Jay-Z: Blueprint 3

This my friends in another one for every music lovers collection. Notice I said music lover. But Neil, this is a hip-hop blog. What would you include other genres? Is the album that good? Should I recommend it to my goth friends and video game geeks? Should I play it for my god awful Britney Spears followers? In a word....HELL YEA!!



I just put the commercial in because it kicks ass. Also, if you have absolutely no idea who Jay-Z is, now you know. Now to the album. The is the 11th studio album of his historic career. In hip hop time, he's old as hell. Normally after five or six albums, you never hear from that artist again. For someone to last this long and to have a track record that he has, that's just crazy. Each album he's put out from studio has been in the top 3 since his debut, Reasonable Doubt (hot album, cop it). We thought (and he thought) that his 2003 release, The Black Album, would be his last. However, to every one's surprise (except me of course), he came out with another...and another...and The Blueprint 3. Trust me when I say this, we are all grateful that he came out of retirement. Did he ever go in? I'm not sure anymore.

The album has such a wind collection of sounds. It's almost to the point where it does not sound like a typical rap album. This is definitely a good thing. It makes you want to listen to the beat. In turn, you hear the lyrics. It's a perfect plan that is executed without error. I do have my favorites of course. "Real As it Gets" features Young Jeezy and just fits both of them equally. You can't say that about most songs. "On to the Next One" was produced by Swizz Beatz (Swizzy!) and has the chance to be a true club banger. "So Ambitious" feature Pharrell a.k.a. Skateboard P. It's the most relaxing song on the LP. When I listen to it, I just mellow out and don't feel like doing anything. All of the songs are hits in my mind. All I do is listen to that album from beginning to end both in my car and on my iPod.

So would I recommend this LP? Yes, I would. This is what hip hop should be like in my mind. Variety, lyrical content, catchy hooks. This album is the whole package. It's only fitting that hip-hop's gold standard shows the young guns how to do it.

One more thing...

Sacred Principles - Chris Kaplan

I asked my boy Chris Kaplan to do an interpretation of the album. Just like the first one he did, this one kicks ass. Best part about this one, it looks good this way and upside-down!! If you wanna see more check out his site: ArtofChrisKaplan.com. You can also read his article on RealitySandwich.com.

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