The long-awaited Blueprint 3 doesn't disappoint. In fact, the album may just be the blueprint for hip-hop music to come.
Blueprint is hip-hop as big business, and Jay retains his CEO throne.
It’s Jay-Z’s world, but on The Blueprint 3 he’s considerate enough to let listeners perambulate about for a most enjoyable visit.
Blueprint 3 may not stack up to the storied first entry in the series, but it’s certainly a worthwhile contributor.
Despite bringing in all these names to make it an event album, ‘The Blueprint 3’ delivers because of hefty beats and quality rapsmanship, nothing else.
The Blueprint 3 isn't a one-man tour de force like the first. Jay is upstaged once or twice by his guests, and while the productions are stellar throughout -- Timbaland appears three times, and No I.D. gets multiple credits also -- it's clear there's less on Jay's mind this time.
While not as groundbreaking as the first Blueprint was, this is nonetheless a strong record, its A-list guests and production tempered nicely by the inclusion of in-the-now collaborators of the order of Young Jeezy and Empire Of The Sun front man Luke Steele.
Jay doesn’t have that drive anymore because he is on top — and it might take him hitting rock bottom again before we ever hear something as bold and beautiful as the first Blueprint. In the meantime, we’ve got a relatively above-average work from an artist who’s proven himself capable of so much more.
The Blueprint that was sketched out as a vaunted resuscitation of sample-based boom-bap rap production is replaced here by big corny synth wipes, a sometimes-fascinating corollary to Jay’s corporate sense of purpose.
Even with the missteps, you can’t help being behind Jay throughout Blueprint 3, and that’s why he’s been one of the best for so long.
The Blueprint 3 starts well enough. Its first half is good to great ... But around the time we get to the Timbaland-produced, Limbaugh-dissing, Drake-featuring “Off That,” a song about how far ahead of the curve Jay is, the album's quality falls off considerably.
As you listen, you get the sense Jay-Z has had a bold idea that he hasn't quite thought through properly – and that's The Blueprint 3's problem in a nutshell.
American Gangster was the last time we saw the real Jay-Z – soulful, lyrically adept, his narrative streak reborn with a newfound alter ego – but here he is back to treading water.
Whilst Blueprint 3 arguably has some far stronger singles than the second Blueprint record Jay-Z is off form on his third outing and could even be criticised of somehow looking for more commercial success inviting a plethora of his A-list friends along for the ride.
From its roster of producers and guest spots to its elaborate marketing, Blueprint 3 is the kind of stuck-on-stupid, event-driven money pit that proves while Jay-Z's at a point where he's got no one to answer to but himself, he's still capable of an entire hour of failing to take his own advice.
The pitch-correction software is alive and well even on this record ... This glaring inconsistency is the least of BP3’s missteps.
On The Blueprint 3, Jay-Z, for arguably the first time in his career, sounds tired and old,
The real inexcusable thing about The Blueprint 3 is how boring and sterile it all sounds.
Take these songs and run as far away from everything else as possible:
What We Talkin' About
Run this Town
Empire State of Mind
Real As It Gets
Already Home
So Ambitious
The title "Blueprint 3" was clearly used to garner hype and make him plenty of money. In terms of execution, sound, or aesthetic, it hardly resembles the previous installments in the series, so the only logical reason would be to gather attention and amass scads of M's in his bank account. While this album succeeded at doing so, the project received backlash from Hov fans upon release. It still gets shat on to this day. Truthfully, I don't see what's so bad about this. I know ... read more
Certainly some songs on here I really really love, but overall this record feels outdated but in a early 2010s way instead of a late 90s way, the kind of outdated that ages poorly.
this album has aged pretty bad but i was a kid when this came out and nostalgia is real so i make the rules
1 | What We Talkin' About 4:03 feat. Luke Steele | 72 |
2 | Thank You 4:09 | 68 |
3 | D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune) 4:16 | 76 |
4 | Run This Town 4:27 feat. Rihanna, Kanye West | 90 |
5 | Empire State Of Mind 4:36 feat. Alicia Keys | 95 |
6 | Real As It Gets 4:12 feat. Jeezy | 75 |
7 | On To The Next One 4:16 feat. Swizz Beatz | 69 |
8 | Off That 4:06 feat. Drake | 61 |
9 | A Star Is Born 3:46 feat. J. Cole | 72 |
10 | Venus Vs. Mars 3:10 | 35 |
11 | Already Home 4:29 feat. Kid Cudi | 79 |
12 | Hate 2:31 feat. Kanye West | 42 |
13 | Reminder 4:18 | 48 |
14 | So Ambitious 4:12 feat. Pharrell Williams | 70 |
15 | Young Forever 4:13 feat. Mr Hudson | 62 |
#4 | / | Rolling Stone |
#7 | / | Complex |
#9 | / | Amazon |
#12 | / | A.V. Club |
#33 | / | NME |
#37 | / | Consequence of Sound |
#41 | / | NPR |
#49 | / | Uncut |