“Ten numba one albums in a row, who better than me? Only the Beatles, nobody ahead of me.” Make that eleven number one albums in a row for Jay-Z, with “The Blueprint 3.” No recording artist has ever accomplished that, not even the Beatles. Elvis Presley shared the record at ten, but Hova passed him with “The Blueprint 3,” which came out September 11, exactly eight years after the first installment of the Blueprint series.
Jay brought together some of hip-hop’s biggest producers, including Timbaland, Kanye West, No I.D., The Neptunes, and Swizz Beatz. Newcomer Drake also helped out with vocals, along with Rihanna, Pharrell, Young Jeezy, Cassie, Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Kid Cudi, and Jay-Z protegés Mr. Hudson and J. Cole.
The first single off the album, entitled “D.O.A. (Death of Autotune),” is basically a stab at the whole rap game right now. Since T-Pain started using autotune, or in other words the robot voice, everyone has hopped on it. Jay has even used it, but after seeing a Wendy’s fast food commercial use auto tune, Hov had enough.
“I know we facin a depression, but the music ya’ll makin goin to make it the great depression.”
The third single, and probably most notable song on the album is “Empire State of Mind.” This catchy anthem features Alicia Keys helping out on the chorus: “In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of.”
Meanwhile, Jay throws out rhymes about his hometown: “catch me at the X with OG at a Yankees game, s*** I made the Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can.”
I’ve been a Jay-Z fan for quite some time now, and I can’t lie when I say that the past couple years I’ve been a little disappointed at times with Hova. Since “The Blueprint 2,” I feel like he’s gone in a more commercial direction with songs like “99 problems,” which, don’t get me wrong, I love, but I missed the crazy rhymes Jay makes off “Volumes 1-3” and “Reasonable Doubt.”
But after hearing “The Blueprint 3,” I must say I’m very impressed. “Used to rock a throwback, ballin on the corner, now I rock a tailored suit, lookin like an owner, no I’m not a Jonas, brother I’m a grown up, no I’m not a virgin, I use my kahonas.” Rhymes like these are what help bring Hova eleven number one albums in a row.