Defsounds

Yesterday the inevitable happened. Jay-Z’s highly anticipated album, The Blueprint 3, hit the web and has already reached hundreds of thousands of downloads on a multitude of file sharing sites.

While most die-hard Jigga Warriors who pride themselves in understanding his body of work have praised his latest effort, I am one who is severely disappointed.

As a fan of Jay-Z in this day and age, one thing that I have grown to appreciate is/was his consistency. Not consistency in his albums—consistency in his lyrical ability.

There are very few instances where Jay-Z has actually graced a track and disappointed. There are very few instances in which Jay drops a dud as a single—both critically and commercially.

It is very hard if not impossible to find that kind of consistency in Hip Hop.

Earlier this year Jay-Z announced Blue Print 3 to delight of many. Branding the album "Blue Print 3" alone created an immense amount of pressure and set a bar that—it saddens me to say, is not met at all.

He called it the "new Blue Print," and after hearing the LP, I ask, the new Blue Print to what?

Lyrics: 9

Lyrically, the album is on par with the best. We all know Jay-Z to be a master of the double entendres, he’s the Quagmire of Hip Hop without just relying on sexual references.

To the surprise of many, Jay steps outside of his no-name-dropping comfort zone with A Star Is Born—a massive praise to some of the biggest names in Hip Hop even referencing the perpetual shit starter, 50 Cent.

"50 came through, like hurricanes do/ I thought I finished his ass at Summer Jam too/ I had the Illmatic, on bootleg/ Shit was so ahead, thought we was so dead/ Wayne did a millie, 50 did a millie, Yey too but what Em did was silly/ the white boy blossomed, after Dre endorsed him/ his flow on Renegade, fucking awesome—applaud him"

Another surprising element was how incredibly current some of the lyrics are. Jay references the Oprah interview which occurred after the album was reportedly finished.

On Run This Town, the Johnny Depp, Public reference isn’t necessarily current, however at the time of the singles release it was.

The running theme throughout Blue Print 3 is progression as evident on most tracks specially on On To The Next One.
"Hov on that new shit/ niggas like how come/ niggas want my old shit/ buy my old album."

Lyrically the album achieves what it sets out to do—spread a message of progression. However there’s a big deterring factor that at times doesn’t allow a listener to fully grasp what he’s saying.

Production: 7

The production on Blue Print 3 falls short—extremely short. The live band, genre blending, mixture going on just doesn’t work on most of the tracks.

Timbaland—who usually does great work with Jay, did not deliver anything impressive. The lack of a Just Blaze production crippled many of the songs. Kanye West’s "Hate" is the epitome of throwaway tracks.

Many fans were happy to hear there was going to be a Primo collabo on Blue Print 3. Many fans will be sad and disappointed to learn that there isn’t.

One skill that Jay has mastered over the year is the ability to flow on most productions. This skill allows him to make mistakes when rapping such as trying to fit too many words into one bar, without the listener noticing much.

On Blue Print 3 the subpar production bring those mistakes to the forefront.