FInal Grade: C/C+

Man, talk about underwhelming!  With forces such as these behind this project, I was expecting a lot more.  Granted, when I first heard "Otis" I thought it was overrated, so I guess I'm not entirely surprised, just disappointed.  I do really appreciate Jay and Kanye's attempt to blend different styles into their beats and not sticking to what many would assume is "hip hop," but even so, a lot of the grooves fell short.  There were many instances where I felt that with some editing, the beat could have been on point, but there were too many unnecessary additions leaving many sounding cluttered.  I think that Kanye outdid Jay on this one.  I mean, how many times do we have to hear Jay say "all black everything" - I think we get the point.  "Otis," "Gotta Have It," and "New Day" are my favorite tracks.  Everything else... pretty blah.  Definitely leans more towards the C than the C+ of the grading spectrum.