” A Dreamer’s Perspective” Album Review: Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3

Mike Dreams (Michael A. Hannah)
“A Dreamer’s Prospective” Album Review
Album: Jay-Z, The Blueprint 3

Mike Dreams (Michael A. Hannah)

So I’ve acquired a new rap moniker and haven’t wrote anything for a while on the journalism side of my love for music, so what better to break the proverbial ice again with one of the most anticipated hip hop albums of the year “Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint 3”.  Everybody’s talking about if Jay still has it, if he’s washed up, old and should stop rapping and concerned if he can still make classics like the original “Blueprint” proved to be.  Well, let’s talk about it.
I must say that the intro utterly blew me away.  I was able to hear these intro verses on a few live performances of the acapella.  I always liked what was said and thought it was really dope.  Lines such as “They keep saying Hov take it back, I‘m doing better before, why would I do that“ and “Talking about revenge while carrying his casket, all teary eyed, bout to take it to a mattress” really stuck out.  These are the insightful, observant and “I scoff at em” attitude type lines that we know Jay for.  It‘s like he‘s saying “Who‘s opinion really matters except for mines?”  The intro was certainly Jay in his element over a production that you had no choice but to give your full attention to.  One word to describe the introduction: Captivating.  Now, in contrast to how you feel about “The Ruler’s Back” on BP1 based on how long you’ve been listening to it and the classic position is has, I actually really prefer this more epic approach to an intro that BP3 presented.  It definitely fits with the status that Jay-Z sustains in the hip hop world.

The second joint we moved into was “Thank You”  On my very first listen on the album, I disregarded this joint as a good song, but for some reason, on the second and third listen through, it seemed like an entirely new song and I liked it a lot.  The production once again was one of those attention grabbing beats.  You can blame the ambient snares with the snapback reverberation effects for the concentration-capturing attraction to it.  Jay exhibited sort of a whimsical, fun vibe on the track, that was sort of reminiscent to a Lupe Fiasco track I heard a few years ago called “We Love You”.  It’s not that the songs sounded similar, but just the feeling I felt from both songs I deemed to be similar.

The third and fourth song we moved into on the album were of course the project’s first and second singles, “D.O.A” & “Run This Town.  When you deal with reviewing a single for an album that’s been out for a while as you are talking about the album as a whole, it’s sort of hard not to be bias due to the fact that you’ve been able to get used to it through rampant airplay.  Even while understanding that matter is very true, in my opinion personally, I felt these were two of the strongest records on the album.  The production on both were classically gritty, but still held enough draw and demand for mainstream appeal.  D.O.A was straight bars of something I’d like to dub as “braggadocios venting”.  Jay spilled his dislike for the usage of the autotune tool as a gimmick within the hip hop world while reiterating that this might be the greatest hip hop record you’ve heard in a while, saving us from all the foolishness that’s been occurring in the industry as of late.

“Empire State Of Mind” was one of the shining gems on the album.  I wasn’t a HUGE fan of the production on the verses, but the “Love On A Two Way Street” sample was decent enough to lace this epic joint featuring the loveliness of Alicia Keys’ presence on a powerful, bravado driven, yelling-style chorus.  She clearly “Eminem-ed” Jay-Z  on this record with her soulful hook.  Jay presented a few stand out lines such as “If Jesus is paying Lebron, I’m paying Dwayne Wade”.  I guess it’s not a bad thing if the best record on your album is not necessarily because of you rap lyrics? Is it?

I absolutely fell in love (PAUSE) with the production on “Real As It Gets” when it first came in.  It had that “making of a classic” feel to it from the get go.  Other than the incredible “Inkredibles” production, Jeezy’s introduction verse was definitely on point, as well as the inspirational style hook that we‘ve gathered as one of this trademarks.  Some could say that Jeezy is the newest “D-Boy” rapper in the game that reflects the origins of Jay-Z’s music with a Southern twang and a raspy voice, so them linking up for a record together was simply bound to happen and be a success.  In my opinion, this is one of the better street records that I’ve heard in a long time.

“On The Next One” was one of the worst productions I’ve ever heard from Swizz Beatz or heard Jay-Z spit over.  The kicks and snare instruments sounding fresh out of FL Studio 7 and was just not good at all.  It’s sad, because Jay-Z’s lyrics were wittingly superb.  “N*ggas want my old sh*t, buy my old album” & “No I’m not a Jonas, brother, I’m a grown-up, no I’m not a virgin, I use my Cajones.”  I would have been able to stomach it better if it was just a mixtape joint.  I’m not a hater, but Swizz Beatz should go to rehab after this one.  #RealTalk.

“Off That” is a record that certainly has to grow on you.  Just like a handful of many others, when I first heard this record, I was a little disappointed for a couple reasons.  #1: It’s a Timbo and Jay collab.  It’s supposed to be epic, right?  #2: You feature one of the hottest artists in the game right now and he doesn’t get a verse?  #3: Are we still using cheap clap snares in 2009?  Now this may come off as hating to many of you, but come on?  Think about the past Tim & Jay collabs?  This record certainly doesn’t hold a candle to “Dirt Off Your Shoulders”.  But then I started thinking about what Jay said in the horribly-produced Swizz record that preceded this track and I realized, he’s on new stuff now.  If we want to old Jay, go buy and listen to the old Jay.  The songs swing grew on me and I can see it doing well in club settings.  It still contains that uncanny Jay-Z candor and swag (we still need to find a word to replace this) that we all know him for and Drake equally presented his presence on the hook.   In my opinion, it’s cool for Jay to branch out and do new things, but I  still hope he brings those classic, soulful joints in the future.  Let’s hope he’s not completely “Off That”.

