The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse

The Blueprint^2: The Gift & The Curse
Studio album by Jay-Z
Released	November 12, 2002
Genre	Hip hop
Length	1:42:02
Label	Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam
Producer	Darrell "Digga" Branch, Just Blaze, Kanye West, Timbaland, The Neptunes, No I.D., Charlemagne, Big Chuck, Ron Feemster, Heavy D, Jimi Kendrix, Dr. Dre
Jay-Z chronology
The Blueprint (2001) The Blueprint^2 (2002) The Black Album (2003)
Singles from The Blueprint^2: The Gift & The Curse
"Hovi Baby" Released: October 24, 2002 "Excuse Me Miss" Released: November 12, 2002 "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" Released: February 4, 2003

The Blueprint²: The Gift & The Curse is the seventh studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, released on November 12, 2002. The album serves as the sequel to his sixth album The Blueprint. Parts of the album were later reissued as The Blueprint 2.1 in 2003.

This album, like Jay-Z's previous four, debuted at #1 with over 545,000 units shipped in its first week of sales, and has sold 2,117,000 units as of February 2012 in the U.S.^[1]

Music

Production for the album began three months after Jay-Z's critically acclaimed and commercially successful sixth studio album The Blueprint and also around the time when the rapper had just turned 32 years old. Production was handled primarily by Just Blaze and Kanye West - both of whom had recently established themselves as both of one of hip-hop's most celebrated producers due to the success of The Blueprint, Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo (also known as The Neptunes), and Timbaland, while other producers include No I.D., Darrell "Digga" Branch, Charlemagne, Big Chuck, Dr. Dre, Jimmy Kendrick, Heavy D, and Ron Fennster. Unlike The Blueprint which was almost void of guest appearances, The Blueprint² features many featured guests, even out-of-genre artists that include Lenny Kravitz and Sean Paul. Other features include West Coast rapper and producer Dr. Dre, Rakim, Beyoncé, Faith Evans, Beanie Sigel and Scarface. The album also includes an uncredited verse from Kanye West on the Timbaland-produced track "The Bounce". Pharrell also provides vocals and hooks of many of his produced tracks, for example "Excuse Me Miss" and "Nigga Please". Though the album has no strict concept, the album contains two discs. The first disc entitled "The Gift" features mainstream, pop-oriented music. The second disc entitled "The Curse" contains dark, emotional, and bravado street songs such as the dark-toned retelling of "Meet the Parents", the emotional substance of escaping the dangerous ghetto in "Some How Some Way", the Nas-diss "Blueprint 2", and the bravado "Nigga Please".

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	64/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]
The A.V. Club	(favorable)[4]
Entertainment Weekly	(C)[5]
NME	(8/10)[6]
Pitchfork Media	(7.5/10)[7]
PopMatters	(mixed)[8]
RapReviews	(8.5/10)[9]
Rolling Stone	[10]
Spin	[11]
Village Voice	(favorable)[12]

The album received mixed to mostly positive reviews from critics. Critics applauded the album for its production—mostly aimed at Kanye West, Just Blaze, and The Neptunes—as well as lyricism from Jay-Z and blend of mainstream rap music and dark street rap while critics criticized the amount of tracks, plus the large amount of guest artists and pop-oriented sound.

Track listing

The Gift (Disc 1)
No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"A Dream" (featuring The Notorious B.I.G and Faith Evans)	Kanye West	4:12
2.	"Hovi Baby"	Just Blaze	4:21
3.	"The Watcher 2" (featuring Dr. Dre, Rakim and Truth Hurts)	Scott Storch Dr. Dre	5:55
4.	"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (featuring Beyoncé)	Kanye West	3:25
5.	"Excuse Me Miss"	The Neptunes	4:41
6.	"What They Gonna Do" (featuring Sean Paul)	Darrell "Digga" Branch	4:54
7.	"All Around the World" (featuring LaToiya Williams)	No I.D.	3:52
8.	"Poppin' Tags" (featuring Twista, Killer Mike and Big Boi)	Kanye West	6:00
9.	"Fuck All Nite"	The Neptunes	4:19
10.	"The Bounce" (featuring Kanye West)	Timbaland	4:18
11.	"I Did It My Way"	Big Chuck Jimi Kendrix	3:42

