blunted on reality

Jay-Z — ” The Blueprint 3 ” Review

Posted on 01. Sep, 2009 by Sam in Albums, Music, Reviews

I know I’m going to catch a lot of flak for this review, so I’ll preface it with this… I am, and have been for a while, a Jay-Z fan. He’s one of the most successful MCs in history, and his longevity is a testament to his talent and ability to reinvent himself or change the game to fit who he is at that time.

That having been said, it’s been a rocky love/hate relationship between Hov’s music & my ears. Reasonable Doubt continues to be my favorite Jay-Z album, and apart from a few tracks here & there, I pretty much ignored him during the jiggy era. He got my attention back around the first The Blueprint, and I’ve checked out every album since, with mixed results… but overall I’ve been pleased with his product.

The Blueprint 3 has already received a lot of press… there have been three tracks out from the album for at least the past two weeks, and reception has been lukewarm. Since it’s leaked, and it’s all over the internet, I figured I’d give it a listen… here’s a track-by-track breakdown:

The album begins with “What We Talkin’ About”, which features Luke Steele, half of the Australian electronica duo Empire of the Sun. Can’t lie, I really like this song…  Jay’s lyrics aren’t anything ground-breaking, but the 80’s-throwback Euro-glam style track is laid-back and a head-nodder at the same time.

Next up is “Thank You”, the requisite “for the fans” track that most artists do when their careers are in the stage that Jay’s is in… on top of the world but slowly becoming less & less relevant due to Auto-Tune & skinny jeans. An enjoyable, bouncy track. And speaking of Auto-Tune…

“D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)“ is the 3rd track, and was the 1st single to be released. When I first heard this song, I was incredibly excited about BP3. Jay stood to gain nothing by taking on the hip-hop status quo with a song dissing the vocoder, but he did it anyway. Between No I.D. on the boards (whose production credits on Common Sense’s Resurrection album will always make him one of my favorite producers) & aggressively anti-Auto-Tune lyrics, I thought Jay was ushering in an album that would be full of hip-hop for grown folks. Through 3 tracks, it’s looking pretty good.

…that’s kind of where it stops, though. The rest of the album is inconsistent as hell, and way too packed with guest appearances. “Run This Town” is up 4th, guest starring Rihanna & Kanye West, who also takes on the production. Rihanna’s guest appearance is so-so, and while Kanye’s verse dominates the song, it’s just more disjointed bragging from ‘ye, which by now we’re more than used to.

Alicia Keys bests Rihanna (duh!) on the hook for “Empire State of Mind”, which is just what it sounds like… an homage to NYC. This is far better than “Run This Town”. Nothing notable, but an alright track. Then it takes a severe turn for the worse.

So I’ll admit it… I’m biased. I don’t like Young Jeezy’s flow or subject matter, pretty much ever. He starts “Real As It Gets” off with a few shout-outs to gangs. Yep, that’s right. Bloods, Crips, Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords… is this 1994? Did I buy a copy of Bangin’ On Wax? After bar after bar of gang & drug references, Jeezy’s got the nerve to say “and if you listen hard enough, I say some things”. Well, I listened. You didn’t say anything, Jeezy. Jay follows suit with lines like “Set sail, I used to duck shots/ but now I eat quail/ I’ll probably never see jail”. Profound.

Even if the track notes didn’t tell me that Swizz Beatz was behind the beat to “On To The Next One”, you could figure it out between the simplicity of the pattern & his scratchy calls at the tracks opening. In all honesty, I don’t dislike the track, but the “on to the next one” sample that plays repeatedly is a little overbearing, even annoying after a minute or two. Simple beat & a repetitive chant? This will be a hit in the South, for sure.

Next-big-thing-of-the-week & Canadian import Drake lends a chorus to the Timbaland-produced “Off That”. That’s it, though… just the chorus. No verse. I have to wonder if Drake recorded a 16 better than Jay’s and was relegated to chorus-only duty. Regardless, the Timbaland track makes this one a potential club banger, but not much else.

Remember that whole “Death of Auto-Tune” thing? Well, someone had a defibrillator & brought it back to life on “A Star Is Born”… it’s in the first :02 of this hand clap-heavy song. The production on this track seriously sounds like something I would expect on a T-Pain album, but definitely not as the backdrop for the guy who likens himself to Frank Sinatra.

“Venus vs. Mars” is next… I half-way expected him to go toe-to-toe with a female MC on some battle-of-the-sexes shit, but none of that is to be found here. The beat is nice, Jay has some quotable lyrics, and the subject matter is kind of fun: “I thought shorty liked Mike/ turned out she liked Prince/ thought she was Adrienne/ it’s been Rocky ever since”. Not a bad track.

Mr. Solo Dolo himself, Kid Cudi, appears on “Already Home”, which is, dare I say, potentially the best track on the album since Death of Auto-Tune. It’s all about the industry and critics trying to bring him down, which after listening to the majority of this album seems to be a self-fulfilling prophecy in the making. Once again, the guest star, fresh off a number of hit singles of his own, is relegated to the chorus and never gets a chance to really spit.

Next up is “Hate”. Seriously, Kanye? You thought this beat was a good idea? C’mon, son! Downright awful. That’s all I’m gonna say.

“Reminder” suffers from the same horrible hook issues that plagued “Run This Town”. The droning “Reminderrrrrrrrrr” is grating, to say the least. The premise of the song? A reminder that Jay-Z is perhaps the greatest entertainer of all time in any field of entertainment. Ever. At least in his eyes.

Pharrell Williams lends what sounds like a track that was salvaged off the Neptunes’ cutting room floor for “So Ambitious”. He also provides a convoluted chorus that somehow combines professional ambitions & pursuing a menage-a-trois within a couple of bars of each other. Again, Jay is bragging about his abilities and money. We get it Jay.

Finally, a big “what the fuck?” moment. Alphaville’s “Forever Young” is sampled for “Young Forever” with Britain’s own Mr. Hudson singing the hook. I don’t know what Kanye sees in Mr. Hudson, but this cat cannot sing. Since this is the last track on the album, I’m half expecting Jay to follow up with an Outro where he tells the listener that he just played the biggest joke on them and he knew that they’d listen to whatever bullshit he puts out, simply because he’s Jay-Z. Mr. Carter, you shouldn’t have even ironically put this song on the album. It’s that bad.

Final Verdict – A very generous D+. Jay-Z is hip-hop’s answer to Brett Favre, unable to just flat-out retire and putting out half-hearted efforts as a result. Unless he comes out with another album that returns him to the glory of some of his previous efforts, this is a terrible end to such a successful & storied career.

Tags: alicia keys, blueprint 3, bp3, drake, j. cole, jay-z, kanye west, kid cudi, leak, mr. hudson, pharrell, review, rihanna, swizz beatz, the blueprint 3, the blueprint iii, timbaland, young jeezy