Album Review: Jay-Z - Blueprint 3
Posted on 11. Sep, 2009 by Ashley Marc in Entertainment, Music
It’s finally here… One of the most anticipated albums this side of the millennium (or at the very least, this year).
The Blueprint 3.
Jay-Z makes his triumphant return to music after the 2007 release of multi-platinum selling conceptual album American Gangster. This time with the third and supposedly final instalment in the critically acclaimed Blueprint series.
With rumours swirling around of an album completely produced by Timbaland or Kanye West and some lukewarm leaked tracks including “Ain’t I” and “Jocking Jay-Z” nobody was entirely sure what direction the album was going in, commercially viable aka safe or an attempt to bring back real lyricism and hip-hop. First official single “DOA (Death of Auto tune)” emphatically answered that question, with a hard hitting message about the current state of the “game” and its reliance on gimmicks.
The hypocritical thing about DOA is that when choosing producers for the album Jay-Z turned to his protégé, “Mr. Auto-tune my whole album” Kanye West, as well as long time collaborators Pharrell Williams, Swizz Beatz, Timbaland and a plethora of younger less established producers, namely the Inkredibles and Al Shux for the rest of the album.
Second single “Run This Town” is a grower. On the first listen it sounds like it should have been left as a filler track for Rhianna’s next album but Kanye completely outshone Jay on his verse and that moment alone makes the album worth the purchase. Every listen has you wanting more.
The album kicks off with “What We Talkin About”, a solid intro where Mr. Carter shows us his change of focus from the Mafioso drug dealer rap, hard living and “stunting” to reflective “grown up” rap, which I appreciated solely due to the fact that you could hear his progression as an artist from the previous Blueprints.
Empire State of Mind, Already Home, So Ambitious, Reminder and Thank You all seemed like attempts to entertain the old faithful Jay-Z fans as his wordplay and storytelling took me back to how I felt when listening to his earlier albums and if that was the aim he succeeded. The first 3 in that list also had impressive guest appearances from Alicia Keys (a classic collabo, reminiscent of “Can’t Knock the Hustle” with Mary J), Kid Cudi (holds his own with a sung chorus over Kanye’s best beat on the album) and Pharrell (some people say he should stay in front of the boards instead of the mic but his voice perfectly compliments a classic Neptunes beat).
On to the Next One sees Swizz Beatz back to his very best with a bass heavy BANGER of a beat over a repetitive chorus of “on to the next one” sung by what sounds like a choir of school kids. Jay-Z kills it by addressing his critics and explaining his need to move forward with his music.
J. Cole’s appearance on A Star Is Born will hopefully prove to be a major boost for his career as he shone in his verse and Jay-Z took this opportunity to acknowledge all those in the game who he respects.
Venus Vs. Mars is easily my favourite song on the album as Timbaland (see disappointments at the bottom of the page for my feelings on “off that”) finally delivers a beat worthy of some recognition among some of its predecessors (e.g. Dirt of your Shoulder and Big Pimpin’) and Jay-Z delivers an impeccable display of his lyrical prowess, using metaphors and double entendre’s to show the contrasts between him and a female companion “me I’m from the apple which means I’m a mac/ she’s a pc she lives in my lap”.
Hate see’s Kanye West deliver a repetitive auto-tune inspired beat that feels like a chant rather than a regular beat. This is another song that has had to grow on me and it did, as the back and forth between Jay-Z and Kanye is entertaining to say the least. But after DOA this song seemed hypocritical even though neither used auto-tune over the song Kanye clearly used it on the beat.
There are two tracks that this album could have done without. “Young Forever” is the WORST Jay-Z track ever and you will agree when you hear the ridiculously overhyped and out of place Mr. Hudson crooning over an abysmal Kanye beat (sounds like he made it on a fruity loops and the free demo timed out before he could finish it). Even Jay sounded weak, as he desperately tried slowing down his flow to fit on the beat. It didn’t work. Verdict WACK! Secondly, Real As It Gets is an OK track but it doesn’t sound like it belonged on this album. It felt more like a Young Jeezy track that Jay-Z was featured on rather than the other way around, especially because Jeezy has the first verse.
Overall, Blueprint 3 is an enjoyable album, with Jay-Z acknowledging that he has reached the plateau in his career and on this album he’s taken us with him to the top of the game so we can look down. It’s not better than the first Blueprint and I don’t think it will ever be considered a classic but in my honest opinion it’s the best rap album to come out this year, with his closest competition coming from Rick Ross, Jadakiss and Fabolous.
Rating: 8/10
Stand out Track: Venus Vs. Mars
Don’t waste your time: Young Forever
Disappointments
As a fan of the previous two instalments of the blueprint series, I was shocked/surprised/amazed/disappointed (insert appropriate word here) at the noticeable absence of Just Blaze amongst the list of producers on this album. I don’t think I was alone in hoping that this album would recreate some of the magic that made the 1st Blueprint a classic, but I think Jay-Z heard the criticism, as he addresses our concerns in the 1st verse of “On to the Next One” by saying:
“Hov on that new sh*t/
Nigga’s like how come/
Nigga’s want my old sh*t/
buy my old album/
N****’s stuck on stupid/
I gotta keep it movin/
N****’s make the same shit/
me I make the Blueprint…”
I can’t argue with that. Although I honestly think that a Just Blaze track would have taken pride of place in this albums track list.
Secondly, it can be summed up with one name. Drake. Arguably the hottest rapper in the game and possibly next in line for the hip-hop throne, alongside current occupant of said throne, the self titled “best rapper alive”. The much fabled Drake and Jay-Z collabo was speculatively described as the proverbial passing of the torch, where Jay-Z would co-sign Drake’s emergence to prominence by allowing the Toronto native to “shine” with a verse on the album. I’ll be the first to admit that I was sweating with anticipation at the prospect of such an immense moment in hip-hop. Especially once I had confirmation of the existence of such a track when the album’s track-list was leaked and I noticed track 8 was “Off That” feat. Drake (produced by Timbaland).
After rabidly scouring the internet (upon hearing that the track had leaked) I finally had the mp3 in my iTunes practically begging me to press play… The anti-climactic feeling I felt in the deep recesses of my stomach whilst listening could only compared with a “You are NOT the father” moment on Maury. One of Timbo’s driest beats EVER, as it would probably be better suited to a Nelly Furtado album (somebody tell Tim to lay off with the adlibs) accompanied with an unusually inept Jay-Z flow and NO Drake verse to speak of. Drake actually provided the hook, and a very good one at that, probably the saving grace of the track. People will be saying that Jay didn’t want a repeat of the Renegade situation where Eminem “murdered you on your own track” and they could be right but we won’t know now until maybe Drake drops his own effort.
Pic Source
http://www.izotope.com/artists/images/just_blaze_image.jpg
http://theconcretejournal.com/2/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/998937990ljg7.jpg
