Hip hop is built on trends,and the current trend today seems to be album sequels. Over the past few years, we've seen an increasing number of sequels. Last year, Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 completed the trilogy of the popular series, and Raekwon finally gave die-hard Wu fans the second chapter to his mafia-influenced, game-changing opus Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Part 2. Also who can forget Lil' Wayne's multi-platinum Tha Carter III? While some sequels go on to reach success, they still fail in comparison to its predecessor. Sure, Weezy's CIII was the biggest album of his career, but judging from rap critics and fans alike, the original Carter was still his best body of work. Rappers these days seem compelled to recreate the magic of their most praised album, but some things are better left untouched. When a trend becomes a gimmick (autotune anyone?) the ending result is a brick (Fat Joe's JOSE 2). This year promises to be no exception as more rappers promise to release sequels, i.e. Eminem's Relapse 2, Jeezy's TM103, Fabolous' Loso's Way 2, Lil' Wayne's Tha Carter IV, and Lloyd Bank$ just annouced the sequel to his debut with The Hunger For More 2. Rappers are better off taking the Kanye West route, when keeping the central theme, but changing the album titles. That way an artist would not be judged if the new album does not meet the expectations of the first installment (or second installment). Each album should be given the right to stand on its own, and not an expansion of another disc, especially if that disc is a classic. Kanye continues his "college theme" with Good Ass Job later this year. I'm just waiting for Jay-Z to appear at the next Summer Jam concert and debuts his new song "D.O.A. 2 (Death Of Album sequels)"--well maybe that's stretching it a bit, but I promise this is the first and only story I'll make concerning this topic. No sequels here folks.
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