my main issue with Jay is that he seems like he is aiming to create a certain sound every single time.

look at his career;

Reasonable Doubt - in line with Illmatic, Ready To Die, and Doe or Die.

Vol 1 - got Puff and tried to go the Life After Death route.

Vol 2 - got Swizzy and tried to go the DMX/Ruff Ryder route with the production.

Vol 3 - got Timbo and tried to go that route while bringing in the South to his fan base.

Dynasty - got the Neptunes and capitalized on that sound that Nore brought out.

Blueprint - this is one time I feel he went his own way but Ye and Blaze etc have said how much Supreme Clientelle inspired the production. Not sure if Jay was thinking that way or not.

BP2 - tried to group everything together from the last 3 albums with Ye, Blaze, Tune, Timbo, Dre the South on board etc. Got the Kravitz track after Busta did that rock thing.

The Black Album - stuck with the Ye and Blaze and Tunes and Timbo. hinted at doing something different with the 12 song/12 producers but didn't follow through. got 9th and Quik to widen his fan base more and name dropped Com and Talib to get that respect.

Kingdom Come - same thing as before, Blaze, Ye, Dre etc. Went the Coldplay route *after* Ye according to Ye.

American Gangster - went back to Puff but stuck with the same themes from day one.

BP3 - stuck with Timbo, Ye, Tune, Blaze, but brought in the hot guest artists like Drake, J Cole, Keys song I'm sure was her that he jumped on.

He's always been a following dude, like 2nd in line. and that's a smart thing because it's worked for him and he was able to capitalize on it but I'm with you in that he never really went his own direction and tried something that really truly feels like Jay if that makes any sense.

I would love to get that grown man more experimental album from him that doesn't play it safe.