I can recall browsing Youtube over a year ago and coming across a video of Pharrell Williams working in the studio. During the interview the journalist asked him if the rumors surrounding the production of Blueprint 3 were true. He then replied "Jay hasn't approached me yet for anything like that but if he did it.." "would be amazing?!" the interviewer interjected "...it would be, scriptures" Pharrell replied. He said so in a tone that suggested nothing short of rap history would be made. With confirmation coming later in the year and even more so with the release of the albums first single "DOA (Death of Autotune)" hip hop fans (especially those in NY) are awaiting the only event significant enough to distract them from the chaos that engulfed the country eight years earlier.
It goes without saying that this album is monumental. Which is why it pains me to say that I'm a bit disappointed with what I've heard thus far. I have heard four tracks. "DOA", "Run this town", "Off That" and "Venus & Mars." I thought DOA was great. It was a statement only Jay-Z could make as the Godfather of rap and the video stood behind the track perfectly. There's no visible flash, He lets his reputation test our knowledge just as he should. "Run this town" was decent, it's pretty difficult for Jay, Kanye and Rihanna to produce a bad song. The video was good, it was (just as Jay said ) all black everything, and the mob motif was dope. The second two songs I've heard just seem unnecessary. [SPOILER!] Off that features Drake on the hook, Jay boasts about how he's resides at a superior level than the rappers who claim to be such a big deal, all in a material sense. "Venus & Mars" is another material song which is about Jay and "shorty" who have different material tastes. And that explanation is all the song deserves because it doesn't deserve to be on the album. I have no respect for these two tracks. He isn't going very hard on either of them and they're discussing unnecessary topics. The best rapper alive who's worth half a billion dollars, owns a sports team and is married to Beyonce doesn't need to tell those who look up to and/or imitate him that he's on a higher level than they are; nor should he be making tracks where he refers to the female co-star as "shorty".There are very high expectations for this album, as there should be. There is no room for "fillers" on Blueprint 3 or on any Jay-Z album for that matter. He showed us the effort he puts in to each project on The Black Album's "My First Song". It shedded a lot of light on his previous projects and made them shine even brighter. But thus far into Blueprint 3, this is the first time I don't believe him.
It goes without saying that this album is monumental. Which is why it pains me to say that I'm a bit disappointed with what I've heard thus far. I have heard four tracks. "DOA", "Run this town", "Off That" and "Venus & Mars." I thought DOA was great. It was a statement only Jay-Z could make as the Godfather of rap and the video stood behind the track perfectly. There's no visible flash, He lets his reputation test our knowledge just as he should. "Run this town" was decent, it's pretty difficult for Jay, Kanye and Rihanna to produce a bad song. The video was good, it was (just as Jay said ) all black everything, and the mob motif was dope. The second two songs I've heard just seem unnecessary. [SPOILER!] Off that features Drake on the hook, Jay boasts about how he's resides at a superior level than the rappers who claim to be such a big deal, all in a material sense. "Venus & Mars" is another material song which is about Jay and "shorty" who have different material tastes. And that explanation is all the song deserves because it doesn't deserve to be on the album. I have no respect for these two tracks. He isn't going very hard on either of them and they're discussing unnecessary topics. The best rapper alive who's worth half a billion dollars, owns a sports team and is married to Beyonce doesn't need to tell those who look up to and/or imitate him that he's on a higher level than they are; nor should he be making tracks where he refers to the female co-star as "shorty".There are very high expectations for this album, as there should be. There is no room for "fillers" on Blueprint 3 or on any Jay-Z album for that matter. He showed us the effort he puts in to each project on The Black Album's "My First Song". It shedded a lot of light on his previous projects and made them shine even brighter. But thus far into Blueprint 3, this is the first time I don't believe him.
The other 11 tracks had better be of religious proportion... I was promised "scriptures"
Ds&Ps
I respectfully disagree. "The Best rapper alive..dosent need to tell those who look up to and/or imitate him that he's on a higher level than they are."
ReplyDeleteThis is the statement that SHOULD be true. But in this day and age, rappers aren't looking up to, imitating, or even respecting jay-z for who he is to the game, to hip-hop. The reason why he has to address, reitterate, and re-emphasize the money, the swag, and his untouchable position in hip hop society is because the standards have changed. Wayne sells a million in a week, magazines are placin eminem over jay, soulja boy is makin comments about hov, drakes buzz is off the charts, the south is now the north. Now Gucci Mane is the best rapper in the game to many a nigga i know. One song that leaked that u didnt talk about is "Reminder." The whole song is a reminder to the game of who jay z is and what he has done in this game from day one. He starts it off "All rhymers wit alzheimers please line up please, all mamis wit mindfreeze, please line up please, all bloggers wit comments, please i come in peace, lets see if we can cure ur amnesia by the time i leave." He proceeds to torch this song and explain how great he is......the song is just excellent. But i say all this to say that if niggas just remembered who jay z was and is, and gave him the respect that we give biggie and tupac(because he is now in that class) songs like a off that-which 1 reitterates who jay z is and 2 remains current and hot with the hottest feature possible rite now-and even a reminder would never need see the light of day. I've been saying for years that jay's now making albums out of necessity.....because every now and then, we all need a Reminderrrrr.
-chris carson
and i didnt even mention "The Game" and how he's taken it a step further from not looking up to, imitating, or respecting but purposefully, negatively attacking the character and legacy jay z has created over 10 albums. The games messed up.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all thank you for disagreeing with me, I get nothing but positive feedback for everything I post up here. I've never learned a thing from a man who agreed with me. Second of all, bravo, you put that in a completely different perspective which makes me understand his move. Hip hop is indeed in turmoil and Jay's doing what he needs to do, which is to step in, stop the game, and put the train back on its track when it goes astray because we all can agree it is currently more than necessary. I'll be listening to this for the rest of the week non stop and reviewing it after the fact.
ReplyDeleteOnce again thank you,
youz a homie.