אמן היום - ג´יי זי!
אמן היום עפ"י הבילבורד הוא ג´יי זי. וזה מה שיש להם לומר Jay-Z apparently believes in the adage "You´re only as good as your last hit." For his eighth Roc-a-Fella/Def Jam set, "The Blueprint 2: The Gift and the Curse" (due Nov. 12), the Brooklyn, N.Y., MC has crafted a sequel of sorts to 2001´s Grammy Award-nominated "The Blueprint." "My whole thing was to record a lot of music coming off ´The Blueprint,´" Jay-Z says. "That was considered a classic as soon it came out. You know how people always compare an artist´s last album to their latest. I knew that was going happen, so I wanted to make sure it was extra tight." The result is a double-disc collection, the first for a Def Jam artist. "I just tried to maintain my level of recording," Jay-Z says. "I know when people pick up a Jay-Z album they´re not expecting to hear four [good] records. I could have four hot records -- which would be an amazing album for another artist -- but four records for me is a problem. I have that ´gift´ and that ´curse.´" He says it was that pressure, as well as the pressures of being a successful artist, that inspired the album´s subtitle. "I always give people the good and the bad," notes Jay-Z. "People always say [my music] is about one thing or about bling-bling, but since my first album I´ve always [given] you the good side -- the high life, because that was real for me -- but also [given] you the tracks that come with that life. For every ´Ain´t No Nigga´ there was a ´D´Evils´ on the album. There was a ´Can I Live´ for every ´Can´t Knock the Hustle.´ For every party song, there´s always that balance. I figured if I gave people that title, they would zone in on it and really get into it." Having headlined this summer´s Sprite Liquid Mix tour, Jay-Z will return to the road for a radio and in-store promotional tour beginning Nov. 11. There are also plans for an appearance on MTV´s "TRL" on the day of the album´s release. Additionally, Jay-Z will team with Heineken for a Grammy Awards commercial, with proceeds benefiting music-education charities. In addition to Beonyce Knowles, who appears on first single "´03 Bonnie & Clyde", "The Blueprint 2" features appearances by Dr. Dre, Rakim, Truth Hurts, and Lenny Kravitz. "This album is everywhere," Jay-Z says with a smile. "With ´The Blueprint,´ there was one specific theme-soul music. This one is about the next level and the future. ´The Blueprint´ was about something familiar; this [album] is about what´s next. There are all different types of music on there, from rock to soul to reggae -- it´s very experimental."
אמן היום עפ"י הבילבורד הוא ג´יי זי. וזה מה שיש להם לומר Jay-Z apparently believes in the adage "You´re only as good as your last hit." For his eighth Roc-a-Fella/Def Jam set, "The Blueprint 2: The Gift and the Curse" (due Nov. 12), the Brooklyn, N.Y., MC has crafted a sequel of sorts to 2001´s Grammy Award-nominated "The Blueprint." "My whole thing was to record a lot of music coming off ´The Blueprint,´" Jay-Z says. "That was considered a classic as soon it came out. You know how people always compare an artist´s last album to their latest. I knew that was going happen, so I wanted to make sure it was extra tight." The result is a double-disc collection, the first for a Def Jam artist. "I just tried to maintain my level of recording," Jay-Z says. "I know when people pick up a Jay-Z album they´re not expecting to hear four [good] records. I could have four hot records -- which would be an amazing album for another artist -- but four records for me is a problem. I have that ´gift´ and that ´curse.´" He says it was that pressure, as well as the pressures of being a successful artist, that inspired the album´s subtitle. "I always give people the good and the bad," notes Jay-Z. "People always say [my music] is about one thing or about bling-bling, but since my first album I´ve always [given] you the good side -- the high life, because that was real for me -- but also [given] you the tracks that come with that life. For every ´Ain´t No Nigga´ there was a ´D´Evils´ on the album. There was a ´Can I Live´ for every ´Can´t Knock the Hustle.´ For every party song, there´s always that balance. I figured if I gave people that title, they would zone in on it and really get into it." Having headlined this summer´s Sprite Liquid Mix tour, Jay-Z will return to the road for a radio and in-store promotional tour beginning Nov. 11. There are also plans for an appearance on MTV´s "TRL" on the day of the album´s release. Additionally, Jay-Z will team with Heineken for a Grammy Awards commercial, with proceeds benefiting music-education charities. In addition to Beonyce Knowles, who appears on first single "´03 Bonnie & Clyde", "The Blueprint 2" features appearances by Dr. Dre, Rakim, Truth Hurts, and Lenny Kravitz. "This album is everywhere," Jay-Z says with a smile. "With ´The Blueprint,´ there was one specific theme-soul music. This one is about the next level and the future. ´The Blueprint´ was about something familiar; this [album] is about what´s next. There are all different types of music on there, from rock to soul to reggae -- it´s very experimental."