Review on Jay-Z's Blueprint III

Hova is back with his long-awaited third part of his Bluprint series.

So let's go back to the year 2001 in which the first Blueprint dropped:


You sure remember Bonnie and Clyde feat. his wifey Beyoncé from "The Blueprint²" too. I remember me and friends sitting on the beach jamming to this song. And it was even in 2007 lol.


Let's switch quickly back to 2009 - the year of the Blueprint III.

"What We Talkin' About" (featuring Luke Steele)

This very first piece of music starts very epic and keeps its dramatic tone during the whole song. Personally I think there is too much going on in this song especially in the instrumental which makes it one of the songs I don't really like.

"Thank You"

This song is really hot. The beat is banging.

"D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)"

That's the song that made T-Pain hate Jay-Z. Hova's message is so right though. Auto-tune can go away.

"Run This Town" (featuring Rihanna and Kanye West)

Everybody knows this song since it features the hottest ones in the bizz right now. I absolutely love this song. Btw, it went #1 in the UK.

"Empire State of Mind" (featuring Alicia Keys)

My favorite song off the album. Alicia Keys and Jay-Z, both New Yorkers, sing about their home town. Concrete jungle where dreams are made of/Theres nothing you can’t do/Now you’re in New York/these streets will make you feel brand new/the lights will inspire you

I didn't expect them to work together so well but they did a fantastic job with this. The oldskool sound is something to look forward since they will be performing this track at the 2009's VMA.

"Real as It Gets" (featuring Young Jeezy)

By listening to the first minute only you might think this is a Young Jeezy song because Jay appears just after that. Song is good.

"On to the Next One" (featuring Swizz Beatz)

Swizzy produced a beat similar to "A Milli" or "Diva". Definitely hot.

"Off That" (featuring Drake)

I like that one a lot too. I only think that Drake sounds so replaceable. Blah @ him.

Plus the beginning reminds me so damn much of the intro of Black Eyed Peas' intro for "The E.N.D.".

"A Star Is Born" (featuring J. Cole)

Also a great track and many people seem to love this one. Jay basically goes through a list of known rappers and "applauds" them.

"Venus Vs Mars"

The first leaked version featured background vocals by Cassie but they were replaced by Beyoncé's vocals for the actual release. Hot song.

"Already Home" (featuring Kid Cudi)

Rising star Kid Cudi did a good job on this. I like it.

"Hate" (featuring Kanye West)

I have no idea why this song is short, it belongs also rather to the weaker tracks.

"Reminder"

Good track, the background vocals "reminder" are really great and fit.

"So Ambitious" (featuring Pharrell)

This track is basically about being more motivated after people say you can't do this or that anyway. The song is aight.

"Young Forever" (featuring Mr Hudson)

Mr Hudons sings in this song parts of Alphaville's classic "Forever Young" and it sounds like his voice was amde for singing this song. I like this one a lot.

So as you have read most tracks have gotten a good review from me.

That's why I can say that Jay-Z produced a great album. It's definitely better than his previous works à la "American Gangster" or "Kingdom Come".

So I definitely recommend you to take a listen.

The Blueprint III is in stores now.

Drake working with Justin Timberlake, Andre 3000 & Sade

Collaborating with Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Eminem apparently is not enough for Drake as he is now hitting studio with Justin Timberlake. The Canadian rapper revealed the matter in a phone chat with DJ Drama on Hot 107.9 radio, adding that Timbaland is part of the collaboration.

In addition, Drake shared that his first studio album "Thank Me Later" will have contribution from Sade and OutKast's Andre Benjamin a.k.a Andre 3000. "I'm trying to make this song happen, man, It'd mean the world to me. I'm trying to make this happen for my album. It'd be me, Andre 3000 and Sade," he said.

"I know that I have to carry the majority of the weight by myself," Drake explained further as quoted by MTV. "The features have to be carefully picked. I could call on every favor that's owed to me or to everybody that's reached out and said they wanna work. But that may be a silly decision on my part. Because I don't wanna take away from myself carrying my first album. So that record [potentially with Andre 3000 and Sade] is something important to me."

"Obviously [I'm gonna work with] Wayne. I'm out here really trying to get something special with Justin. Hovito [Jay-Z], we might need to get him. The track on this album was a real catchy joint. But people wanna hear us rap together. That's one of my goals, to have that track with me and Jay. Maybe don't even have a hook, maybe. Have just like you haven't heard him in a minute, just going bars for bars. That might be something you'll hear on the album."

"Thank Me Later" is tentatively scheduled to be released near Valentine's Day in 2010.

A Sade collabo is so unexpected. Could be very interesting.

Video: Mary J. Blige - The One feat. Drake

This video is hot!

Timbaland Working With The Jonas Brothers For "Shock Value 2"

Timbaland was on Ustream yesterday where he previewed some beats of Shock Value 2 and talked about some of the people he’s been working with for Shock Value 2 including The Neptunes. Sweet, another Big White Spaceship ~ Vurneable collabo. Here is the complete list with the people Timbaland is working with for Shock Value 2.

Timbaland – Shock Value 2 (2009)
Producers & Guests: Estelle, Danjahandz, Keri Hilson, The Jonas Brothers, Daughtry, Hollywood Undead, Jim Beanz, Amar, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, Usher, Chris Brown, Missy Elliott, Drake, The Neptunes, Sebastian…

Source

Eh.

Jay-Z feat. Drake - Off

Hot track. I love it.

Video: Jamie Foxx - Digital Girl (Remix) feat. The-Dream, Drake & Kanye West

I don't like it. It lacks creativity and I don't think Drake brings anything to the song which was amazing in its normal version already.

Fabolous Talks Jay-Z, Drake & More

Our friends from RadioPlanet had the opportunity to interview Fabolous! Check out this interesting interview.

Rihanna's New Album Techno-based?

According to People.com Rihanna's new album will be techno-based.

A source working on it says, "it will be the album to really give her an identity musically." While no release date has been set, fans won't have to wait to hear from the artist, who is also making a guest appearance on Jay-Z's new record Blueprint 3 – the final chapter in his Blueprint trilogy. That album is due Sept. 11.

As for Rihanna's solo project, "It's very techno-based this time around," says the source. "She's not that far into her album yet, but it's sounding great."

Hmm. That's interesting since a previous article stated she would go for a rock sound. I really can't see how this new album will "give her an identity musically".

By the way, Drake revealed that Jay-Z's song "Run this town" which features Rihanna and Kanye West was originally a Rihanna track.

MGMT, Drake, Mr. Hudson, Rihanna & Kid Cudi on The Blueprint 3

"Blueprint 3" has taken longer to record than any of Jay-Z's previous albums. The rapper says he finished the project in November, then held it back as he negotiated with Def Jam. "The time gave me a chance to step back, touch it, step back, touch it, rework it. Then I had to keep motivating myself because of the current state of music. My album is a single album, but it's part of a collective -- the collectiveness of hip-hop," he says.

So Jay-Z took his time, and let his hair grow out -- as he usually does when he's in the studio -- and came back with collaborations with producers Kanye West, No I.D. and Timbaland, as well as musician contributions from MGMT, Drake, Mr. Hudson, Rihanna and Kid Cudi. (As of now, there are no collaborations with Beyonce, although he doesn't rule out the possibility.)

Read full article here

The Blueprint 3 is definitely one of the albums that I anticipate most this year. Now with these confirmed collabos you can tell Jay is not jokin with his third part of the Blueprint series. I'm especially looking forward to hearing what Mr. Hudson, Rihanna (no Beyoncé related comment here needed!) and Kid Cudi bring to the album.