Blueprint 3

[Mik]

Any thoughts?

I just dl'd it today even though it's been out for a week or so. Early impression is that it's going to be a bit closer to Blueprint 2 then to The Blueprint, but damn if I'm not liking this song w/ Alicia Keys, "Empire State of Mind".

I'll leave the main discussion to the bigger raps fans but Jay-Z is one of the few rappers I make an effort to seek out and I'm not too sure about this one...

 

[Byron The Bulb]

So, Blueprint 3 leaked. Initial Reaction: Looked at in a vacuum, from a purely formalist perspective, it's leagues better than either Kingdom Come or American Gangster. Jay's rapping is more energetic and inspired than it was on either of those and the production is, for the most part, a lot more dynamic and interesting (I credit this largely to the increased presence of Kanye and Timbaland on the boards. Both were largely absent from those other two albums). When looked at in the broader context of Who Jay-Z Is (or Was, as it were) it becomes somewhat more difficult to praise. This is the product of an aging icon desperately grabbing at relevance. He spends half the album nakedly and pathetically pandering to the Williamsburg set ("featuring Luke Steele of Empire of the Sun"? Are you fucking kidding me?) and then turns around and tries to assert that he's still some kind of super-cool trendsetter. It's all quite sad. What makes it worse is that it didn't have to be this way. If he'd just stayed gone after The Black Album his legacy would have been assured. Instead he now risks becoming the rap version of The Rolling Stones: an act whose early triumphs are ultimately overshadowed by a would-be-funny-if-it-wasn't-so-sad refusal to just fucking go away.

 

[Sesquipedaliantique]

I don't think that what you said about The Rolling Stones is accurate. I'm completely oblivious to anything they released after 1981. I think that most people are.

I listened to this album when it first dropped, but I got distracted by other stuff and haven't formed an opinion on it yet.

 

[BUTT]

It's like listening to the eye on the pyramid on the dollar rhyme.

 

[CBright7831]

Any thoughts?

I just dl'd it today even though it's been out for a week or so. Early impression is that it's going to be a bit closer to Blueprint 2 then to The Blueprint, but damn if I'm not liking this song w/ Alicia Keys, "Empire State of Mind".

I'll leave the main discussion to the bigger raps fans but Jay-Z is one of the few rappers I make an effort to seek out and I'm not too sure about this one...

I will agree with that.

It's just good to hear Jay sound motivated again.

 

[Byron The Bulb]

It's like listening to the eye on the pyramid on the dollar rhyme.

I think maybe it would be for the best if you and Czech just steered clear of this thread

The album's starting to grow on me. I've started forcing myself to ignore all the extra-textual baggage surrounding it and just appreciate its material/formal pleasures, which are legion.

 

[Czech]

I'll post where I wanna post.

I've only listened to "Death of Autotune" but it's kinda silly and bad. I like the saxophone part, but the lyrics are past fun-bad. "This is assault with a deadly weapon." No it's not. It's just saying that Autotune is overused. Geez. The "Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye" interpolation was a bad idea.

 

[snuffbox]

This is why we cant have nice threads.

 

[still fly]

I guess Blueprint 3 is good enough for all the Jay dick riders who insist for some reason he's gods gift to rap. Dude should have stayed retired in 2003.

 

[Byron The Bulb]

I've only listened to "Death of Autotune" but it's kinda silly and bad. I like the saxophone part, but the lyrics are past fun-bad. "This is assault with a deadly weapon." No it's not. It's just saying that Autotune is overused. Geez. The "Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye" interpolation was a bad idea.

That's easily the worst song on the album. It's the one place where his flow really sinks back to Kingdom Come levels of awkward, which makes it basically impossible to ignore just how stupid the lyrics are. And they're really, really stupid. That "deadly weapon" line you quoted is really awful, but for my money the worst lines are "This ain't politically correct (Ahhh)/This might offend my political connects (Ahh)" and "I'm a multimillionaire/So how is it I'm still the hardest nigga here?" The whole thing is really just unbelievably eye-rollingly bad. It's like a bad Nas song with worse rapping.

 

[Czech]

It's kind of fun and mean to reduce albums to their lyrical clunkers. I remember doing a number on Neon Bible.

