Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3

[Sun Quan Youngest Wu]

Very good album. Not great, but good. American Gangster is still one of my all time favorites though, he brought back that jazz rap that we haven't heard much of since Guru came in the picture. But yea, BP3 was good. He wasn't lyrically like Reasonable Doubt(which he never will be again) nor were the beats as slammin as they were in American Gangster and BP1 but it's a nice attempt of bringing those aspects together but he did it in a mediocre fashion.

3/5
7.5/10

[RynMur]

no doubt, Raekwon smashed Jay this year from all aspects, lyrics, production, guests, flow, delivery and even packaging. but we know he would...

OB4CLII and The Blaqprint... 2009 been real good to my ears after all.

he didn't beat him in advertising obviously...shows how hip hop will never be the same. Kids will buy anything on tv.

[RynMur]

When is Jay-Z going back to his original form??? This album is as commerical as you can get. The album is everywhere, it sounds like a bunch of singles thrown together (11th Chamber sumed this part up). It’s not that it’s bad, but it’s just not the jay-z i want to listen to. It should be considered a pop/rap album.

The biggest problem I have with this album is how overrated it is. I take it most of his fans were not listening to hip hop when Reasonable Doubt came out. On that album, his lyrics are about something meaningful; compared to here where it’s mostly about swagger (nothing). Jay can make his flow sound nice on just about everything, but it’s not all about how he sounds, but what he is actually saying.

Another reason for the 3/5 rating is because ALOT of the songs just don’t work. Some songs will have a few nice verses, then the chorus will fuck it up. Some beats were too club like (more pop, less hip hop), and didn’t really fit jay-z’s style.

Top 5: D.O.A. (fav, even though he bit the idea from krs1 and buckshot), Run This Town, Empire State of Mind, A Star Is Born, Already Home

Grade: (3/5) B-