General Discussion

Seminal Jay record. Released on Sept 11, 2001. Peak Kanye-era production. Mid-career hunger for more. Pre-billionaire mogul bars. Still New York rooted. Classic in every sense.

I had no idea it was released on 9/11. That's nuts!

I fell back in love with hip-hop through a version of The Blueprint as a mixtape you shared with me when we first met. What if Dilla produced the Blueprint? So fire.

Been a while since I took this one for a spin. I think my ears expect the Dilla mix tape beats so it should be a fun listen. If you have any background on context on this one that would be helpful as a Jay-Z novice drop it here!

Only two tracks in. I think I need to give each track two plays. The beats have a ton going on. I need a second listen to get to the lyrics.

I'd really like to hear thoughts on Blueprint as an album. To me, it's filled with a ton of amazing tracks, but it came off as a collection of disparate sounds, stories, vibes. So many classic tracks, though. Good first pick!

I did a quick dip back into The Ruler's Back this morning. Jay definitely sets it up as story time. I think my feeling about it being a collection of songs is a response to that idea - there are stories here, but they don't necessarily feel like there's an overarching theme, idea, etc. The music of it doesn't help bring the tracks close together, either. I need to implement a rating system, but I'd give this something along the lines of a 4.3/5, 86/100, A-, or something like that...

I like the idea of a rating system by members vs rating by club owner and seperating that out. It's not meant to be a concept album by any means. In the NO SKIPS journey we aren't relegated to track by track storytelling @jangles. Just puts together a "tapestry" of sound from the early 2000s era that captures Jay in his prime and the breakout of Kanye / Just Blaze as producers.

This is a classic project for there discography I enjoyed not as much as I thought I would but it is a good album .

Curious if anyone has any thoughts on the current album rankings in here. Long Live A$AP is currently at the top. He going to stay up there long?

This guy over here always pushing new picks into Friday afternoon. The anticipation is killing me!

The Wiz Khalifa pick was a good vibe. Curious where we’re going next.

I thought today was Drake day? 👀

Added a location tag for clubs if you’re interested in repping. It’s in the club info under host tools.

@Jangles 👀👀

@harlanworld Where we going next on the NO SKIPS journey???

Sabas CARE FOR ME has to be a top no skip for me