Jay Z - The Blueprint 3
September 4th, 2009 | 4:00 pm est |
Jay-Z making a series out of his best album, 2001’s The Blueprint, was a recipe for trouble from the beginning. The Blueprint of the first volume was Jay-Z as vital as he’d ever been, storming back to the hardcore after a few years of commercial success. The Blueprint of the second volume was a complete turn, a set of half-cocked crossovers, bloated to bursting with guest features that obscured his talents. The Blueprint 3 is somewhere between the two, closer to the vitality and energy of the original but not without the crossover bids and guest features of the latter (albeit much better this time).
Kanye West is in the producer’s chair for seven tracks, and it’s clear he was reaching for the same energy level as the original Blueprint (which he produced). “What We Talkin’ About” begins the album with a wave of surging, oppressive synth, while Jay-Z enumerates with an intriguing lack of detail what he’s said and what’s been said about him, ending with a nod to Barack Obama and the future. West also produced the second, “Thank You,” and while it starts with typical Jay-Hovah brio, the last verse piles on more witty criticism of unnamed rappers. There’s plenty more lyrical violence to come, but most of the targets are much safer than they were eight years earlier. (Jay doesn’t sound very convincing when he claims in “DOA (Death of Auto-Tune)” that it’s not “politically correct” to rail against one of the most reviled trends in pop music during the 2000s.)
From there, he branches out with a calculating finesse, drawing in certain demographics via a roster of guests, from Young Jeezy (hardcore) to Drake (teens) to Kid Cudi (the backpacker crowd). The king of the crossovers here is “Empire State of Mind,” a New York flag-waver with plenty of landmark name-dropping that turns into a great anthem with help on the chorus from Alicia Keys. The Blueprint 3 isn’t a one-man tour de force like the first; Jay is upstaged a time or two by his guests, and while the productions are stellar throughout — Timbaland appears three times, and NO ID gets multiple credits also — it’s clear there’s less on Jay’s mind this time. Not tuned out like on Kingdom Come, but more content with his dominance as a rap godfather in 2009.
Wish he would leave off more of the guests, but the songs I’ve heard sound totally rude. ‘American Gangster’ kept me going, and I still pull it out time to time. Jay might just start putting out solid, but not stellar albums like the Isleys did in the 70s. I’d be fine with that.
He should have retired, on top, after the Black Album. That was a true classic. He’s just gonna fizzle like most other artists. You gotta realize when your time’s up, and call it quits. Get into somethin else. He’s just stuck in stale territory.
Co-Sign Twon after the Black Album he should have rode of into the sun his music is not relevant to me any more there is no passion no spirit leave the rap game alone do whatever you want just stop ruining your legacy like Brett Farve
“He should have retired, on top, after the Black Album. That was a true classic”
I can’t wait to see you in five years saying the same thing about how he should’ve left after this great, great album.
Hmm, actually, American Gangster grew on me from replacing Hard Knock as his 7th best Album up to his third best album (most cohesive ,after Blueprint, least commercial)… so I’m not said he retired. I admit, though that his post- retirement flow, this more narrative breathy kinda thing (as opposed to the complex virtuosic one on like RD, Black Album) is an acquired taste. Maybe he comes back the latter (). Anyway, he’s getting more mature as a person, the beats are more elaborate, open to different styles. I think I won’t regret the bucks spent on this one…
rap is generally dead.
i listen to hollywood undead
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I can’t wait to see you in five years saying the same thing about how he should’ve left after this great, great album.
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