Paul Jackson's List: 2009

For this year’s Paulies, I’m devoting my entry to one work from 2009--Sean Carter's latest LP "The Blueprint 3."

But before diving into the entrée, let’s pick at a few appetizers. It wouldn't be a Paulies without a Damon Albarn mention, whose production work on the opening track of Amadou and Mariam's “Welcome to Mali” is typical of his work this decade--a track-suit’d Essex boy bringing global-soul to the masses (doesn't hurt to have Mariam’s Mali-blues-vocals holding it down) [Listen on Lala]. While The Decemberists’s individual albums likely wont make many top 25 lists of the decade, their catalogue is becoming a formidable collection among those of the post-punk era; and their 2009 LP "The Hazards of Love" is the band at their most over-the-top, anything-goes, prog-rock-for-grad-students best. While I haven’t heard the '09 concept albums from Mastodon or Green Day, I imagine “Hazards of Love” to be the most rewarding of the bunch. With "Merriweather Post Pavilion" Animal Collective seem to have taken “the next big step” toward Radiohead-esque credibility and mass popularity (a brilliant record all the way through)…if only their live shows could get similar accolades. Cursive’s “From the Hips” is my selection for song of the year–arguably it has nothing to do with “2009” sonically or emotionally, but it’s a timeless gem of a pop rock song, philosophically astute, and easily the best thing I’ve ever heard come out of Saddle Creek and Omaha [Listen on Lala]. Among the big indie buzz records of '09, I’m enjoying Phoenix’s “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix,” but not ready to say much about it. Same for Dirty Projectors and The xx -- though The xx’s “Crystalised” and Phoenix’s “1901” certainly deserve some song of the year consideration. Also worth noting among the indies, Michael Angelakos’s deranged falsetto was a real highlight of '09, making his band Passion Pit seem like a legitimate "band-to-watch" among so many pretenders [Listen on Lala].

Lady Gaga, what is left to say, except she seems to be the most in control, self aware, and “necessary” female pop star since Madonna. All that Britney lacked in terms of agency, Gaga seems to possess–she's approached pop stardom like a CalTech student, pouring over the theories and theorems, taking Britney and Beyonce as her thesis advisers, and delivering “Paparazzi” as her doctoral project - "A +." [Listen via iLike]

Like any great “obituary moment” (see: Michael Jackson also this year, and Johnny Cash in '03), Jim Carroll’s passing provided an important moment of discovery-cum-reflection–the artist who can write “People who Died” will be forever missed [Listen via Lala]. 2009 had two great rock documentaries worth mentioning--Anvil! The Story of Anvil! was by all accounts the rock-doc of the year, but the Gorillaz '09 documentary Bananaz was a nice reminder of just how good (possibly important) that band really was [Watch on YouTube]. The Pixies, Jay-Z, and Macca (all 40 plus) were my highlights among live music performances. How the Beatles Destroyed Rock n Roll by Elijah Wald--as frustrating but thought-provoking as anything I’d read all year--was my favorite music book of 09. It posits a curious, but simple thesis–the history of pop music from 1900 onwards has 2 eras, pre-beatles 1966, and post-beatles 1967. That one band’s vaguely arbitrary decision to turn away from popular music as a live-based, communal function (with recordings as a secondary, minor concern) forever changed in 1967, and we’re all suffering for it. Music is meant to bring us together, and yet now band's recordings are studied and argued over like academic papers (ahem!). And finally Asher Roth's "I Love College" was my guilty pleasure of the year--it upset me more than anything else from 2009, which means he was doing something very right. (Listen via Lala).

2009: Paulies List: Paul G. Jackson

1. Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint III”
Track List:
1. "What We Talkin' About" (featuring Luke Steele). Kanye West & No I.D.
2. "Thank You". Kanye West & No I.D.
3. "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)". No I.D.
4. "Run This Town" (featuring Rihanna and Kanye West). Kanye West & No I.D.
5. "Empire State of Mind" (featuring Alicia Keys) Al Shux, Janet Sewell-Ulepic & Angela Hunte
6. "Real as It Gets"" (featuring Young Jeezy). The Inkredibles
7. "On to the Next One" (featuring Swizz Beatz). Swizz Beatz
8. "Off That" (featuring Drake). Timbaland & Jerome Harmon
9. "A Star Is Born" (featuring J. Cole). Kanye West, No I.D. & Kenoe
10. "Venus vs. Mars". Timbaland & Jerome Harmon
11. "Already Home" (featuring Kid Cudi). Kanye West, No I.D. & Jeff Bhasker
12. "Hate" (featuring Kanye West). Kanye West
13. "Reminder". Timbaland & Jerome Harmon
14. "So Ambitious" (featuring Pharrell). The Neptunes
15. "Young Forever" (featuring Mr Hudson)

Intro. For the final Paulies of this decade, it feels appropriate to reflect upon one album that’s able to sum up not only the year, but a much wider musical terrain; if such an album can connect back to the decade more broadly, then we really have something. Luckily "The Blueprint 3" is that record.

