3rd Song You Should Be Thankful For: Jay Z – Meet The Parents

The Blueprint 2 was never really regarded as one of Jay Z’s classics, and to be honest there were a lot of songs on it that felt like pure filler material. But to my 12 year old mind there was literally nothing better. I loved every single song on the album and the dual disks were a prominent fixture in my CD player. I loved the club bangers, the intellectual songs, even the songs that really had no reason to exist: I loved it all. As I grew older and got a bit better at critically listening to music, I realized more and more that the album was pretty bad. Not in an un-listenable way, but more of a “what the hell was he thinking?” sort of way. Jay-Z was coming off of one of the most critically successful rap albums ever made (The Blueprint) a platinum seller and Grammy nominated for I.Z Z.O. Don’t worry, I will get to some songs on that album in due time. To call the Blueprint 2 ambitious is giving it too much credit, Jay-Z had an idea, make an album for those that like the fun Jay-Z and make an album for those that like the intellectual Jay-Z and combine them and make a double feature. The problem with double features is that it would almost always invariably make a better single disk album, and The Blueprint 2 did, when it was rereleased as The Blueprint 2.1 (which yes, i bought, For the two bonus tracks). 2.1 had a perfect mix of just his GOOD fun and intellectual songs, and Meet the Parents is a prime example of just how good Jay Z can be when he puts his mind into making an impact.