CD giveaway, details at end of review
Jay-Z
The Blueprint 3
Roc Nation
out September 11th
68/100
[Rating Scale]
[rating:68/100]
It must be tough to be Jay-Z. Not in the “I’m married to Beyoncé” way, or in the “I’m the reigning elder statesman of rap” way, but in the way that you’ve been around and relevant for so long that you are a magnet for criticism – the oldest active voice of the new school, struggling to remain on the forefront of the game.
Any artist releasing his 11th album faces a challenge. Do you change your style to stay up with the new trends, allowing your sound to evolve while turning your back on the moves that brought you success in the first place? Or do you stick with what works, reprising older successes with a few changes in the hooks and lyrics? It’s a tough decision.
It’s such a tough decision, in fact, that Jay-Z couldn’t make it. Instead, The Blueprint 3 attempts to straddle the bridge between new and old school. It’s a mix, a compromise. Like any musical compromise it lacks conviction, with many tracks sounding forced and dull while the rest reveal what the album might have been. Ironically, it is on the tracks where Jay-Z changes things up that he hits the mark most. References to older successes – “allow me to reintroduce myself,” “thank you thank you thank you” – fall flat, seemingly thrown in out of habit rather than direction.
Nowhere is this lack of inspiration clearer than at the album’s outset, a weak one-two punch that still leaves me scratching my head. With a plethora of bangers on the record, Jay-Z chooses to open with “What We Talkin’ About,” a thoroughly lackluster track. The second track, “Thank You,” is a poor recapitulation of earlier works. Hova’s raps juxtapose slinging drugs and clinking champagne glasses with seemingly no irony, drug talk hitting with an obligatory ring.
The entire opening sounds forced. Jay laments on the album’s first cut, “I’m talking about life, and all I hear ‘Oh yeah, he keeps talking about crack’.” Really? You keep hearing people criticize you for talking about crack? Really?
And if that bothers you, why are you bragging elsewhere on the record about “still talking about yeyo” and being (and I quote) “really high, really really high, really really high, really high tonight”? Jay-Z, you are perhaps the most recognizable face in rap, a shrewd businessman, and established record company executive. Are you really smoking rocks between recording sessions?
But after that confusing and unconvincing start, The Blueprint 3 takes a turn. Lead single “D.O.A.” comes third, followed by the Rihanna-carried “Run This Town,” a fresh tune that will dominate dancefloors and radios for a while. The fifth song on the album is one of the best TB3 has to offer – an ode to New York featuring an infectious hook from Alicia Keys. On “Empire State of Mind” Jay-Z finally starts to show why he’s the king, bringing some great lines to a slick tribute.
The rest of the album is a balanced mix of old and new. Some tracks sound perfect (“Off That,” “Venus vs. Mars,” “Young Forever”) while others miss the mark a bit (“Hate”, “Reminder”). “On To The Next” is Jay’s “A Milli,” with a stuttering and repetitive backing fashioned by Swizz Beatz. But Jay is no Weezy – his style isn’t built for those programmatic beats.
The album certainly ends on a better note than it begins on, however, and it makes me wonder if perhaps The Blueprint 3 suffers simply from poor planning. If the album kicked off with a bang – say, an “Off That” followed by “D.O.A.” mission statement – I think I’d feel better about the entire shebang. Instead the record leads with two of the weakest tracks, a bad introduction to what is otherwise a fairly enjoyable album. From anyone else it would be impressive. From Hova, it’s merely good.
Which is perhaps the crux of the issue – there is no doubt that Jay-Z faces challenges that few other rappers face. While most artists struggle to get discovered, to prolong their 15 minutes of fame as long as humanly possible (see: Flo-Rida, T-Pain), Jay-Z does the discovering. Instead of searching for a single hit, Jay-Z has built a kingdom on album after enjoyable album of dynamic and relevant material. We are, no doubt, holding him to a higher standard than others. But then, the question remains, if we don’t have great expectations of the icons of the game, what do we expect?
60-69 — Very Good. Fans of the genre or artist will like this, but it is far from perfect.
Stream the entire album here, thanks to Lala. All you need is account. If you don’t have one, make sure to set one up. It only takes a second.
Chris Barth is a columnist here at Pretty Much Amazing. You can read his more succinct daily posts at his music blog, The Stu Reid Experiment.
To enter to win a copy of Jay-Z’s The Blueprint, leave a comment with your thoughts on the tracks you’ve just sampled, this review, or (if you’ve listened to it) the album. Make sure you leave your name/email address in the provided fields! Entries will be accepted until September 17th
Tags: Drake, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Mr Hudson
One of the best albums Hova made. Love it
One of the best albums Hova made. Love it
I think i’ll listen more to some badass beats like this. Cool!
Great insight and unbiased review. Your main focus was the music yet you considered some of the exterior issues. I don’t agree with everything but well done overall.
EtMusiquePourTous
Отличная тема! Будет интересно прочитать развитие событий.
Do those weird little blips in “Empire State of Mind” bother anyone? Am I the only one who hears them? It sounds like something is wrong with the recording. And it’s on every version I’ve ever heard so far, including the CD I bought.
