I’ve been bumping Blueprint 3 all day and speaking with a few of my constituents about the contents of Jay-Z’s latest work. Blueprint 3, by virtue of the name, is a follow-up to a successful (and very dope) series – as well as a long string of platinum albums and classics Jay has released over the course of his career. He’s provided deep narratives on upward struggle and has never been shy about exposing his trials and tribulations, his regrets and his ambitions.
Like many great writers and poets, there are numerous meanings and emotions drifting behind Jay’s words. While a passive listener may hear glorified drug dealing and violence, a mature listener picks up the complexity of human life in the metaphors and double-entendres; the motivations – both conscious and subconscious – behind Jay’s decision-making, his actions, his rationalization and emotions; his acts of kindness and virulence – there lies an ambiguous shape formed by instinct, shame, passion and addiction (”I’m just a moth, addicted to the floss”).
Each album sheds more light on this ambiguity and through this, we learn directly about Jay-Z, metaphorically about human nature and consciously about ourselves.
Blueprint 3 is no different. It is a glimpse into the thoughts and experiences of one of the most successful rappers musicians of our time. Fans anticipate BP3 for both its potential for greatness and out of curiosity for “what’s next?” What more does he have to say? The Black Album established Jay as “the best rapper alive,” he came back with Kingdom Come, an album aptly titled after a series of DC comic books that deals with a “Growing conflict between traditional superheroes, such as Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Justice League, and a growing population of largely amoral and dangerously irresponsible new vigilantes.” Kingdom Come matured hip-hop; 30 became the new 20, and hip-hop transitioned to the “Corner office from the culdesac.”
American Gangster (Jay’s 10th studio album) brought about a cinematic narrative inspired by the movie and took to the topic of understanding the human condition of somebody in his situation. The drug dealer has a rhyme and reason for his actions – something he’s revived on a number of occasions (”If you force my hands, I’ll be forced to draw” and “If you know all along, that there’s just one life / at what point does one fight? / [Good question right?]“). Harvard wasn’t an option but neither was living a normal, subdued, economically oppressed life. Through the narrative, the bad guy became the good guy. The forces behind pushing rocks were given names outside of “greed” and malintent and the hypocrisies of establishment were unveiled.
“It’s a New York City tale, you know. So as soon as the movie came on, it was familiar, things that my pop seen and my uncles seen and, different things like that, things I’ve seen growing up. So they resonated with me in a way, the story, even though everything happens, the way it turns out, it’s one of those movies where you champion the bad guy, because the bad guy, you know, he don’t seem like a bad guy, and the good guy — I mean the good guys are bad. You know, that complex — the complexity of human beings in this thing was amazing to me. I loved the complexity of the human beings.”
Unlike American Gangster and prior works, Jay’s narrative on Blueprint 3 is no longer introverted. His main cause appears to be a call to both his fans and his peers; asking them to turn their attentions towards “what’s next” rather than focus on “what’s been.”
On “What We Talkin’ About” Jay-Z beckons, “Now if that’s that / now let’s talk about the future / we have just seen “The Dream” as predicted by Martin Luther / and you could choose ta / sit in front of your computer / posing with guns / shooting Youtube up / Or you could come with me to the white house / get your suit up / you stuck on being hardcore…”
This idea of moving “On to the Next” reoccurs on a number of tracks. On “Real As It Gets,” Jeezy tells us,”This is big boy music / make you wanna grow up.” The concept of the album is very Emersonian in that it calls for constant improvement and innovation; a stringent passion to be better; to fear stagnation. “On to the Next One,” he says, define yourself because “it’s all about progression.” Aritstic progression required the death of autotune so, he killed autotune. Jay-Z urges his peers and listeners to advance in fashion (jerseys), liquors (Cristal), cars (Range Rovers), styles (auto-tune), attitudes (”I’m not in the project hallway / talkin’ ’bout how I’m in the project all day”), and he applies the “move forward” mentality to society as a whole. “This ain’t black vs. white my nigga we off that / please tell Bill O’Reilly to get off that / …How’s that for a mix? / Got a black president got green presidents.”
The accompanying instrumentation on this album fits the message. A number of the tracks literally soar (”Empire State of Mind” produced by Al Shux, “Already Home” produced by Kanye West), and they have to in order to fit the bill. Shawn Carter has surpassed every name he mentions in “A Star is Born.” In the game of rap, he lives around the vicinity of Eminem, Andre 3000 and Nas; but in the game of life, he sits above the crowd “In his Tribeca loft,” “Sippin’” with Oprah and answering Obama’s texts.
“Empire State of Mind” fills a place in my heart as a NYC anthem. “Reminder” is literally a reminder of how hard Jay can bring it on the flow. “Back to back double / plat I did what you won’t / Men lie women / lie numbers don’t / Ain’t nothing changed / for me ‘cept the the year / it is I think I have to send / you a reminder here / it is.” I used to think Eminem was the best technical rapper by yards but “Already Home” makes that a 4th and short situation.
A lot of listeners will expect to have the same immediate connection to this album as they do with their current favorite Jigga albums. I did not love Reasonable Doubt and the Black Album the first time I heard it. I built those relationships over extended periods of my life. There are a couple of tracks that do not vibe with me just yet. But to be honest, I skip over “Change Clothes” every time it plays in my headphones; not that it is a bad song, I know every word to it, but it doesn’t fit “in my pocket.” So there is some loose change rattling around on this album but most of it comes in hard, recession-escaping green-backs. When Blueprint 3 comes out, have a listen. But get to know it. Give it a few spins before articulating a position on it; you will likely be glad you did.
The Blueprint 3 comes out September 11th. The album release party will be held at Madison Square Garden, a very fitting venue.
Review done by Steven Kim
