I’m not going to make a habit of reviewing albums because I do not consider myself a journalist or an authority on hip hop.  I’m just a cat who knows a little bit about hip hop with some opinions about music and how people do it.  However, because I have showed so much attention and energy to Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3, I wanted to share my thoughts on the album as a whole.  First off, let me go on record as saying that Jay-Z is in a league of his own as far as a rapper/emcee/business man.  Nobody in rap has accomplished the things that Jay-Z has and for that I tip my hat.  He has 3 albums, that many consider classic material.  He has sold an incredible amount of albums and apparently has 10 number ones album, “maybe 11 now.”  I would never try to take anything away from Jay-Z as a business or as an influential person not only in hip hop but in entertainment.  Now, having said all that, I am listening to Blueprint 3 with a very critical ear.  Especially considering that it came from the same guy who calls himself  ”the best rapper alive” and “if I ain’t better than BIG then I’m the closest one.”  This guy has 3 albums that are classics, a slew of hits and has been the biggest name in hip hop from 98 til 2006(sorry but Kanye and Wayne run shit now), so I expect very dope music from Jay.  Maybe I’m the only one.  Blueprint 3 has had a lot of buzz and hype surrounding it ever since Jay released Jockin’ Jay-Z and Swagger Like Us.  He has released several other songs that haven’t quite caught on like History and Brooklyn(We Go Hard).  His first official single from BP3 was DOA aka Death of Autotune.  It caught a lot of buzz because of the overusage of autotune by EVERYONE in hip hop.  His second single is Run This City features Rihanna on the Hook and Kanye over a Kanye beat.  Both songs in my opinion, fall short of the quality of single that Jay-Z is capable of but some people seem to like them.  The rest of the album, although not as bad as it could be, is disappointing, especially coming for “the God MC, me J Hova.”  BP3 has several of hip hop’s most higly regarded producers contributing but failing to provide more than a couple songs that will stand the tests of time.  The highlights of the album are Thank You, Reminder, Empire State of Mind(thank you Alicia Keys) and As Real As It Gets(thank you Young Jeezy).  The most disappointing aspect of the album for me, and I have been saying this for a while, is Jay-Z lyrics and flow.  As a fellow emcee, I listen to words heavy.  One of the main reasons I began listening to Jay-Z was because of his lyrics and his flow.  He used to be impeccable, rarely missing a beat.  On every song on BP3, Jay sounds lazy, bored and old.  He tries to “swag” out his voice and lyrics rather than just rap well.  There is honestly not one quotable that sticks out in my mind.  I never ran a song back and I never had to put on one of those scrunch faces for a Jay quotable.  In fact, Jay is overshadowed by MUCH less capable rappers like Kanye West, Young Jeezy and newcomer, J. Cole.  I want everyone to take that in real quick.  Compare those names.  That is an absolute tragedy in my opinion, ESPECIALLY on his OWN DAMN ALBUM.  This is like being murdered by Eminem in his prime on Renegade.  Young Jeezy, Kanye West and J. Cole.  That is a fucking shame.  BP3 is clearly an attempt to stay relevant in a time where hip hop has no face, no direction, no leaders and no soul.  Jay-Z tries to continue his leadership by putting together a clusterfuck of beats from producers that are clearly on different pages.  There are definitely some dope beats on the album but are overshadowed by lazy raps and weird adlibs from Jay.  Having said all that and “hating” for several months leading up to BP3, I encourage everyone to listen for themselves and form their own opinions about the album.  Who knows, you might hear some shit I didn’t hear.  Maybe I’m just one of those “fools who don’t listen to music I just skim through it” or maybe I am just holding Jay-Z to a standard that he is not capable of attaining again.  I do have some praise for Jay-Z though and his recent work, his new rhapsody commerical is amazing.  PEEP!!!!

And if you think I am just hating or being to hard on Jay, peep this LA Times review.