 

[Byron The Bulb]

Those "DOA" lines aren't even the worst on the album. That distinction has to go to this little number from "On To The Next One"

"I used to rock a throwback
Ballin on the corner
Now I rock a tailored suit
Lookin like a owner
No I'm not a Jonas
Brother, I'm a grown-up
No I'm not a virgin
I use my cojones"

Ugh

 

[FroGG_NeaL]

Jesus Christ. He really says that shit?

I haven't DL'd it yet, but I've listened to the tracks on xxl.com's 'Bangers" section. I was really sceptical about this album, but if he's seriously spittin some shit like that, then fuck man.

Kingdom Come was terrible, except for maybe two tracks. American Gangster was nice. The whole soulful feel of the album with Jay spittin the best he had in years. I have a feeling that album will be the last good one from Hov.

 

[Byron The Bulb]

Jesus Christ. He really says that shit?

I haven't DL'd it yet, but I've listened to the tracks on xxl.com's 'Bangers" section. I was really sceptical about this album, but if he's seriously spittin some shit like that, then fuck man.

As bad as those are, there's also some moments of pretty great writing on here. Like this sweet bit of extended metaphor from "Thank You"

"I was gonna kill a couple rappers, but they did to themselves
I was do it with the flow, but they did it with the sales
I was gonna 9/11 them, but they didn't need the help
And they did a good job; them boys is talented as hell
Cuz not only did they brick, they put a building up as well
Then ran a plane into that building and when that building fell
Ran to the crash site with no mask and inhaled
Toxins deep inside they lungs until both of them was filled
Blew a cloud out like an L into a jar then took a smell
Because they heard that second-hand smoke kills
Niggas thought they was ill; found out they was ill
And it's like you knew exactly how I wanted you to feel"

That's just good rappin'

 

[FroGG_NeaL]

That's some ill shit. I'm havin trouble finding a working download link for this one. Somebody hook me up?

 

[FroGG_NeaL]

Nevermind, I found one.

 

[CBright7831]

Awesome commercial

 

[Jaxxxson Mayhem]

Great commercial.

 

[CBright7831]

It really is. My only complaint about it is that The Black Album cover didnt come after The Blueprint cover because then you would've had my top 3 Jay-Z albums right there.

 

[FroGG_NeaL]

that commercial is brilliant,

still not sure what to think of the album yet, the little 'ah,' 'ah-ah,' adlibs he does are replacing 'chea' and 'uh-uh-uh-uh' i guess.

 

[Mik]

http://www.youtube.com/user/HoodTV7

Jay-Z's 9/11 NYC concert. I watched the whole thing... tons of great guest spots. Looked like a lot of fun.

 

[Czech]

I want to like "Run This Town" but that duck call noise on every single downbeat is really irritating. Nonetheless, it sounds pretty cool, though the lyrics seem like generally meaningless rap posturing, and the video is preposterous.

 

[Byron The Bulb]

Best part of that video is the ridiculous outfit Rihanna's wearing at the beginning.

She looks like a Metal Gear Solid character.

 

[Czech]

I understand that I'm supposed to simultaneously praise Rihanna's cutting-edge fashion unorthodoxy while sympathizing with her domestic abuse situation, but I just think she makes herself look really ugly. Sorry, Rihanna.

 

[Perfxion]

If Lady Gaga didn't take to another level. Rihanna would be the worst dressed person in music. This is taken in account Kayne and BEP.

As hearing the album. It is one of the better mainstream albums I heard in the last few years. Jay should have never "retired"(took 2 years off from dropping an album, rapped the whole damn time). Because he is like currently Jordan from 94 through 98. Really great but at times just living off his past greatness and just going through the motions. This is his best album since the Black album, but not as good as black album.

 

[Mickey Massuco]

Because he is like currently Jordan from 94 through 98.

C'MON MAN

 

[FroGG_NeaL]

American Gangster is Jay's best album since the Black Album. I'd even say it's in his top 3 along with Reasonable Doubt and the BP 1, with Vol. 2 as a runner-up.

 

[Perfxion]

Vol 2 is my favorite Jay album. Great mix of good deeptracks and singles. not one real skippable song on the album.

 

[CBright7831]

I think my top three Jay-Z albums would have to be The Blueprint, Black Album, and RD.

I realize that is not a shock, but what many do find as a shock is that I think BP and Black Album are better than RD. Idk - I guess it's just a personal choice.

 

[still fly]

Never really into Jay Z that much, but I liked Reasonable Doubt. Still holds up. I was more interested in West Coast hip hop earlier this decade, so with the exception of the Black Album no Jay Z for me.