When Jay-Z first made a series out of his best album, 2001's The Blueprint, it became a game of high expectations. 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˛: The Gift & the Curse 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 not to the past but the future (and Barack Obama). West also produced the second, "Thank You," and while it starts with typical Jay-Hova brio, the last verse piles on the unrelenting criticism of unnamed rappers doomed to weak sales. 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 "D.O.A. [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 type of 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 once or twice by his guests, and while the productions are stellar throughout -- Timbaland appears three times, and No I.D. 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.
On his eleventh album, the Jigga man returns to finish off the Blueprint trilogy that has served him so well, particularly with 2001’s The Blueprint. Like most sequels though, The Blueprint 3 is an occasionally frustrating grand attempt to match its predecessors. No other rapper’s stock is higher in 2009 than Jay-Z. No other rapper [...]
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CD giveaway, details at end of review Jay-ZThe Blueprint 3Roc Nationout September 11th68/100[Rating Scale]6.8 out of 10 starsIt 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 [...]
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A frustrating attempt at experimentation with flashes of brilliance, mediocrity, and wackness, The Blueprint 3 falls short of breaking Jay-Z's curse of following up a great album with something lackluster.
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I’ve been bumping Blueprint 3 all day and speaking with a few of my constituents about the contents of Jay-Z’s latest work. Blueprint 3, by virtue of the name, is a follow-up to a successful (and very dope) series – as well as a long string of platinum albums and classics Jay has released over [...]
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What's deeper than rap? The Blueprint III!!! Check out this album review of Jay-Z's 1th album, featuring the hit singles Death of Autotune (D.O.A.), and Run This Town featuring Rihanna and Kanye West. Click here to get the good, the bad and the bottom line on Hov's latest!
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Support Jay-Z: The Blueprint 3I need to let the music marinate in my brain some more before I write about the Aftertaste. In the mean time, enjoy the song-by-song breakdown of Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3.01. “What We Talkin’ About (feat. Luke Steele of Empire of the Sun)”Thumbs up. This is a Jay-Z song that would fit [...]
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In case you've been living underneath an internet rock, by now you should be well aware that a leak has been sprung in the Roc. Being the conscientious young bloggers that we are, Khal and I decided to take it upon ourselves to provide a review for you the readers of this blog. As you may have noticed, both of us have been quite critical of leaks that we've heard from the album. So, is the a...
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Just found the new video for Jay-Z's "Run This Town," off his new album The Blueprint 3. I prefer Kanye's verse to Jay's. The only thing real Jay states is that he's out of money, and is back to doing his "own thing," aka, making chedda!On another note, who wants to run that town? The place looks like a scene from Black Hawk Down. "But if I know if I stay stunting, all these girls are going to ...
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Didn't Jay-Z already do his "A Milli" remix? Just kidding, he totally did, and it was called "A Billi". A financial goal he has yet to achieve-- unless those rich-person-counters at Forbes are hating on Hova, too, but if so wouldn't he have rapped about it?-- which could go some way to explain this new, Kanye West-produced single. It was impossible to ignore the marketing brilliance of premieri...
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*Offer only available to US residents*With Black Friday just days away, Amazon has kicked things off early with their “500 Albums for $5″ sale on Amazon MP3. Some of the albums included in the sale are Jay-z - Blueprint 3, Drake - So Far Gone, David Guetta - One Love, Coldplay - Viva La Vida, [...]
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Here is the final tracklisting to Jay-Z's Blueprint 3. A lot of big name features on this shit, huh?Pigeons and Planes
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Hi MOG! Remember me? It's been quite a while. Over that while life has changed significantly. Not for the better or worse, but just changed. I have learned lots of things. About me. About life. About others. I wouldn't call it an epiphany. More like growing up and growing out. Self-awareness is a wonderful thing to attain, and I hope that one day everyone can attain it. I am not sur...
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I think JAY Z and ALICIA KEYS gave the Yankees good luck last night when they performed EMPIRE STATE OF MIND at Yankee Stadium. I wish I could have been there last night to see them do it this song - it was just made for the event!The official video for the track also just premiered and it's really slick! I just moved here this summer so this is like my theme song at the moment, plus it gave m...
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Didn't Jay-Z already do his "A Milli" remix? Just kidding, he totally did, and it was called "A Billi". A financial goal he has yet to achieve-- unless those rich-person-counters at Forbes are hating on Hova, too, but if so wouldn't he have rapped about it?-- which could go some way to explain this new, Kanye West-produced single. It was impossible to ignore the marketing brilliance of premieri...
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The official music video for Jay-Z & Alicia Keys Empire State Of Mind
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More after the jump. Will update as they drop. Yardie
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This new remix of Jay's "Run This Town" done by JUS BUS features Biggie Smalls, Drake and guess what! No Rihanna. I never really realized this even though some people have told me, but the song really is more steady without Rihanna's vocals blasting in the background. "Ahhuuuuuuuuahhhhhhhhhhhhhohhhhhhhaohoa We gonna Run This Town Tonight AAaaaaUUAAAAAAAAOOOHahaaaaaaaa". Enjoy. Run This Town (JU...
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Jay-Z paid extra close attention to 50 Cent’s Before I Self Destruct album sales. The record sold about 125,000 in first week sales which for anyone besides Jay-Z, Lil’ Wayne, and Kanye West would be good (i.e. Wale sold about 30,000 his first week) but since it’s Curtis, 125,000 is a flop. At the end [...]
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With the release of Blurprint 3 coming up on September 11th, Jay-z has announced an accomodating tour to help promote the album.
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A frustrating attempt at experimentation with flashes of brilliance, mediocrity, and wackness, The Blueprint 3 falls short of breaking Jay-Z's curse of following up a great album with something lackluster.
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Jay-Z appeared on UK’s Later With Jools Holland last night in which he performed Empire State Of Mind & 99 Problems
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In case you've been living underneath an internet rock, by now you should be well aware that a leak has been sprung in the Roc. Being the conscientious young bloggers that we are, Khal and I decided to take it upon ourselves to provide a review for you the readers of this blog. As you may have noticed, both of us have been quite critical of leaks that we've heard from the album. So, is the a...
More >
What's deeper than rap? The Blueprint III!!! Check out this album review of Jay-Z's 1th album, featuring the hit singles Death of Autotune (D.O.A.), and Run This Town featuring Rihanna and Kanye West. Click here to get the good, the bad and the bottom line on Hov's latest!
More >
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 "The Blueprint 3")
