la collaborator Kanye West – but Jigga isn’t Kanye and his attempts (aside from most of the album’s first third, particularly second single “Run This Town”) generally fall flat and become immediately forgettable, before the album gets downright terrible with the cheese-tastic closer “Young Forever” and the muddled, disgracefully bad “Hate” (possibly one of the worst songs of the year); The Blueprint 3 is clearly the sound of Jay-Z trying to be something he isn’t.

Rating: 5 / 10

September 11, 2009
Roc Nation

The sprawling, star-studded music collaboration known as N.A.S.A. is likely to fall somewhat short of the inevitable Gorillaz comparisons and your expectations when you see the list of guest stars (featuring the likes of David Byrne, Chuck D, Method Man, Karen O, Tom Waits, Kanye West, Santogold, M.I.A., George Clinton, and Ghostface Killah, to name a few), but it functions very well as a big, feel-good hip-hop album that runs a gamut of sounds and topics as diverse as its cast of creators.

Grade: 7.5 / 10

Anti-
February 17, 2009

808s & Heartbreak is certainly indulgent and the fans and critics are going to tear Kanye West to pieces for it, but the music itself is sound: a collection of emotionally aching tunes built on top of chilly, minimalist beats and mechanical effects, a brave, interesting, and refreshingly focused departure in a music industry where ‘change’ and ‘experimentation’ are four-letter words.

808s and Auto-Tune: Half of the album’s title comes from the Roland TR-808 drum machine which was introduced to Kanye West by composer Jon Brion and was apparently used to generate less typical, hip-hop sounding beats for the album. Also used extensively is Auto-Tune, a vocal processor made obnoxiously famous by T-Pain in recent years. Yes, it’s overused, and yes, Kanye isn’t that great of a singer in the first place.

Unwelcome guests: 808s & Heartbreak features several guest appearances, including the likes of Young Jeezy and Lil Wayne. What’s funny, considering the furor over West’s choice to rap so little on the album, is that the guest spots fall flat, conflicting with the otherwise uniform tone and becoming ultimately forgettable.

Grade: 4.2 / 5

Roc-A-Fella/Island Def Jam
November 24, 2008

Jay-Z – The Blueprint

September 11, 2001
Roc-A-Fella/Island Def Jam
Rating: 4.6 / 5

The Music Rag One Sentence Review: Arguably Jigga’s masterpiece, he spits expertly only the way he can on then-beefs, girls (girls, girls), and a possible stint in prison, all without unnecessary skits and other frills and superbly soulful production from the likes of Timbaland, Just Blaze, and an at-the-time unknown Kanye West. (With a great guest appearance by Eminem on “Renegade”.)

Ain’t no love: With Jay-Z facing the possibility of a prison sentence for gun possession and assault, The Blueprint was written in a mere two days and recorded in two weeks. The album’s second track, “Takeover” addresses various MCs who were attacking Jay-Z at the time, including Nas, Prodigy, and Mobb Deep, with a mere “fuck y’all niggas” to all other critics.