Jay-Z's last album The Blueprint was one of the most successful and innovative albums of 2001, The Blueprint 2 sees Jay-Z team up with Lenny Kravitz and others for an album that is pure gangsta/pop crossover and equally impressive.
This double album provides a wealth of new material broken into two parts: The Gift and The Curse.
The Curse is the darker side with more rapping than pop, a reference point for the atmosphere being the intensity of Eminem's 'Lose Yourself'.
The Gift is where all the collaborations appear and is much more commercial in style. Dr Dre, Faith Evans and Beyonce from Destiny's Child all appear in the music but best of all is the Lenny Kravitz collaboration 'Guns and Roses '.
Not since P Diddy and Jimmy Page have the two styles of music sounded so good together.
Four Globes out of Five ETM
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