Jay-Z’s latest opus, Blueprint 3, finds the legendary Brooklyn MC/mogul/hip-hop icon in a bit of a transition. As the third in the Blueprint series, it’s easy to compare this CD to its predecessors. While it retains some of the focus of the first, it also carries a little of the half-heartedness of the second.
Hov has embraced his status as a rap godfather and flaunts his standing as the only rap godfather to still sell big and spark trends a decade-and-a-half after his debut. The producers he’s signed on for this one are stellar — from Kanye West to Timbaland to No I.D — and Jigga sounds inspired as well.
The album highlight is the Alicia Keys-assisted “Empire State of Mind” an anthemic tour-de-force that reminds everyone that no matter what locale is atop the rap charts these days, NYC is still hip-hop’s home base and the city remains an inextricable part of Jay-Z’s identity and persona.
“A Star Is Born” is essentially a Cliff’s Notes retelling of hip-hop’s history (at least the last 15 years of it) and emphasizes that whatever MC is ‘hot,’ right now, there are more waiting to take his place — a not-so-subtle reference to Jay-Z’s ability to stay ahead of the curve and with the times.
Where Hov wavers is when he tries a little too hard to prove he’s still hip, (anybody can tell you that he doesn’t have to prove that, really). On “Forever Young,” the album’s only real misstep, he sounds like he’s trying to convince everyone he’s still got it over a lame sample of the 80s classic from Alphaville. It’s the one moment on the album where the inherent flaw in his approach — and in hip-hop, in general — becomes obvious. Jay shouldn’t have to still appeal to 19-year-olds after almost 15 years in the game.
Hip-hop has long been cursed with Peter Pan Syndrome: Run-DMC had to mount a ‘comeback’ (1993’s Down With the King) before they were even in their 30s; LL Cool J’s triumphant mid-90s return to the charts, Mr. Smith, was released when he was only 26; 90s and rappers like Eve (31), Raekwon (39) are in the midst of or planning their own comebacks.
In rock and soul music, fifty- and sixty-somethings are still releasing music and touring heavily. But in hip-hop, you’re considered ancient in your thirties? Because there is no ‘adult contemporary’ hip-hop format, rappers find themselves constantly having to reach back to teenagers and college kids to have any commercial viability. The result is, a rapper in his/her thirties is forced to try to relate to a teenage mindset. Older hip-hop heads must continue to support the artists they’ve grown up with, or the genre will never grow the hell up. –todd williams