“And you say New York City!” [In Autotune].  Okay, now that we got that out of the way, “A Star Is Born” was a great record for me, because it really exhibited how Jay-Z is sort of passing the torch to these newer artists emerging into the game.  I recall reading blog comments from people when they saw the track list and them being disappointed when they didn’t see the Part 2 to some classic collabs that Jay had in the past (Jay & Em, Jay & Nas, etc).  For Jay-Z to be the “Best Rapper Alive”, it’s only right for him to have to be the one to really cosign these new cats and pass the torch.  Regardless of anyone hating, you can’t deny that Jay-Z’s voice and opinion is one of the most powerful, if not the MOST powerful in the hip hop scene.  “If you can’t respect that, your whole perspective is wack”.   I thought this was a very commendable record, where Jay sort of put himself on the back burner to show appreciation to his peers who have accomplished great feats.  He sort of took some of his losses with a grain of salt, (such as Eminem’s outshining verse on Renegade).  Now some people will chalk this up for him trying too hard to not sound like a hater (what some people called him after D.O.A), but I say it’s sincere.  Take it or leave it.  The new Roc Nation signee “J.Cole” takes the song out with a pretty ill verse that showed off some of the reasons why he’s one of the next “stars” to shine in the rap game.

“Venus vs. Mars” was Jay back on his super cool swag.  Over what I can clearly say is one of my favorite productions on the album, Jay gets on his “Blue Magic” style flow, sort of with the lower tone and vocal swing, as he talks about the differences between him and his lady companion.  Beyonce does his response vocals on the hook.  All in all, I felt this was a fun track that Jay executed well.

“Already Home” is the next record we embark on this journey.  Kanye’s production was decent, and Kid Cudi’s hook grew on me, though I felt the engineering effects on it could have been a little better.  But aside from that, the record was decent.  Jay-Z had an exciting flow on it and there wasn’t much about it to hate on.  (Even if I wanted to)

“Hate” was a record that really caught me off guard.  The production was quite weird and some of the lines were very elementary “I’m never sprung, but I spring-er, JERRY”.  (Really Kanye?  Is this what we are on?  LOL.)  It’s sort of a record you might HATE on the first listen, and then when you listen again, you will change your mind.  This is what happened to me.  You certainly can’t say the production sounds like anything out there right now.  You will either love or hate the production.  Jay shined creatively on this one.    It also sounds like somebody’s been listening to  the “UKNOWBIGSEAN” mixtape recently.  He should have featured on this track in opposition to Kanye (Who was already featured on “Run This Town“ with a verse).   I see J. Cole, Kid Cudi & Drake getting shine on the album.  What’s good with Big Sean not getting his?

“Reminder” was another low-grade production from Timberland and the girl signing the hook sounded like someone punched Rihanna in the stomach (No Chris Brown) and told her to sing the hook through her nose, and then they pitch shifted her vocals to be higher.  Other than those obvious horrible things, Jay-Z’s lyrics was on point.  “Tell them ordinary Joes Budden (button) up”.  Somebody pray for Timbaland.

While “So Ambitious” is certainly not “Allure”, it was a decent “diet” version of it.  You can’t go wrong with a Pharrell/Jay-Z collab, (unlike some other producers who seem to be too busy bringing “Sexy Back” to produce hip hop music).   It wasn’t a STANDOUT track, but certainly better than a couple of the previous joints.

We finally wrap up the 3rd Installment of the Blueprint Trilogy with a classic sounding “Young Forever” which samples a song with the reverse title.  Jay acquires that European installment of G.O.O.D Music that lives in the 80s and travels through time to do music now, for the song’s vocals and hooks.  (By the way, Mr. Hudson sounding like he’s still in the 80s is not a bad thing at all.  That era was timeless).  Kanye recruited his “Coldest Winter” snare for this joint.  I would have preferred a different snare but I guess that’s just me.  (I’m a snare critic…I know.  LOL.)  It was a decent joint to take us out with.  It reminded me of that “History” track Jay leaked a while back, but this version was just executed incredibly better.  I throw my Roc sign in the air for this one.  (Lighters and cell phones are allowed to go up as well.)

Overall, I felt the album was decent.  Some people were throwing the baby out with the bath water and saying it was a horrible album.  I indeed think that there were some filler  tracks that could have been eliminated, but it had it’s standout moments to shine.  It was still Jay-Z and it was still better than most of the hip hop music that has come out and will come out this year.  I think the problem is that we are spoiled now.  Hip Hop fans have unreal expectations and closed mines to artists’ branching out and doing different things.  These type of things are just what fans will just have to deal with on a personal level.  Don’t criticize an artist for doing something different.  Criticize yourself for being a closed minded aficionado.  As for Jay-Z, by the looks of this album, he still knows how to craft a “Blueprint” for success.

Rating:

And that was just my two cents…and then some.

-Mike Dreams (Michael Hannah)
http://www.mikedreamsmusic.com
Mikedreamsmusic@gmail.com
AIM: mikedreamsmusic

September 9, 2009 | Categories: "A Dreamer's Perspective" Album Review, Jay-Z | 1 Comment