as he said it himself two albums later on The Black Album:
"I dumb down for my audience and double my dollars"
Jay damn near apologized for how much he has at times dumbed down his lyrics, and a lot of The Blueprint fits that bill. We all know he can rap his assss off if he wants to, but the Jay that showed up on lots of The Blueprint was leaning more into his "I'm a hustler, not a rapper" bag. He still made a classic album with it, but it's an album that is especially well loved for its production and feeling.
'Girls Girls Girls' in particular is really not very good rapping. That beat is phenomenal, and the song has vocal appearances from Slick motherfukking Rick, Q-Tip & Biz Markie, - all over that beautiful beat???? That should be an automatic all-time-great song. Except Jay's verses are so mediocre on that track.
'Hola Hovito' could have been dope as hell, there's all kinds of pockets in that beat that coulda been ridden exceptionally, but he coasted it out instead.
'All I Need' is great, but the bars are simplified, its more so the feeling that makes the song magnificent. The ease.
He obviously does come with gems and quotables on many other parts of the album, - he is Hov - but plenty other times he'll just "come on the track duh duh da da"
'Lyrical Exercise' being a hidden bonus track seems like a choice, like he was making a statement that yes of course he can dominate lyrically if you need that too, but that thats more like just an exercise, a bonus. Whereas the main album as a whole he was more so swaggering, taking it easy and making a point of it.
It's an interesting exercise in what makes an album good. He has many albums in his catalog where he raps harder, but that are not nearly as good or classic as The Blueprint is.
at this Roc Nation intern babble. Nobody outside Jay superstans hold those in higher regard than IWW