Curious why you didn’t take a look at “Empire State of Mind” – that’s my favorite track so far. It’s hard-hitting, pairs with a sweet hook from Alicia Keys, overall a nice ode to the city that is an inherent part of both artists. Overall, I’d agree with your assessment of Blue Print 3, but really, look at other artists who struggle with the same issue – mostly pop stars, even Madonna – at this point what do you do? Where do you go? If you hop on the trends of today you’re just biting to stay “relevant” if you stick with the sound you’ve grown into over time it’s perceived as “stale.” How much more innovation will we see in music? Probably not much – it should come down to song-writing and lyrics at this point.
“The fifth song on the album is one of the best TB3 has to offer – an ode to New York featuring an infectious hook from Alicia Keys. On “Empire State of Mind” Jay-Z finally starts to show why he’s the king, bringing some great lines to a slick tribute.” – from the review.
Your review is pretty bad.
Even wity it’s flaws , BP3 is at least an 88, lose several Timbaland tracks, get rid of Drake, J. Cole, and Mr. Hudson, add “Brooklyn (Go Hard)” ft. Santigold is it’s dope. Sure there’s some chessy choruses and hooks, but those eventually become guilty pleasures. Who does it better?
what was wrong with J.Cole and Mr Hudson?
lol, you want to get rid of 75% of the guest appearances and one of the chief producers and you want to give it an 88?
That sure is odd.
I agree, every track is so unique from one another that theres bound to be some debate, some love it, some hate it, some think its average, but at this point, thats not a bad thing, because its getting people talking about Jay again, and i think in time he’ll get more comfortable with his musical decisions and make an even better, more cohesive (if thats the right word) album, BP3 i feel is like a test run for Jay trying to find his way in such a young person’s genre, there aren’t too many almost 40 year old that have still kept relevant, just like the writer said. So i think this was him having a million ideas and putting them on a cd to see how the people reacted, its a good launch pad into a future with a lot of potential, i believe
I agree. There are so many opinions. I guess we will see what really matters next week. The record sales.
I have read a lot of mixed reviews – some think the album is just okay – others think it is on the same level as Reasonable Doubt. From what I have heard thus far I think it is above average, but not an instant classic – looking forward to listening to the whole thing.
I must respectfully disagree with some of your review. That Thank You track had one of the best verses i’ve heard from any rapper when he goes on that whole 9/11 metaphor. Which i think is my point. Rap is so lyrics based. I could tell when you guys said Off That was a good track i was going to have some issues with this. But some tracks are not meant for the beats to be up tempo and big, just rather, in a suddle way, set the mood and have the lyric take the majority of responsibility for keeping the listener on track. Its much more of a classic feel, but why wouldn’t it given its celebration bravado. And i don’t think Jay smokes rocks, i think he’s talking about more on the lines of feeling high but not literally being high. Only other thing i can say is that i really loved Hate with Kanye West. It wasn’t meant to be brilliant, it was meant to be fun, and i think he hit his mark. But i must say, im happy to see im not the only one who enjoyed Venus vs. Mars. Everyone else ive talked to hated all the timbo tracks.
Devin, I think our musical tastes just weren’t meant to be. Thanks for sharing your feel for the album, but I disagree almost wholeheartedly (glad we both enjoy Venus vs. Mars, haha). I think the 9/11 metaphor in “Thank You” is one of the worst parts of the album – I think it’s still a little too early to compare 9/11 to some rappers killing themselves in the game. I dunno, maybe I’m being overly sensitive, but it seemed like Jay was stretching to make that metaphor work when it didn’t really fit.
I hear you on “Off That,” and I knew I would catch some flak for digging that cut, but it’s just so damn catchy! I agree it doesn’t have the tightest lyrics, but I’m not about to lie and say I haven’t had it stuck in my head for a week.
As for Kanye – sigh. I think that his verses on TB3 are wack wack wack. His lines on “Run This Town” are puerile and weak, and his verses on “Hate” seem like random word association with rhymes – there’s no story, no flow, nothing even tying the individual lines together. I’m all for having fun in hip hop, but Kanye’s too talented to throw something together with as little glue as he did.
But I see where you’re coming from – I think maybe we were both just looking for different things from this album. I’ll skip the tracks you like, and you can skip the ones I like, haha.
still cant believe you didnt like “Thank You”, thats killing me inside lol but i hear you on “Hate”, i can see how that track wouldnt appeal to everybody, its an oddball of a track, but someone told me this, if you approach it like a short little interlude, the non-seriousness of it doesn’t bother you as much, and Venus vs. Mars is an effin’ classic, i dont care what anybody says, kudos to good taste lol
Chris, I have to disagree with you and this review “wholeheartedly”…. This album started off hot and although I haven’t made it pass “On To The Next One” for hitting the back button, his lyrics has been hot. He has a story and one that makes sense. I am happy to hear some GROWN FOLKS music. I am so tired of stupid songs (ex. Stanky Leg & Halle Berry) that has NO substance.
I guess we can agree to disagree.
..Your review of this album makes me really interested in what the entire things sounds like.
I’ve heard a couple tracks from this site, but I’ve also heard them around other places, (friends, The Hype Machine, etc) and I haven’t really been able to forge a solid opinion about this album. To me, it seems like he didn’t have the direction completely figured out on a few tracks.. like he forgot where he was going with the flow from track to track. Not that Jay Z lacks the conviction, (by ANY means) more that it comes off as indecisive, or like there was alot of re-planning and revising. Anyways,
I would really like to have this album so..if I could WIN it, that would be fantastic!!
Thank you!