Jay-Z kept The Blueprint incredibly tight, focusing on a single sound and letting nothing interfere with some of the best raps of his career. The Blueprint?: The Gift & the Curse was a radically different record, with the most respected rapper in the business trying on a range of styles, collaborating with a lot of guests and working with an army of producers (Neptunes, Dr. Dre, Timbaland, Heavy D, Kanye West). Four months after its release, Roc-A-Fella issued Blueprint 2.1, a version of the record that cut in half the running time of the original and delivered most of the best material ? the Neptunes' bounce track Excuse Me Miss, the horn-driven blast of The Watcher 2 produced by Dr. Dre (featuring Truth Hurts), and the record's biggest hit, '03 Bonnie & Clyde, a slick R&B crossover with Beyoncé Knowles. Just like the original, Blueprint 2.1 ranges from unapologetically sexed-up party joints to theatrical epics and even takes in a feature for the prince of rock Lenny Kravitz (Guns & Roses). Yes, it is slightly more focused than its two-disc predecessor, but it's still a sprawling commercial monster that lacks the creativity of The Blueprint.