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JennYJay-Z - The Blueprint 3 Album Review
September 15th 2009 00:36
Release date: September 8, 2009
Genre: Hip hop
Length: 60:47
Label: Roc Nation, Atlantic
One of the most anticipated albums of the year, Blueprint 3, has finally dropped. Going up against Eminem's Relapse, many people expected Blueprint 3 to be the best rap album of the year. But what did Jay-Z bring us this time – the commercial stuff that the masses embrace so readily or the real good, old street hip hop. The album was supposed to be produced only by Kanye West and No I.D. But Jay called some more producers to the table. Was that a good move? We shall see...
The album kicks off with What We Talkin' About featuring Luke Steele. Produced by Kanye and No I.D., the beat is a mix of synthesizers with a choir in the background. It sounds like a good mainstream hip hop song. If you listen to the lyrics, you will hear the following lines: “I ain't talking about gossip, I ain't talking 'bout Game / I ain't talking about Jimmy, I ain't talking 'bout DAME!” This is the part that really opened up the beef between Game and Jay. There were some subliminal shots here and there by both rappers but nothing really serious. But with this line, Jay made Game write a diss song titled “I'm So Wavy.” So, What We Talkin' About started a beef that hasn't ended yet. The song is average for me. I really didn't like the chorus but at least the lyrics had some good sense.
The second track of the album, Thank You, is also produced by Kanye and No I.D. Its beat is better than the previous track but Jay-Z doesn't fully exploit it in my opinion, meaning that the song could've been better. At some point, it becomes boring. It's like Jay-Z isn't even trying anymore, he's just rapping to rap and it doesn't sound right.
No I.D. was the lone producer on the first single titled D.O.A (Death Of Auto-Tune). The beat is off the hook but like Thank You, Jay-Z doesn't take it to the level that he can. Still, he does flow well on this beat. What I hate about this song is the lyrical theme. The song calls for Death of Auto-Tune but at the same time, Jay-Z respects Kanye even though the latter dropped a full Auto-Tuned album. He also gave some props to T-Pain – another Auto-Tune user - in an interview. I think he should choose something. Either Auto-Tune is bad or it's good. It can't be bad for some and good for some. Anyways, those were my thoughts on this song.
The second single, Run This Town, features Rihanna and Kanye with the latter also getting producer credit. The song has the cool, soul type feel to it. You can easily recognize Kanye's style in this track. Some might hate it but I liked Rihanna's singing in this song. I found it very uplifting. But again, Jay-Z doesn't kill the beat like he used to. He's rapping just to rap, there's no feel to it.
The fifth track called Empire State Of Mind features Alicia Keys. Nas was also supposed to appear on this song but no one knows what happened there. The track is very good lyrically and musically but Nas could definitely have taken it to another level. I think Alicia Keys took Nas' place on the last verse. Strangely enough, this song is crazy and yet it's not even Kanye or No I.D. Who produced it, it's..... Shux. Alicia Keys does bring something great on the chorus. This track is one of the best songs so far on this record.
Real As It Gets featuring Young Jeezy follows Empire State Of Mind. Say whatever you want but every artist needs a mainstream-friendly name on their album even Jay-Z. Real As It Gets was produced by The Incredibles. It's a cool beat but sounds recycled. Since Jeezy was the first to spit, it seemed like the beat was made for him and not for Jay. He ripped it better than Hov. There is nothing more to say about this track really. It's just like any song you hear nowadays.
Swizz Beatz makes a guest appearance on On To The Next One. I never thought he would be on this album. Since the track was produced by him, you already know what to expect. Swizz Beatz is a good producer but his pool of inspiration is pretty small. This song was supposed to be crazy but it's just boring with Jay-Z spitting on a loop. Nothing new or interesting.
The eighth track, Off That, features the “incredible” Drake (it seems that's what people think nowadays -_-). Although Timbaland produced the track, the beat is nowhere near as good as his work with Missy. Like Jay-Z, now that Timbo is a big name, he doesn't try anymore. The chorus is nothing new with Drake singing or whatever it is that he does.
Kanye and No I.D. pop in again on A Star Is Born featuring J. Cole. I don't know how to explain this song. There's an uplifting part and a part with claps. Jay does well on this beat – nothing too crazy but still good to listen to. J. Cole does his thing on the chorus which isn't much since it only lasts like two seconds.
Timbaland's second track on the album is Venus vs. Mars. This beat was darker than Off That. It's cool at the start but you get tired of hearing it and Jay-Z doesn't make it any better.
Already Home features Kid Cudy and was produced by Kanye. I didn't like Cudy on this song, not feeling him at all on the chorus. Jay, again, doesn't really make something of this song, it's just... boring.
The twelfth track, Hate, features Kanye West. I don't know what Kanye used to make this beat but it's really weird. Both rappers are really bad on this song, their flow doesn't match the beat at all and they aren't saying anything important. This track is just weird and boring.
Timbaland is back again with Reminder. The beat is more a gangsta type of song but Jay-Z raps on it like he would on any other beat. This song is also boring.
So Ambitious features Pharrell who also gets production credit on the track. It's easy to see that the beat was made by Pharell but it's not that impressive. I don't know if it's Jay-Z who doesn't know how to pick a dope beat or if it's the producers who are getting worst because this beat sounds like Pharell minus 99% of his talent. Another boring song.
Young Forever featuring Mr. Hudson concludes the album. Produced by Kanye, the beat starts like a wedding theme. When the drum pattern kicks in, you realize that this beat is sloooowwwww. And jay-z once again doesn't make it crazy. This song is just slow and you're like “O-kay.” Mr. Hudson only does the chorus.
With Blueprint 3 being one of the most anticipated albums of the year, you can see why Nas is saying that hip hop is dead. This record became boring after the first five songs. It was so bad that I wanted to finish it quickly after Empire State Of Mind. I give this album a 6.5/10 and I'm not kidding. Jay-Z can do 100 times better than this and everybody knows it. But mankind is getting dumber and dumber every year until they don't even remember what good music sounds like. Don't you people remember Feeling It, Hard Knock Life, Big Pimpin', I Just Wanna Love U, Renegade, PSA, Lost One, Rock Boys? I just named a classic song off of each of his albums and not one song on this Blueprint can be compared to those. I'm sorry to say this but Jay-Z lost his touch on the mic. He's finished but he's still making money because people keep buying his albums. I also blame the producers for the lack of quality work. I mean c'mon, you got Kanye, No I.D., Timbaland and The Neptunes and you still can't make a great album? Something is just wrong.
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