Rating: 7.5 / 10

Allow him to re-introduce himself…. 13 years since his debut album and 10 No. 1s later – the King Of NYC returns with the most anticipated set of the year.  The original Blueprint landed 8 years to the day before the release of The Blueprint 3 and is one of his most highly acclaimed albums.  On which note, we would even venture to suggest that Jigga has the most consistent track record of any act in hip hop ever.  His distinctive flow, confidence, humour, charm and swagger remains second to none – and when coupled with his genius ear for a hit song, has made him an unstoppable force.

The Blueprint 3 is yet another quality addition to this legacy.  A range of superstar cohorts guest on the album including Young Jeezy, Kanye West, Swizz Beatz, Pharrell, Timbaland and Rihanna, to red hot freshmen Drake, J. Cole and Kid Cudi – and the eclectic additions of Australian pop act Empire Of The Sun’s Luke Steele and Kanye's co-sign, British singer Mr Hudson.

Opening the set with the synth-laced What They Talkin’ About, Jay briefly addresses the way he’s treated and discussed while gently touching on Damon Dash, Jim Jones, The Game or anyone else people might be expecting some lines on… even Jaz-O only gets a little jab by his usual standard.  It’s a great opener, followed by his gratitude filled (but slightly less impactful) cut Thank You. We’re then treated to the singles: the highly revered D.O.A (read our review here) and the mainstream/pop moment Run This Town. Things then move on to the excellent, uplifting/ soaring ode-to-his-city Empire State Of Mind featuring the dulcet tones of Alicia Keys (who incidentally re-made NY State Of Mind with Nas and Rakim not too long ago too).  Jay drops his personal memories while describing himself not for the first time as a modern day Sinatra (see Hola' Hovito) and some historic NY hip hop references (from Special Ed to Afrika Bambaataa) over a dramatic beat performed with live musicians while Alicia belts out “let’s hear it for New York” with as much passion as she delivers on any of her biggest solo hits.

But don’t get worried things are too soft and misty-eyed, Jeezy’s gruff tones open Real As It Gets on a track that keeps it as raw as you would expect from the tag team that dropped the powerful My President Is Black remix last year, despite a hook that borrows the chants from Jay’s Show Me What You Got single.  Swizz Beats then comes with On To The Next One, where he spices up a bouncy beat with his usual “Freeze” adlibs; Jay’s lyrics about progressing the culture thankfully elevating the track from being too monotonous or dated – together with witty jewels like “I don’t get dropped, I dropped the label.”

Next up is Off That featuring Drake, with his clever boastful lines “even if I slow it down, my sound is fast forward” riding a decent (but perhaps not classic by their previous sky-high standards) uptempo Timbo beat.  Things continue at this quality with A Star Is Born, where Jay-Z  is joined on a shuffling beat by an extremely tight verse from Lupe Fiasco-soundalike J.Cole in their praise for the hip hop stars that have made their mark in recent times.  Everyone from DMX, Nas, Snoop, Luda, T.I. and Weezy, to 50 Cent, OutKast, Wu-Tang, Puffy and Eminem get serious props with the hook “clap for ‘em.” 

Tempo is taken is down a notch for Timbaland’s beat on the album’s first low point Venus Vs Mars which seems to take something out of Jay-Z’s flow, while the sexy female (Beyonce?) ad libs work, but fail to lift this track into hit territory.  Another mis-step is the painfully out of tune hook sung by Kid Cudi on Already Home. On what could have been a decent alt-rap moment a la Kanye’s Chris Martin hook-up Homecoming, instead has you cringing during the chorus – despite some hot lines like “I’m a work of art, I’m Warhol already."  And to round out a gruesome trio of tracks that really shouldn’t have made the grade, Hate has an experimental-electronic backing track and is opened with some particularly lacklustre lines from Kanye – which is only lifted by some hot double-time lyrics from Jay and improved second verse from Kanye.

The album is back on track with the scorching Reminder. A bouncing Timbo beat built for club and car sound systems underpins some tight lines taking out the biggest artists in history “10 No.1 albums in a row, who better than me? Only The Beatles, nobody ahead of me – I crush Elvis and his blue suede shoes, made the Rolling Stones seem sweet as Kool Aid too.” Pharrell then joins Jay on So Ambitious which has a retro (but still typically Neptunes) feel to it, and keeps things moving nicely – although (once again) not quite reaching the heights of their previous classic work together.   And the album ends with the aptly titled Young Forever, where Mr Hudson chants the hook over a distorted, sombre and atmospheric beat – clearly aimed at the wider mainstream audience picked up in his global travels.  Jay still comes correct over the top, but unlike similar experiments like Song Cry, the cut is unlikely to appeal to his core audience and leaves the listener feeling slightly unsatisfied.

Overall, you can tell this is a slightly mixed bag but a decent listen with only a few skippable moments.  As with his previous two releases, Jay-Z still delivers an exciting, quality album that has more than enough to keep him at the top – and (particularly in the absence of any new threats) will undoubtedly keep him comfortable in the NYC throne for now.