Jay-Z - Blueprint 2: The Perfect Tracklist

We've all heard the album which may contain some of Jay's best work lyrically.  Here is my list of the songs that would have made the album perfect. They are in no particular order.

Blueprint 2 - The final battle in his war with Nas. Perfect execution. The beat fit the lyrics and subject matter so well.

Diamond Is Forever - Jay went in on this. Representing his team and speaking some real shit.

A Dream - I love this song. That is all. Jay flipped the whole shit perfectly. The beat is insane.

Excuse Me Miss - Perfect chick cut for a 30 something year old rapper. Dope beat and hook. Verses on point.

Guns & Roses - Who the hell knew Heavy D could make a beat like this? LOL. Lenny Kravitz murdered the hook. Jay murdered the verses. Enough said.

Hovi Baby - This may be Jay's best work, lyrically, on a song. Just Blaze absolutely destroyed the beat. Jay went IN! The second verse is pure genius. Listen closely.

I Did It My Way - This song is just some real shit. The whole setup of the song is dope. Ill production.

Meet The Parents - Maybe the best story in Hip-Hop. The actual story telling is vivid as hell and there's also a really important message that goes with the whole song. Just Blaze on the beat again.

Poppin Tags - An All-Star line up, crazy beat, and a dope hook. Everyone went in but on the low I think Killer Mike took it on this one. This is that original kanye soul bounce shit.

Show You How - We all loved this song since we first heard it about a year before the album dropped. It's still dope to this day.

Some People Hate - One of my favorite Kanye beats ever. Jay went in as he did so often on this album.

03 Bonnie & Clyde - Yeah yeah yeah, it was a commercial single but it was still a good song. It didn't take away from the album at all.

Honorable Mentions___________________________________________________

All Around The World - This beat always annoyed the shit out of me. I never really cared for the hook either.

Bitches & Sisters - It's dope to listen to a few times but once you know the lyrics there's no need to listen anymore. The beat isn't all that and there's no hook really.

The Bounce - Not a bad song at all but it's nothing lyrically. It shouldn't have been on the album.

Nigga Please - This is basically the same as The Bounce. Cool song but it's not worthy of being on the album.

Some How Some Way - Dope song but it's so damn sad that it doesn't really fit the feel of the album.

U Don't Know (Remix) - Jay went in but let's be serious this could've been a mixtape track since its basically the same exact beat. Besides, MOP is pure garbage.

Any songs I didn't mention had no business being recorded AT ALL!

That is all.

J. Cole : The Write Up (My Thoughts On His Career)

*DISCLAIMER*

This is just my review of J. Cole as an artist. It is very detailed thus it is not a short read.

The new General of the Internet Soldiers (as cosigned by Joe Budden) seems to have some of the most annoying fans in the world. Yes, J. Cole can rap. A lot of people can rap. This guy makes some of the most boring music I've ever heard. His topics range from rap to north carolina, to his weak ass struggles, to the hood, to college, and finally to the degree that we ALL know that he received from college (because he mentions it in EVERY song). 

He's been signed since 2007. He still has no buzz outside of the internet. He's basically the non emo, less lyrical version of Joe Budden. He's already getting the same treatment that Joe did except his album got to drop and it went gold. If you pay attention you would see that Jay mentions Drake more than he does his own artist. J. Cole is the perfect proof that rap ability is damn near meaningless when it comes to making good music. Even some of his fans say he needs a lot of work with making songs. A label is not going to be able to sell records based off of your lyrical ability. It just doesn't work like that. What? You thought it was still the 90s? 

Let's break down his sound. It's simple. J. Cole is a poor man's Kanye West (College Dropout era) with watered down subject matter/beats/hooks and VERY minimal songwriting ability. From the beats to the rhyme patterns it's all old 'Ye. I don't see how you can just look past the blatant style biting and from an unworthy artist nonetheless. The first thing you have to do Mr. Cole is stop doing those 24 and 32 bar verses on every song (they're fine in moderation). You're not that nice, sir (no one is). Next, you have to actually finish your beats. Third, you need to buy some hooks until you learn how to write them.

People like to compare him to Drake which is honestly a joke in my opinion. Drake was signed 2 years after J. Cole and already has a platinum debut album while Cole is wondering if his album will ever receive a release date. People will say "He's a better rapper." but is he really? Punchlines are not the only way to be lyrical. Drake may not be the most lyrical but he definitely gets his point across is a manner that isn't hazardous while operating heavy machinery. Cole seems as if he's trying so hard to impress the listener that he's actually not saying much at all. It's the exact same thing he said in his last verse and the one before it. Let's just say he is the better rapper. Who is making the better music? 

I'm all for lyricism but what happened to being complete? Jay-Z is a complete artist. Nas is/was a complete artist. Lupe is a complete artist. Even Joe (Budden), when he's not on those weak ass J Cardim beats, is a complete artist. They're all lyrical yet they know how to construct songs that don't serve as audible Ambien. At the end of the day music is music. A lot of music doesn't even have lyrics so you can't say something is good just because of "good" lyrics. If all you care about is lyrics you should hit up some local poetry readings. Leave music to the musicians. 

Don't worry, all hope is not lost. He just needs guidance but that innocent college boy rap isn't going to get him anywhere. He might want to get the fuck away from Jay too. Jay is that nigga musically but he isn't the best judge of talent (Bleek) or character (Beans). Besides I think if Cole were to go independent he could have a nice little career on some underground shit. Being on a major isn't doing anything but hindering him.