The Lowdown (9/8)

Apologies to those that have read my blog, but over the summer I was very busy. Now I'm back at it and hoping to stick with the updates. Sadly, I am unable to upload albums for download, but I will deliver any random news that I come across, as well as release dates and album reviews. I have decided to place my paragraph styled reviews here, and then for the song by song breakdowns, you can check my reviews on iTunes, under the name of btaznpride.

Today, two major releases from NY drops. Jay-Z releases his eleventh solo album, The Blueprint 3, which continues the Blueprint series. Based off his famed classic, The Blueprint, the second in the series didn't fair so well, being overlong and not as focused. With features from Rihanna, Kanye West, Drake, KiD CuDi, Alicia Keys, among others, the album seems to have quite a bit of starpower. Production is handled mainly by Kanye West & No I.D., with appearances by Swizz Beatz, Timbaland and The Neptunes. Originally slated for a September 11th release, to coincide with the release of the original Blueprint, it was announced that the date was pushed up to the 8th without any reasoning. Lead Single: "D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune)", "Run This Town (feat. Kanye West & Rihanna)"

The next release is one that has been highly anticipated for quite sometime. Wu Tang member, Raekwon, goes back in the kitchen to cook up his sequel to his classic debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, back in 1995. Now in 2009, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. II arrives, after several delays and now being situated label-wise with EMI and his own Icewater Records. Production comes from Pete Rock, J Dilla, RZA, Dr. Dre, Scram Jones, while guests include Wu brethren, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, Inspectah Deck, Cappadonna, Masta Killa, GZA, as well as Beanie Sigel, Lyfe Jennings, Slick Rick and Busta Rhymes. Lead Single: "House Of Flying Daggers (feat. Method Man, Ghostface Killah & Inspectah Deck)", "New Wu (feat. Method Man & Ghostface Killah)"