On Sept. 11th one of the most respected MCs gave the streets his 11th studio album, which was the last album Jay-Z owed Def Jam. He called on heavy hitters such as Kanye, Jeezy, Rihanna, and the awesome Alicia Keys to collaborate with and they defiantly had his back. As Jigga proudly flows over the beat in “Empire State Of Mind”, Ms. Keys belts out the chorus and makes you believe every word she says about the great N.Y. With both of them being natives, you could hear their hearts in every lyric. Kind of like how you can hear a Swizz Beatz track coming from 3 miles away and can’t help but to bounce to it. In this club banger, Jay stomps on Cristal’s rep by calling them rasicist! You don’t want a superstar throwing around negative words about your company, not a good look for the “Gold Bottle”. Oh well… “On To The Next One”. I personally love it when an artist does a song to recognize other great players in the game. In track 9, Jay applauds OutKast, Wayne, Puff, 50, and one of my favorites, Eminem, just to name a few. But on the other hand he proudly lets Prodigy know that he can’t f**k with Brooklyn. On the last verse he lets new comer, J. Cole, get his shine on and he successfully leaves a trail of smoke. This song kind of gives you that “Encore” feel. I love it. Jay is one of the the few rappers that can talk sh*t and back it up. He has been there and has actually done that. And he reminds those who seem to forget with songs like “Reminder” and “Off That” with the metaphorical greatness know as Drake. I thought he chose the perfect track to end the album. “Young Forever” explains that Mr. Carter realizes he is reaching the finish line but his name will be mentioned by generations to come as being one of the top MCs. Can’t argue with that. But I think the album was missing a couple of people. Where was the lyrical Nas?! And as much as I despise his wife for getting to him before I did, I was a little disappointed that Beyonce was no where to be found! They are the most powerful couple in the game! The ladies would have appreciated one song with her Jay. Well, I’ll forgive you this time but consult me before you put out the next album….ok? Over all I’ll give The Blue Print III 3 out of 5 mics. It wasn’t his best body of work nor his worst so keep doin what you do boi. Now where did I put Reasonable Doubt…
