Album Details

• Artist: Jay-Z
• Album: The Blueprint 3
• Label: Roc Nation
• Year of Release: 2009
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: kev_stev on 2009-09-15

The release of Jay-Z's eleventh studio album, The Blueprint 3, has become somewhat of a social phenomenon, as fans flocking to their local Best Buys only to be met with the inevitable question, "Are you here for The Beatles or Jay-Z?"  That their releases fell within one day of each other (EMI remastered every Beatles' studio album on September 9) is a fitting coincidence; they are the kings of their respective genres, garnering the attention of the masses with any release they issue.

Unlike The Beatles, however, Jay-Z does not receive near-unanimous acclaim for his music.  His genre often sparks controversy, and Jay-Z has a history of perpetuating some of the biggest issues within rap music: misogyny, violence, and drug advocacy.  His reputation is thus polarized, but with the inordinate amount of sales in less than a week, especially amongst a waning CD industry, Jay's legacy is all but cemented as one of the most successful rappers in recent history.

Not that he is modest about his achievements.  Throughout The Blueprint 3, listeners are reminded of Jay's success and his self-proclaimed ownership of the rap world, like on the album's second track, "Thank You," where he flaunts his many accolades, which is as comical as it is self-indulgent.  Things stop getting so funny when he drops an awful 9/11 analogy to describe modern rappers' follies: "They put a building up as well / Then ran a plane into that building and when that building fell / Ran to the crash site with no mask and inhaled."

Jay-Z continues the controversies on his heavily played first single, "D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)," which is a much more successful endeavor-and much more convincing in Jay-Z's claim of sovereignty over the rap world.  Taking a gritty guitar line and brassy samples, the song is a dissonant outcry against the hyper-refined and auto-tuned rap world.  The singles continue with the star-studded single, "Run this Town," featuring Rihanna and Kanye West, which is as entertaining as it is predictable.

After a collaboration with Alicia Keys on the triumphant and single-ready "Empire State of Mind," Young Jeezy tackles the chorus on "Real As It Gets," singing of the hackneyed, and currently politically incorrect, theme of flaunting your money.  The song comes off as arrogant and flippant, while its smooth synthesizers, found on three of the album's opening six tracks, seem to revert more to the style of the rappers that Jay-Z lambasts on "D.O.A."

Things get a bit muddled beyond this, with frenetic tracks and the snoozer featuring Kanye West, "Hate," stalling with its clangy drum beat.  West, who produced seven of the album's fifteen tracks, should have focused more on perfecting the middle of the album instead of obsessively Youtube-ing Beyonce's "Single Ladies" video.  Did you know it's one of the best videos of all time?  OF ALL TIME.

Despite its flaws, however, the album will continue to top the charts, and Jay-Z will invariably be flaunting this release's success whenever The Blueprint 4 hits shelves.   However, this album's inconsistency, shifting from brilliance to foolishness, will leave some fans scratching their heads, as they view Jay-Z's rap throne suddenly becoming vulnerable to usurpation.

User Reviews and Comments

Review:

on 2012-02-23 CharlesMartel Said:

Jay-Z would seem to have it all  a musical career, loads of money, Beyonce as a wife and an international reputation as a producer and innovator. At times he has managed to produce some effortlessly good music. And then there are other times when he has produced some unbearable shit. With "The Blueprint" he released what many regard as a hip-hop masterpiece. I don't know what happened to "The Blueprint 2" (an album which bombed) but by the time he got to the title's third incarnation, he and his music had definitely worn out their welcome.

The trouble with a lot of rappers is that when they become separated from their roots their talent seems to dry up. It is, of course, totally incongruous to write songs about hardship in the ghetto when you are living in Beverly Hills and swigging champagne. It is hard to claim a connection with the street when you twice punch in the face little girls who are trying to take your picture. And it is, without any doubt, totally impossible to claim your music is drawn from your life experiences when you release such unutterably commercial garbage as "The Blueprint 3".

Imagine, take every cliche you have ever been told about hip-hop  good and bad. Then combine all those things into one album. You will then have "The Blueprint 3" or something very close to it. And yet, he seems to have wanted to disclose his induction into Freemasonry by loading this album with as many Masonic symbols and as much Masonic imagery as he possibly could. I don't know if anybody ever told him, but hip-hop and Freemasonry just do not go together. They really don't. And it does not help his cause by announcing, in "What We Talkin' About" that he all but single handedly got Obama elected to the White House because he, Jay-Z is such a great individual. Then again, seeing as the album was produced by Kanye West - the only rapper I can think of with a bigger ego than Jay-Z - this is hardly surprising. Can't you just imagine the two of them sitting there telling each other how much of a genius they are and commenting on how it is marvellous they still retain their connection with the streets, while waiting for the Rolls Royce to pitch up at the studio and whisk them off to some celebrity bash.

But then again, to live that lifestyle you need money, and to get money you need to sell records. And if there is a more commercial hip-hop album this side of the disgraceful fake that is 50 Cent then "The Blueprint 3" is most definitely it. There is nothing on here to enliven the music and precious little to recommend it. Jay-Z has worn out his welcome on this one.
Rating: 1/10

on 2009-09-30 hstisgod Said:

Good review Kev, thanks for the heads up to turn the other way...
Not Rated