Prior to the 2009. As he so often does, in 2008 Jay-Z did a scene-stealing guest spot on Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III"; in "Mr. Carter" Jay-Z reiterated a major theme that’d been on his mind since his 2003 record "The Black Album”:
“Far from being the bastard that Marcy had fathered,
Now my name's been mentioned with the Martyrs,
The Biggie's and the Pac's, and the Marley's and the Marcus' Garvey's”
...which is an even better, but similar version of Jay-Z's 2003 lyric from Kanye West’s "The College Dropout":
"The way y’all all follow Jigga,
Hov’s a living legend and I’ll tell you why
Everybody wanna be Hov and Hov’s still alive"
Like most MC's, Jay has no problem boasting about his talent--but in constrast to some youthful posturing, the boast has become focused on Jay-Z's place in history. And as he sees it, it's the very fact of his unprecedented durability--his unlikely avoidance of tragedy--that sets him apart. Compare that to "Tha Carter III"'s previous track, “A Milli,” where Lil Wayne argues for a decidedly smaller point,
“They say I'm rappin like Big, Jay, and Tupac, Andre 3 Thousand/ Where is Erykah Badu at/ Who dat Who dat said they gon' beat Lil Wayne"
By all accounts these were the two greatest rappers alive in 2008--and in arguing for their importance, each of course turned to Tupac and Biggie as precedents. But for Jay-Z, it no longer has anything to do with the flow/verse/style of these rappers, but everything to do with what history makes of them. Hov'a a living legend, a near tragedy, a historical figure--and Hov's still alive.

Interestingly, one year later Jay-Z seems to have ditched this approach altogether – from “What We Talkin Bout” on "The Blueprint 3" we get:
“I don’t run rap no more, I run the map” [With the very next lyric Jay is taking some credit for getting Obama elected].
As he sees it, it's no longer a discussion about himself as an "Important Rapper"; now it's fully a question of Hegelian-historical-necessity-of-Jay-Z -- and in that regard, he'll be taking us into terra incognita for hip hop...

So what are the facts. On “Reminder” from "The Blueprint III," Jay rhymes:
"What the hell have y’all done/ to even have an opinion/ on what I’ve been doing/ What the hell have y’all won?/ Only thing you can identify with/ is losing 10 #1 albums in a row/ Who better than me?/ Only the Beatles, Nobody ahead of me/ I crushed Elvis and his blue suede shoes/ Made the Rolling Stones seem sweet as Kool-Aid too/ ‘96, ‘97, ‘98, ’99, 2000, 2001 and beyond/ ’02, ‘03, ’04, ’05, ’06 and 7, ’08, ’09/ Back to back Double-plat I did what you won’t/ Men lie Women lie Numbers don’t/ Ain’t nothing changed for me/ ‘Cept the year it is"
In fact "The Blueprint 3" did open on top of the Billboard charts, making it his 11th #1 album in a row, passing Elvis, and now only behind the Beatles who had 15 #1's. In the prime of our young lives and throughout this entire decade, we have arguably the most popular solo pop musician of the modern pop era--something that should be acknowledged.

But there's more to winning those 11 albums--the lyric is also likely a reference to Public Enemy's 1988 anthem "Fight the Power" ["Elvis was a hero to most/ But he never meant shit to me you see/ Straight up racist that sucker was/ Simple and plain/ Mother fuck him and John Wayne"]--with Elvis serving as two bookends here. When hip hop was finally gaining steam in the late 1980s as a cultural force, Public Enemy took dead aim at Elvis, needing to take down popular music's king; this was completed 20 years later with Jay-Z's 11th number one album in a row--"I crushed Elvis and his blue suede shoes."

So how did he pass Elvis? In “Onto the Next One, (feat. Swizz beatz)“ Jay rhymes
Hov on that new shit nigga like how come
Niggas want my old shit buy my old album
Niggas stuck on stupid I gotta keep it moving
Niggas make the same shit, me I make the blueprint
Came in the range, hopped out the Lexus
Every year since I been on that next shit
Traded in that gold for the platinum Rolexes
Now a niggaz wrist matches the status of my records
And in“Off That (feat. Drake)”:
"We don’t care what you used to say
Unless how it affects your future pay…”
The history of pop music seems clear on one point–any idiot can produce a one-hit wonder; a dirty Italian vocal group living under subway tracks of 1950s Brooklyn; a Gallic baby; it really doesn’t matter. And while it takes considerable more fortune and skill to make a hit album, history's also provided us with just as many one-album flame-outs. The public gets tired easily.

