Though I was only in New York City for a short time, it wasn’t hard to tell that the city was buzzing with anticipation over Jay=Z’s new song “Jockin’ Jay-Z (Dope Boy Fresh)” which leaked over the internet.
On August 11th, the song made its debut and first official air play on New York’s Hot 97.
Supposedly the first single off Jay’s next album, tentatively titled “The Blueprint 3,” due for release later this year or early next, it was immediately made known that Timbaland did not produce the single, with Kanye West holding that honor. News emerged in late July that Timbaland would produce the entirety of Jay-Z’s next project (more can be found here) but this is apparently not the case, with Kanye setting the tone for what is more likely to come.
I predicted in an earlier post that Timbaland would probably produce most of the album with possibly Diddy, West, and Just Blaze maybe doing just a track or two each. But since hearing the album will likely be called “The Blueprint 3” I can confidently predict that Jay worked/is working with a plethora of producers in order to create the best possible product. Its two predecessors, “Blueprint” and “The Blueprint 2: The Gift and The Curse” came at two pivotal times in his career. In 2001 “The Blueprint” was supposedly recorded in 2 days, and ultimately became universally agreed upon as one of the top two or three greatest albums in hip hop/rap history and cementing him as one of the greatest of all time. “2” came two years later, and was the first significant failure of his career, prompting him to release of a shorter “artists cut.”
“The Blueprint 3” comes at a time in which Jay-Z is known quite possibly as the best rapper alive, recently married, and in a position where he has nothing to prove. His efforts since un-retiring have been subject to mixed reviews, but he has continued to remain commercially successful.
Deeming his newest project as part of the “Blueprint” series presents a challenge Jay has yet to see in his 12 year long career. Setting himself up for a trilogy means he now must live up to his ‘best rapper alive’ moniker while also proving he is still able to impress seven years, a marriage, a retirement, and four albums after his last classic. Jay has never shied away from a challenge and I have no doubt he is due for another classic, I can’t wait.
1 Comment
September 8, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Naw…I disagree with that comment about the blueprint being in the top 2 or 3 best hip hop albums ever.it is by far not even in the top 10.
come on now. 25 years of hip hop and u put that in the top 2-3..HELL NO!