jammin'
Jay-Z conjures up another chart-topping record
On The Blueprint 3, Jay-Z is redefining what success means to him with a parade of musical guests such as Rihanna, Kanye West, Timbaland and Pharrell Williams...

By Ali Sultan
Artist: Jay-Z
Album: The Blueprint 3***

There was a time when a rapper couldn't expect to last past his 20s.  Shawn Corey Carter better known as Jay-Z, with his large frame and booming voice, is, however, nearing 40, is worth an estimated $150 million, is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, and to top all that has released, The Blueprint 3, his eleventh studio album.

On The Blueprint 3, Jay-Z rather than trying to recapture past glories or reminiscent about youthful battles, is redefining what success means to him, which doesn't mean that The Blueprint 3 isn't a patchy hit-and-miss, glossily produced rap album with a rock edge. Kanye West, who made a name for himself as the sonic architect of 2001's The Blueprint, handles much of the production here, with contributions from Swizz Beatz, Timbaland and Pharrell Williams. Then there is the parade-of-stars guest list: Rihanna and Alicia Keys supply backing vocals and choruses on 'Run This Town' and 'Empire State of Mind', respectively, while heavyweights Kanye, Pharrell, and Young Jeezy trade boasts with urban rat pack aplomb and J. Cole and Kid Cudi court the youth vote.

The weak 'What We Talkin' About' begins the album with a wave of surging, oppressive synth that nearly drowns everything, over a mid-tempo disco beat while Jay-Z enumerates what he's said and what's been said about him, "I don't run rap no more/ I run the map," ending with a nod not to the past but the future. Timbaland clearly wasn't bringing his A-game here. 'Reminder' has a pointlessly off-kilter beat and the dumbfounding 'Venus vs. Mars' with its Mac/PC, Pepsi/Coke punning advice-column, suggests a man whose reputedly monogamous relationship with one of the most beautiful people in the world has left him ill-prepared to whisper in another woman's ear. Williams fares no better with producing the cheesy synths of 'So Ambitious' and crooning on top of it.

All is not lost, however, with such numbers like 'Thank You', a groovy horn-filled number with no guests in sight and Jay-Z in full-arrogant mode, "I was gonna kill a couple rappers/But they did it to themselves/I was gon' do it with the flow/But they did it with their sales/I was gon' 9/11 'em, but they didn't need the help," and 'A Star Is Born' with its edgy soul-clap backdrop where Jay-Z pulls all the stops  to rap an effortlessly dazzling flow and Cole acquits himself well on a hungry cameo.

There is little doubt that The Blueprint 3 will be a hit, - there are enough beats and quality rapsmanship to achieve that -  but Jay-Z has to contend with a dilemma that Tupac or Notorious BIG never did -  how to be hip-hop's first workhorse, documenting life on top rather than on the rise.

*****Get it NOW!
****Just get it
***Maybe maybe not
**Just download the best song
*Forget that this was made