By Montreal Spencer/south news editor
Jay-Z’s Blue Print 3 will be his 11th No. 1 album, making him the solo act with the most No. 1 records, beating Elvis Presley.
Recently Jay-Z headlined a sold-out Madison Square Garden for his Answer the Call concert with all proceeds going to families of fallen officers and firefighters in the Sept. 11 tragedy, which is also the day he dropped his first Blue Print album.
He also closed the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, appeared on the season premiere of The Jay Leno Show and is slated to appear on the Sept. 24 Oprah Winfrey Show (a show that normally does not welcome rappers).
With all this publicity going on, does Jay-Z’s Blue Print 3 beat his first Blue Print, one of his best albums, or any other of his hip-hop classics?
The album opens with a mesmerizing beat for the song “What We Talkin’ About,” where he addresses all his critics and haters.
“Grown men want me to sit em on my lap. But I don’t have a beard, and Santa Claus ain’t black,” the lyrics read.
He’s speaking about old friends who now have their hands out thinking he owes them something. It’s a good song worthy of several listens.
His second song, “Thank You,” is Jay-Z doing one of the best things he does: talk about how much he loves himself and how rich he is. It has a decent beat and nice lyrics.
“Please don’t bow in my presence. How am I a legend? I just got 10 number one albums, maybe now 11,” Jay prophetically says on the song.
“Death of Auto Tune” (D.O.A) was his first single for the album and was OK the first couple of days it was released but will definitely be a skipper on the album.
The second single “Run This Town” featuring Kanye West and Rihanna has a melodic, beautiful beat. Jay-Z had two decent verses, but Kanye’s verse and Rihanna’s chorus definitely stole the song.
“Empire State of Mind” featuring Alicia Keys is one of the best songs on the album. Jay-Z’s verses are almost flawless. Alicia Keys’ chorus is heartfelt, and the beat is excellent. This is the song they performed at the VMAs last week.
“Real As it Gets” featuring Young Jeezy is a good song, but it sounds like a Young Jeezy song. From the beat to the chorus, it sounds as though it should be Young Jeezy featuring Jay-Z, not the other way around.
“A Star Is Born” with J Cole shows originality and a good beat. He pays homage to several stars who blossomed in hip-hop including Eminem, Nas, Diddy and T.I.
“Venus vs. Mars” sounds like it will be the next single. Jay has some of his most clever lyrics on this song, and the chorus is catchy. Women will love it.
“My dollars was down. She left me for some euros, took my whole flavor, I call her Coke Zero” is a stand-out line on the song.
In “Hate,” Jay and Kanye West go back and forth talking about their haters with some witty lyrics.
“On to the Next One,” “Already Home,” “Reminder” and “Off That,” where he disses Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh, are all OK songs reminiscent of something he has done before.
“So Ambitious” featuring Pharell is a catchy song about people who doubted Jay-Z as a child. A pretty motivational song with a good beat, it can also be a single.
“I felt so inspired by what my teacher said, said I’d either be dead or a reefer head,” the lyrics go.
“Young Forever” with Mr Hudson is another heartfelt song filled with good feelings and a great chorus. Maybe pushing 40 is really on his mind.
Blue Print 3 is a good album although some of the songs sound repetitive. But after 11 No. 1 albums, anybody would have similar songs.
