Timbaland’s sci-fi production on “Off That” is a poor fit, but the MC opens up a spigot of rhymes about refusing to live in the past, invoking his nemesis Bill O’Reilly to comic effect. Yet even at three-quarters speed, Jay-Z can still be formidable.
Mars” reaffirms that Jay-Z has never been particularly strong at seduction raps. Hudson it’s the kind of mush that suggests there might be something true to those rumors Jay-Z has gone soft. But there’s no justifying “Forever Young,” with a vocal hook sung by Mr. These tracks are the sound of Jay-Z cruising for pop hits. He’s the king of New York, able to command cameos from Rihanna and Alicia Keys on “Run This Town” and “New York State of Mind,” respectively. The opening “What We Talkin’ About” sets the tone: He doesn’t have time to escalate long-standing beefs with his rivals because they’re just peons and he has more important things to do, like hang with his pal, the president. It does, even as it illustrates that sometimes he coasts on his celebrity. “The Blueprint 3” aims to show everyone he still has wicked skills on the mike. Little wonder he once crowed, “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man.” Last year, Forbes magazine estimated his annual income at $82 million. He turned to hip-hop as a way out, self-releasing his debut in 1996 when no label would take a chance on him, and turning himself into a star and power broker. Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter in 1969, grew up to be a drug dealer in the Brooklyn housing projects. Jay-Z has a way of delivering the news as if he has already done it all - twice. If nothing else, Jay-Z has proved himself an expert at knowing the marketplace, and “The Blueprint 3” employs a handful of top-dollar producers (Kanye West, Timbaland, Swizz Beatz, the Neptunes) to cover all the commercial bases, Auto-Tuned or not.Īt its core, the album is less about introducing newfound skills or subject matters than it is a platform for Jay-Z to showcase his imperious flow, to reassert his world-conquering ego, to remind everyone just who the heck he is. The track takes a shot at the ubiquitous vocal effect that has dominated hip-hop production in recent years, though Jay-Z is not above using it himself elsewhere on the album. “I’m a multimillionaire, so how is it I’m still the hardest here?” he announces on “D.O.A. Longevity just wasn’t built into the hip-hop lifestyle, with its premium on youthful swagger, street tales and fast turnover.īut Jay-Z, who turns 40 in December, asserts that he’s the exception on his 11th studio album, “The Blueprint 3” (Roc Nation), which he rush-released Tuesday after it leaked online. Once they become celebrities living in mansions and starring in family movies, street cred is usually the first thing to go. It’s tough for hip-hop stars to age well.
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