Music Review: Jay-Z lays down a powerful plan for hip-hop’s future with 'The Blueprint 3'

Jay-Z should have known better than to once again follow up 2001’s magnum opus The Blueprint. Trying to duplicate the tour de force is like George Lucas returning to the Star Wars franchise. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

But as much as I initially admonished Jay-Z for making The Blueprint 3, there is reason for his rhymes. This is not the haphazard Blueprint 2. Rather, this is Jay forging a new chapter in hip-hop.

Where The Blueprint hit a crescendo, reflecting on Jay’s ascent to the throne of hip-hop, BP3 is a swelling beast. Aiming not just for hip-hop preeminence, Jay-Z looks to transcend music and dominate our cultural landscape.

Because of this, Hov is more self-aware than ever before. Blatant reaffirmations to his existing reign of hip-hop riddle the album, especially in the opening two tracks, but Jay takes it beyond boasting to goading his hip-hop foils to catch up.

And thanks to Kanye West, he has the innovative beats to back it up. West, the architect of the original, returns with avant-garde production, pushing the boundaries of where hip-hop is headed as he mans the boards for seven songs.

Opener “What We’re Talking About” features Jay and Empire of the Sun’s Luke Steele oozing charisma in a hip-hop siren song that blend’s Hov’s laid back style with Empire’s kinetic electro pop.

And it only gets better. “D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)” and “Run This Town,” both of which feature West beats, are the most powerful radio singles you’re likely to hear this year. But it wouldn’t be a Jay-Z album without off-the-radar producers manning a few monster jams.

Producer Shux and Alicia Keys join Jay to create the album’s first triumph, “Empire State of Mind.” Over an expansive backdrop of simple piano chords and skittery rhythms, Jay rhymes, “I made the Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can,” in an ode and a challenge to his New York home.

Moving from its apex to its epilogue, BP3 ends by borrowing Alphaville’s synth-powered update of Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young.” As guest Mr. Hudson croons the chorus, distorted keys build around some of Hov’s most reflective verse, an introspective look at his legacy.

“I’m forever young, my name shall survive,” Hov preaches over the grandiose music. “My name shall be passed down to generations while debating up in barbershops.”

And with a canon that includes such landmarks as Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint and now The Blueprint 3, Jay-Z has built a legacy that’s not only the most storied in hip-hop, but one that should allow his music to live on long after he’s left the game behind.

From this point on, it is Young Hov forever.


Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.