The Curse (Disc 2)
No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Diamond Is Forever"	Big Chuck Ron "NEFF-U" Feemster	3:56
2.	"Guns & Roses" (featuring Lenny Kravitz)	Heavy D	4:26
3.	"U Don't Know (Remix)" (featuring M.O.P.)	Just Blaze	4:27
4.	"Meet the Parents"	Just Blaze	4:59
5.	"Some How Some Way" (featuring Scarface and Beanie Sigel)	Just Blaze	5:37
6.	"Some People Hate"	Kanye West	4:32
7.	"Blueprint^2"	Charlemagne	4:49
8.	"Nigga Please" (featuring Young Chris)	The Neptunes	4:38
9.	"2 Many Hoes"	Timbaland	3:34
10.	"As One" (featuring Rell, Young Gunz, Sparks, Peedi Crakk, Memphis Bleek and Freeway)	Just Blaze	3:49
11.	"A Ballad for the Fallen Soldier"	The Neptunes	4:42
12.	"Show You How" (Bonus Track)	Just Blaze	2:59
13.	"Bitches & Sisters" (Bonus Track)	Just Blaze	2:39
14.	"What They Gonna Do, Part II" (Bonus Track)	Darrell "Digga" Branch	3:47

Chart history

Album Chart (2002) Peak position Canadian Albums (Billboard)[13] 8 Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[14] 66 French Albums (SNEP)[15] 79 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] 61 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[17] 49 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[18] 52 UK Albums (OCC)[19] 23 US Billboard 200[20] 1 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[21] 1

Singles Year Song Chart positions US[22] US R&B[23] US Rap[24] 2002 "Hovi Baby" 2 5 4 2002 "Excuse Me Miss" 4 2 5 2003 "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" 5 4 2

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[25]	2× Platinum	200,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[26]	Gold	100,000
United States (RIAA)[27]	3× Platinum	3,000,000
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone ^xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Chart procession and succession

See also

• List of number-one albums of 2002 (U.S.)
• List of number-one R&B albums of 2002 (U.S.)

References

1. Grein, Paul (2012-02-29). "Week Ending Feb. 26, 2012. Albums: Half of the Top 10 | Chart Watch (NEW) - Yahoo! Music". Music.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
2. "Jay-Z Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2002-11-12.
3. The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse at AllMusic
4. Rabin, Nathan (2002-12-06). "The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse: Jay-Z | Music | MusicalWork Review | The A.V. Club". Origin.avclub.com. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
5. Archived January 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
6. "NME Album Reviews - Jay-Z : The Blueprint 2 : The Gift & The Curse". Nme.Com. 2005-09-12. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
7. Archived April 29, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
8. Hill, Marc L. "Jay-Z: Blueprint 2: The Gift and the Curse". PopMatters. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
9. "Jay-Z :: The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse :: Roc-A-Fella Records". Rapreviews.com. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
11. Ryan, Chris (2003-06-24). "Jay-Z, 'The Blueprint 2: The Gift and the Curse' (Roc-a-Fella) | SPIN | Albums | Critical Mass". SPIN. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
12. Nick Catucci (2002-12-31). "Songs in the Key of Z - Page 1 - Music - New York". Village Voice. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
13. "Jay-Z – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Jay-Z. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
14. "Dutchcharts.nl – Jay-Z – The Blueprint 2 - The Gift & The Curse" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
15. "Lescharts.com – Jay-Z – The Blueprint 2 - The Gift & The Curse". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
16. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
17. "Charts.org.nz – Jay-Z – The Blueprint 2 - The Gift & The Curse". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
18. "Swisscharts.com – Jay-Z – The Blueprint 2 - The Gift & The Curse". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
19. "Jay-Z | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved 26 December 2015.
20. "Jay-Z – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Jay-Z. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
21. "Jay-Z – Chart history" Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for Jay-Z. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
22. "Jay-Z – Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
23. "Jay-Z – Chart History: Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
24. "Jay-Z – Chart History: Hot Rap Singles". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
25. "Canadian album certifications – JAY Z – The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse". Music Canada.
26. "British album certifications – JAY Z – The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse". British Phonographic Industry. Enter The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
27. "American album certifications – JAY Z – The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH

External links

• The Blueprint²: The Gift & The Curse at Discogs