From the infectious hook in the single, “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune),” you know Jay is back with some business to attend to before his trade loses its originality. Jay definitely had some stuff to get off his chest with this new record; this one sounds extremely personal, even a bit bitter - kinda like Jordan’s Hall Of Fame induction speech – calling out anyone whoever doubted, challenged or questioned his ability. With cuts like “Reminder,” “On To The Next,” “Off That” and “Already Home,” Hova is leaving an indelible imprint on our auditory nerves that he is one of the most creative emcees in the game.

The Kanye-produced “Hate” isn’t bad. He and Jay go back and forth sharing their love of haters, but that’s about it – wasn’t too enthused about the beats, and it had a very cold, melancholy feel to it, a lot like Kanye’s 808s and Heartbreaks. “Run This Town” is a catchy tune featuring Rihanna, and Alicia Keys guests on “Empire State Of Mind,” which has a hook reminiscent of something out of the Sinatra songbook (Jay even refers to himself as the new Sinatra!). 

The lyrics to this song are a roadmap, winding their way from Jay-Z’s childhood to his time livin’ on top – from Brooklyn to Tribeca. While the world doesn’t really need another song glorifying the Big Apple or California, Jay really makes it enjoyable – from the uplifting and inspiring chorus, belted out by Alicia Keys, to lines like “you know I bleed blue, but I ain’t no Crip” showing his love for his favorite team. But Jay doesn’t sugarcoat the city either, rifling through scenarios where girls move to the big city, in search of fame and money, and find themselves on the streets, trying to survive. Alicia helps convey the overall message with her wonderful chorus, adapting to the deeply personal situations Jay calls out in the verse.

The Swizz Beatz-produced cut, “On To The Next One,” is a club hit, with banging bass and the looping high-hats, sure to keep your head bobbin’. Jay lays out the progression in his music … “niggas want my old shit/buy my old album/nigga’s stuff is stupid/I gotta keep it movin’/niggas make the same shit/I make the Blueprint.” His message is clear: rappers out there just aren’t pushing any boundaries. Swizz slows it down for the last minute-and-a-half of the track, letting Jay’s rhymes pop, as he ends with the line, “ya’ll should be afraid of what I’m gonna do next.” Jay’s collabo with newcomer Drake has the Hova reminding everyone that “whatever they about to discover, we off that.” He then goes down a laundry list of things that are so 2008, letting Drake deliver the hook - “you can’t bring the future back.”

“Venus vs. Mars” is the Blueprint 3’s love song. It unfolds like a story of boy meets girl; both are semi-attached at the moment, hook up, everything is going great – sex is apparently awesome – then shit falls apart and each one is not who the other thought. While the song is full of great metaphors (“shorty like Pepsi/I’m like Coke man” …“thought shorty liked Mike/found out she liked Prince”), the chorus holds it together, filling in the sexual energy the lyrics lack.

Jay doesn’t spend the entire album reminding us he’s one of the best; the last two cuts get into a little deeper territory. In “So Ambitious,” the message is to let all the nay-sayers motivate you instead of deflate you, while to me, “Young Forever,” seems to be a song that embraces the immortality stardom can bring someone. The song has a reminiscing vibe; from the heavy synth that opens the track to the reflective lyrics … “may the best of your todays be the worst of your tomorrows.” Jay talks openly about how he’ll still be around “for a million years/bye-byes are not for legends/I’m forever young/my name shall survive.” I think that sums the album up, definitely the best he’s done recently.