- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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The most ambitious and most fully realized album of his career.
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SpinTightening the screws of his delivery, he's found a bruising poetry in a flow that once seemed clumsily conversational. [Jan 2003, p.93]
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Q MagazineEclipsing last year's Blueprint, it throws down the gauntlet to challengers Murder Inc. [Jan 2003, p.120]
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Jay weaves his way through every imaginable style and flavor with unyielding expertise.
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BlenderDespite the endurance test inherent in any double-disc, his Olympian performances are worth the weight of his pretensions. [#12, p.156]
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Jay-Z has upped the commercial rap ante once again.
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Overreaching but surprisingly solid.
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Though his raps can't compete with the concentrated burst on The Blueprint, there's at least as many great tracks on tap, if only listeners have enough time to find them.
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The trouble is that Jay is stuck in an artistic straitjacket of his own making.
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One more strong record from hip-hop's most dependable voice.
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There's a good album in here crying to be let out.
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Here again, it's a maddening ping-ponging between genius and plain stupidity.
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A little less than half of this stuff is worth singing about.
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Releasing two strong outings in the past year drained him of the juice necessary to make a compelling two-fer.
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MixerOther than two noteworthy tracks, the first disc is essentially filler. [Jan 2003, p.73]
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UncutWe've heard too much of this before. [Jan 2003, p.119]
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Despite showing several flashes of brilliance, Jay-Z stumbles through his most uninspired and disappointing album to date.
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If The Blueprint proved that coming back is easy, The Blueprint 2 proves its difficult to stay on top.
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What a curse Jay-Z's ideas represent: Nearly everything about The Blueprint 2 sounds like a retread, including its title.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 58 out of 88
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Mixed: 20 out of 88
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Negative: 10 out of 88
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MrCharismaJan 10, 2003jay-z has some skill, but this album is rushed and too much like the original *blueprint
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Jul 4, 2013
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Aug 17, 2010