Straddling the line between old school and new school is easier said than done.
In a time when the music industry is in dire straits, taking risks is generally unwise, especially for a person who bought out his own contract to create a label
But this is Shawn Corey Carter we are talking about. After signing a handful of talented artists such as Wale, J. Cole, Sugababes and Melanie Fiona to management deals with his new label, Roc Nation, Jay-Z is ready to deliver Roc Nation's first order of production: The Blueprint 3.
Jay-Z faced a tough decision when releasing his 11th album. Does an artist keep with the times and tweak his style to meld with new trends or does he take the approach of the weathered veteran and fall back on what he knows best?
The Blueprint 3 feels like a compromise, a cop out, a forced attempt at an album when he should have just focused on the future of Roc Nation in Wale and J. Cole.
The album itself feels more like a mix tape than a true album, relying heavily on featured guests on 11 of the 15 tracks, but this is more or less a given with today's hip-hop releases.
You can pretty much skip the first two tracks, 'What We Talkin' About' and 'Thank You.' On 'Thank You,' Jay-Z offers only a lackluster performance, complete with rehashed lyrics from 'Encore.'
'Thank you/ Thank you/ Thank you/ You're far too kind,' re-raps Jay-Z.
Following that disaster is 'D.O.A. (Death of Autotune).' Unless you've been living under a rock for the summer of '09 or simply don't listen to the radio, this track might be a waste of your time as well, as it was played out long before the summer was over.
With that said, Mr. Carter's sentiments are in the right place. 'Ya'll singin' too much/ Get back to rap, you T-Painin' too much,' Jay-Z raps. From here on out, Jay never misfires.
'Empire State of Mind' might be the best Jay-Z has to offer, taking a necessary ballad to New York City and making it stand tower-to-tower with his best. Featuring a contagious hook from Alicia Keys, Jay-Z finally shows fans why he is the king of New York and how he 'made the Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can.'
Roc Nation's newly signed R&B artist J. Cole makes his debut on 'A Star is Born,' which, hopefully for Jay-Z's sake, is a sign of things to come for the future of his label. With J. Cole showing off on-point delivery and pure passion in a short but strong verse at the 2:56 mark, listeners can't help but want more and wonder why Jay decided to hold off Cole's verse until the tail end of the song.
The album definitely finishes off much stronger than it starts with tracks featuring Kid Cudi ('Already Home') and Pharrell ('So Ambitious'). However, the Mr. Hudson fueled shout-out to Alphaville in 'Young Forever' is the track that will dominate the dance floors. Napoleon Dynamite fans might remember this song from the prom scene.
The Blueprint 3 could have benefitted by simply re-ordering the track list and kicking it off with a crowd pleaser in 'On To The Next One' or 'Off That,' rather than its makeshift opening. From anyone else, this would have been a defining release, but not from Jay-Z.
Though it is a creative medium from old to new school, this is Jay-Z we're talking about. Fans of Hova will like it, but it is far from perfect.
E-mail: spectrum-arts@buffalo.edu
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