Around 2001 is when I first started considering Jay-Z as something more than just another Diddy-esque popular MC, specifically with "H to the Izzo." As good as the beats and rhymes might have been, it was Jay's co-option of “izzo” that felt notable–why was he doing it? The phrase was already floating around pop culture; in fact, the phrase felt kind of played out--but despire that, Jay-Z had turned this idiotic linguistic device into a total anthem, something that sounded iconic and of that time.

Now back to 2009. As Sasha Frere Jones covered in his now famous essay on the state of hip hop, there's been a real shift in the way rap music is constructed, relying more on a euro-centric, club-based flow as opposed to a south Bronx, sample-heavy, synth-beat sound. In short, hip hop is getting closer and closer to mainstream pop/dance music, which is what "The Blueprint 3" thoroughly is (a pop record). Is Jay-Z responsible in ay way for this shift? Not even close – but in 2009, just as he's always done, he adapted and co-opted the sound of the time. And he did it to extraordinary success. Niggas want my old shit buy my old album/ Niggas stuck on stupid I gotta keep it moving/ Niggas make the same shit, me I make the blueprint

And in contrast to the way Julian Casblancas seems to have little clue how to adapt his sound and evolve with the time, Jay has done it over and over. Not through stunt tactics a la Britney (or Madonna), but through an innate sense of where music needs to be. In 1998 Jay-Z was "street"– him against the world; in 2001 he was ballin; in 2007 he was bloated and shallow like the culture; in 2009 he's German.

The Blueprint. It's no accident that this series of records is called "The Blueprint" – it’s Jay's inside joke, which he occasionally makes explicit within the record. From "Real As It Gets (Feat. Young Jeezy)":
A hundred million to the good/ And I’m still talking yayo/At a snails pace I won this race that ya’ll trail/ Huh huh Blueprints for sale/ Follow in my footprints you can’t fail/ Set sail
It’s a funny wordplay–Jay is literally selling a blueprint for how to create a series of hit records – you can buy The Blueprint (the album) and the blueprint (his set of schematics for making a hit record, which he breaks down throughout the album). But Jay's challenge to his fellow rappers is that even though he can break it down for you, you still probably can’t follow it—that’s the magic of Jay-Z as musician. In "Clap for Em" Jay rhymes:
I seen Ma$e do it, Seen ‘Ye do it, X came through Caught lighter fluid, Still I came through it, Clap for ‘em, But I’m the Blueprint, I’m like the map for ‘em, I dropped another classic, Made Puff pass it, Nobody could touch Puff Back when Puff had it, Wayne scorchin’ I’ll applaud him If he keep goin’, Pass the torch to him, 50 came through Like Hurricanes do, I thought I finished his ass at Summer Jam too, I had the Illmatic on bootleg The shit was so ahead, Thought we was all dead, Wayne did a milli, 50 did a milli, ‘Ye too, But what Em did was silly The white boy blossomed After Dre endorsed him, His flow on “Renegade” – fuckin’ awesome Applaud ‘em
Is Jay really applauding Mase, Kanye, P. Diddy, Lil Wayne, Nas, and Eminem? Or is it patronizing–clap for em, because those performances are all over, the curtain has been drawn. Meanwhile, guess what, Jay just had his eleventh number one in a row…

Blueprint's best moments. Lest it's unclear, make no mistake--ultimately Jay-Z stuck around because he’s the best rapper of his generation – the best ideas, the best flow, the best wordplay, just a complete MC. In "DOA" Jay says
“I know we facin a recession, but the way you rappin its gonne be a great depression”
This double entendre is not only an attempt to comment on rap, but it's a dig on his protégé/friend/producer Kanye West and his autotuned-break-up abum (808s and Heartbreak). To wit, if you MC's (Kanye) keep using autotune, the results will be a great depression (with Ye's record being the work of a truly great depression...i.e. autotuned rhymes on the death of his mother).

If you happened to live in New York in '09, "New York State of Mind" was easily the most pervasive, car-stereo-dominating song of the year, comparable to the summer of Michael Jackson. That song's towering chorus was the kind of hook songwriters around the world dream about.

A la “A Milli” last year, Jay dropped two crazy-hypnotic word-based beats in 2009, "Onto the Next One," and "Off that," featuring everyone’s favorite new artist of 09, Drake. It's part of Jay's progression--take something hot and make it scorching.

And Finally...
1 year ago, there was a debatable question--who was really in charge of hip hop, who’d earned the right to be called the greatest rapper alive, and most importantly, who was going to close out the decade on top (hip hop’s most commercially successful decade at that). Prior to last month’s mix tape by Lil Wayne, it was mostly notable how quiet Weezy was in 2009, without even mentioning the numerous false starts surrounding his “rock” record and his imminent jail sentence which will keep him out of the limelight in 2010.

This decade was a messy one for pop music -- a ghettoization of alternative/indie; the struggles of commercial record labels; Napster and its progeny; the iPod and changing technologies; but through the varied musical landscape, one musician held it down all the way through.