Rui-Long Monico - Geneva // USA Conexion

The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse vs Street's Disciple. First of my series of album deathmatches as inspired by Byron Crawford. I chose these two because double cds are often the reflect of an oversized ego among rappers. Clash of the NY Titans part 1:

Number of Awesome songs:

The Blueprint2 has a lot of awesome songs. Meet the Parents has that Reasonable Doubt style to it, Diamond is Forever has a lot energy and so on and so forth. Nas' few awesome songs weren't of this caliber; he had a lot of good song but nothing unforgettable.

The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse > Street's Disciple

Number of Skipable songs:

Both cds have their share of skipable songs, which is about 1/3 of each record. This is a huge number, but double cds are often full of fillers. Nas' only horrible song was Me & You in which he tries, pretty badly, to sing. Except this abortion, the other songs are just mediocre, mainly because of the generic production. Jay-Z however shows exceptional bad taste in the choice of his songs. '03 Bonnie & Clyde the remake of 2Pac's Me & My Girlfriend, is plain pathetic and so are the interventions by P. Diddy, Sean Paul and The Neptunes.

Street's Disciple > The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse

Lyrics:

Nas always has been a street poet, dropping her mad gems and showing great versatility. Jay-Z is a hustler talking about girlz, dope and himself. Nothing wrong with that but it seems he has been talking about the same shit over and over, just in different ways.

Street's Disciple > The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse

Flow:

Nas is at the top during the whole album. He shows maturity and exceptional breath control. Jay-z can be extraordinary or extremely annoying and amateurish depending on the track.

Street's Disciple > The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse

Production:

Jay-Z got money and knows how to use it. Dr. Dre, Kanye West, The Neptunes, Timbaland he bought them all. The result is a very professional and eclectic and sometimes commercial sound. Nas only used underdogs, half of them probably never did anything major, and the production is very underground. Jay-Z is a step further on this one because Nas relies too much on average beats and has no bombs to propose us.

The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse > Street's Disciple

Artistic Vibe:

As stated previously, Nas' lyrics are deep and well thought. He puts a lot of meaning in his themes and sometimes comes out with beautiful text. Jay-Z don't care much about the artistic value 'cuz it don't sell.

Street's Disciple > The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse

Entertainment Vibe:

Jay-Z's album is far superior entertainment wise. He got dancefloor killers, cruising songs, head-nodders... Nas just got food for the brain.

The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse > Street's Disciple

Notable Appearances:

MOP, Scarface, Rakim, Lenny Kravitz, Big Boi, Killer Mike, Twista. Pick and choose, Jay-Z went all out on the featurings and have something for every taste. Nas just brought friends & family to his Street's Disciple. I like the passage with his dad a lot but the other cameos don't shine that much.

The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse > Street's Disciple

Album Cover:

Jay-Z's close up of his dick sucking lips were not the wisest choice for the cover art. The photographer sure screwed up on this one. Meanwhile Nas tried to bring some class to his cd with his remake of the Last Supper but only achieved to look retarded. Everyone can agree that both of these covers are the worst that they respectively ever came out with.

The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse > Street's Disciple

Result:

The final decision is a tough choice. Like choosing between an artificial and sexy stripper against a faithful and good-looking college girl. Must admit that this stripper has bigger tits, I'll side with her on this one even though I'll probably regret it later.

The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse > Street's Disciple

What's your opinion?