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Blueprint 3 – Jay Z

It is ironic that in the music industry, some of the best work of an artiste comes out during his early years. And contrary to popular convention, as the years of experience pile up, the mark of work which defines an album as a classic usually keeps on fading with the passage of time. This holds truer in the case of hip hop, where mean street credentials and housing project penury are what make up the subject matter essential to define its spirit. Hip hop is about the grit within your soul in the face of adversity, it is about survival on the verge of a city’s seedy underbelly, it is about making your way through the grime on the city’s streets. All of which gets lost once you have a couple of landmark albums under your belt – and switch places from housing projects to swank mansions, from walking the streets to cruising the skyline.

Being on the top of the game for more than a decade now, Jay Z has seen it all and done it all. Somewhere along the line after the critical acclaim lauded on his debut effort, “Reasonable Doubt” and becoming record label chief, he also came out with “Blueprint”, which was a surprisingly gritty effort. The follow up in the form of “Blueprint 2”, however failed to impress many, because maybe Jay-Z himself didn’t remember featuring on his album pushing himself into the status of a guest artist. His eleventh album, “Blueprint 3” falls somewhere between both albums – so while there are multiple artistes extending their duties on the album, Jay-Z fits them all neatly under his wing to deliver an album which should be one of his better works in recent years.

The synth-led backdrop on the opener “What We Talkin’ About” surges the album to your attention, and marks the slickness of the production which would carry itself successfully through the album. “Blueprint 3” doesn’t really pay homage to the dust of the streets; it works its way through the glittering confetti of urban highlife. Something which is quite evident in the holler on “Empire State of Mind” as the beatific sheen of Alicia Keys graces the track with vocal finesse. Similar treatment is given to “Run This Town” with the soaring voice of protégé Rihanna, while old friend Kanye West takes over production duties. In fact, Kanye West has extended his services on most of the album, seven out of a total of fifteen. The other notable contribution comes from Timbaland on tracks like a clichéd sounding “Venus vs. Mars” (an equally clichéd attempt at throwing in songs laden with seduction tactics, Jay-Z should leave this domain to others) and “Reminder”. What captivates early on in the album, both with its title and treatment, is “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune). In an age where Auto Tune is the most popular piece of technical wizardry to be applied on vocal chords, Jay-Z sets out to diss this trend, though at the same time he isn’t exactly sure about whether this is ‘politically’ correct. The guitar and saxophone led beats are what make this track a standout for its leanings towards an old school approach.

Like we said earlier on, “Blueprint 3” may not contain the boom of the original “Blueprint”. And though he may have shared the talents of a multitude of established and upcoming artistes, this album definitely belongs to him. Right from the opening beats to the swagger contained within the verses, Jay-Z has his mark all over the album. And since he is fast aging, it would be interesting to see if he is able to mark the twilight years of his career with another classic, or it would be this album which would serve as a deserving farewell.