Album Review : Jay-Z - Blueprint 3
- Written by Rosie Duffield
The hype surrounding this album is phenomenal. With Jay-Z morphing into a super-human pin-up of hip-hop with every record sale and dollar-billed endorsement, I was anxious to see how Blueprint 3 would shape up.
As with most hip-hop tracks, you can only get through so many without them all merging into one. Blueprint 3 is no exception; listening to the album repeatedly for a couple hours and there are only a few tracks which stand out (more on those shortly).
After seeing the man himself at All Points West Festival in the USA this summer, and reading the amazing reviews of his 9/11 Madison Square Garden sell-out, I had really high hopes for the album, particularly with all the collaboration tracks (Young Jeezy, Pharrell and Kanye West all feature, to name a few). It was a bit of a disappointment really.
The album opens with the rather dull ‘What We Talkin’ About’. The second track, ‘Thank You’ is much better, with a catchy hook and Hove thanking us all for thinking he’s the best thing since sliced bread.
‘D.O.A’, the third track on the album, is more of a return from the Jay-Z we know and love. A killer guitar solo lacing the track, xylophones and clarinets thrown in to boot; it sounds like it should be horrendous – but it works.
The next two tracks would class as the aforementioned standouts on the album. With a little help from his friends, Jay-Z has created two tracks worthy of single status, which is handy really, as they’re both singles... ‘Run This Town’ was the second release from the album and features belle du jour Rihanna (and Kanye West, but he doesn’t really add much to the track). I have to admit, this song is definitely a grower, and Rihanna’s wails will eventually latch on to your memory until you find yourself humming it for hours. Almost as annoying as ‘Umbrella’ (ella, ella).
Next up is my personal favourite, ‘Empire State of Mind’. Although this one features Alicia Keys, I actually didn’t realise it was her until I looked at the tracklisting. Everything about this track is brilliant: the initial drum intro, the piano tinkling around in the background – hell, even Hova’s big-headed bravado (“I’m the new Sinatra/and since I made it here/I can make it anywhere” or “Shit I made the Yankee hat/more famous than a Yankee can”).
It really does paint a great picture of New York, and for once I really believe Jay-Z might be humbly thanking the “concrete jungle” that helped him get where he is today. Not surprisingly, this track was received extremely well by fans; in the current economy it seems like a positive message of how one can go from rags to riches (minus the drug trafficking, of course).
The rest of the album is fairly mediocre, until you reach the final two tracks, ‘So Ambitious’ (feat. Pharrell) and the annoyingly catchy ‘Young Forever’, with Mr. Hudson. Who knows what inspired the sampling of Alphaville’s ‘80s hit, but after a couple of listens I couldn’t get it out of my head.
His November gig at Alexandra Palace sold out in 15 seconds. Blueprint 3 is Jay-Z’s 11th studio album; with this amount of material and a loyal fan base behind him, it’s hard to see why the Jiggerman would continue to churn out mediocre albums when he could easily sit back on his big pile of cash and relax.
The few standout tracks on the album prove that Jay-Z does still have the ability to be poetic, witty and capable of producing a decent tune, but overall the album deserves a ‘next time try harder’ sticker.