“If anything, I tend to look at this album as a new chapter in the life of Jay-Z.  “THE BLUEPRINT 3” is an album that showcases excitement, observation, maturity, openness to collaborations and willing to take chances on different styles of music but most of all, doing it his way.   And at 40, there’s no sign of slowing down. Overall, “THE BLUEPRINT 3″ is another solid release.”
ARTIST: Jay-Z
ALBUM: THE BLUEPRINT 3 (Digital Version)
LABEL: ROC NATION
DURATION: 1:00:43
RELEASE DATE: September 11, 2009
- What We Talkin’ About (Jay-Z+Luke Steel of Empire of the Sun)
- Thank You
- D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)
- Run This Town (Jay-Z+Rihanna+Kanye West]
- Empire State of Mind [Jay-Z + Alicia Keys]
- Real As It Gets [Jay-Z+Young Jeezy]
- On to the Next One [Jay-Z+Swizz Beatz]
- Off That [Jay-Z+Drake]
- A Star is Born [Jay-Z + J. Cole]
- Venus Vs. Mars
- Already Home [Jay-Z +Kid Cudi]
- Hate [Jay-Z +Kanye West]
- Reminder
- So Ambitious [Jay-Z + Pharrell]
- Young Forever [Jay-Z+Mr Hudson]
BUY THIS ALBUM:
Highly anticipated, still not overrated, Jay-Z just as smooth, with his delivery… the man can still rhyme like no other over two decades later.
Sure, I’ve been raving about the two earlier releases such as “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)” and “Run This Town” (with Rihanna and Kanye West) but “THE BLUEPRINT 3” is just another fantastic release from Jay-Z.
With the hip hop artist turning 40 and the release making sure it got into retail stores when leaks of the album online, sure the album has commercial flavor and personally, collaborations with Kanye West, Pharrell, Alicia Keyes, Rihanna doesn’t mean we are going to see signs of worn-out tracks and an album without soul. Jay-Z is a smart man and know that in today’s world of albums and people being quite selective with music selections, “THE BLUEPRINT 3” makes things quite difficult for the listener because you’re not going to find two or three tracks that are all good, you’re going to find nearly every track on the album to be as solid and feel like, “just screw it with the individual tracks… I’m buying the whole album.”
From the New York pumping track of “Empire State of Mind” with Alicia Keys, to the arms in the air track of “Real As It Gets” with Young Jeezy, to the cool and trippy groove of “On to the Next One” with Swizz Beatz and the furious, in your face track with “Off That” with Drake.
And no, it doesn’t end there.
There’s the upbeat track “A Star is Born” with J. Cole, the sultry and sexy “Venus Vs. Mars”, the bumpin’ “Already Home” with Kid Cudi, getting hard with Jay-Z and Kanye West for “Hate” and of course, you have to have the Jay-Z tracks letting you know who the man is with a track like “Reminder”, another cool collaboration with Pharrell with “So Ambitious” and ending the album with a love song with “Young Forever” with a collaboration with Mr. Hudson.
Sure, Jay-Z’s 2002 album “Blueprint 2” also had its share of collaborations but I suppose with this album, one can say it has a commercial vibe but again, I don’t see that as a negative. Granted, you’re going to have the hardcore who will be there to purchase the album on CD but in today’s age of music and those who are making purchases of digital music online, you want people to purchase as much music on that album as much as possible.
If anything, I tend to look at this album as a new chapter in the life of Jay-Z.  “THE BLUEPRINT 3” is an album that showcases excitement, observation, maturity, openness to collaborations and willing to take chances on different styles of music but most of all, doing it his way.   And at 40, there’s no sign of slowing down.
Overall, “THE BLUEPRINT 3” is another solid release.