Figured I'd do this back to back, since I'm a little behind here.
Anyway, every hip-hop album I've posted here I consider to be a classic -- one of those albums that are just essential for any hip-hop fan not only to own, but to memorize and to obsess over; Jay-Z's The Blueprint is absolutely no exception. This is the album where Hova, along with up and coming producers Just Blaze and Kanye West, changed the face of modern hip-hop and ushered in a new sound that has truly set an unattainable bar. Prior to The Blueprint, mainstream hip-hop producers had largely eschewed music sampling in favor of a more keyboard-driven sound (characterized by a shifting, syncopated rhythm, similar to samba or jungle music). The Blueprint, however, revived musical sampling as a common practice in hip hop music and dislodged the digital keyboard-driven production style as the dominant sound in hip-hop music. Containing a unique and balanced blend of soulful samples that had both street credibility and mainstream appeal, the album garnered a major stylistic shift in not only production but in lyrical content and approach as well. As soon as people heard "Takeover", they knew -- shit was about to be different. And how true it was.
Key tracks: "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)", "Takeover", "Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)", "Renegade" feat. Eminem, "Hola Hovito"
Next week: 2002
Hint: No idea -- too much shit happened in 2002. Gotta think about it.
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