Jay-Z
Blueprint 3
Adam Hutcheson
“Jay Z would be nothing without Linkin Park” my mate flippantly concluded. After I managed to choke down my vomit and he regained consciousness I started to think about the origins of his statement. I suppose me and him represent the two contrasting sides of Jay Z’s following. At Glastonbury he really answered (recently retired) doubters, and from then the challenge was set. The millions of new fans watching started wanting an actual album from this man. They felt like they would start buying CD’s again if he could stop buying everything and selling everything for a few weeks to record an album. For such people who didn’t really know much about him before it was a test to see if he could live up to his much publicized ‘King’ status. For me and the more familiar fans it was a test to see if he could live up to their expectations too. I was already sold on internet leaked tracks such as Jockin’ Jay Z and out of loyalty built on 10 number one albums so far.
In reality as an album it’s slow to have an impact. Very easily skippable singles, some weird sounding production later on, and a lot of guest appearances. By three or four listening days in the weird production begins to fit; you find lyrical gems at the bottom of the murky water. You find he’s still hungry, challenging and has a lot to prove. Like almost every Neptunes track ever So Ambitious sounds ridiculous at first but then it starts to thicken out and you remember why they’ve been collaborating since Blueprint.
