The original Blueprint is still my favorite rap album released this decade; On that album, Jay Z made sure every lyric packed a punch and even after repeated listens there where always new surprises and layers to discover. (my fav subliminal shot of all-time is off of The Ruler's Back: " fucking with me, you got to drop a mil" because it is so subtle and so needlessly mean to mock someone like Amil  but it had to be done because the line is too perfect) This is not even mentioning all the classic lines going at Nas and Prodigy on The Takeover and Kanye's pitch perfect soul samples on Heart of The City, the wordplay on Girls Girls Girls and U Don't Know, or the fact that there is only one other rapper on the entire album and that is Eminem who kills his 2 verses on Renegade. I could talk about why I love the original Blueprint for a 100 paragraphs, but the new album at hand is The Blueprint 3. The Blueprint 3 is an above average album by a normal rapper standards and a below average album by Jay Z standards. It seems like he mostly made it because he had to make albums for his new contract. There is a lot that works here. The opening track where Jay Z gets his indie rock on by having Jake Steele from Empire of The Sun on the hook and talks about Jay O and Dame works well. As does "Forever Young" at least in a novelty way with its sample of Alphaville. "Run This Town" is a pretty good radio anthem. My favorite song off of the album is the first single D.O.A. On that track, Jay, gets a great beat/sample from No-I.D. and goes at all the autotune using and tight jean wearing "rappers" of today. D.O.A. is a cranky old man rap classic. It made me wish that Jay Z went the cranky old man route for more of the album. The BP3 song As Real As It Gets featuring Young Jeezy seems more like a Jeezy song with Jay Z put on as an afterthought. I like the fast Timberland beat on the track Off-That, but Drake and his annoying voice shows up on the chorus. Instead of working with the likes of Drake and Jeezy, it would have made my day if Jay Z went at them and pointed out who the vast majority of their stuff is complete and utter shit. Someone needs to point out the fact that their is not a single rapper this decade with the possible exception of Lil Wayne that has made even the slightest case for joining the hip hop pantheon. If you think I am being too nostalgic for a past time in hip hop or I am getting old myself and becoming one of those old people that always complain new music is not as good, that is fine. But, I challenge you to listen to Blueprint 1 and imagine if some crappy rapper like Drake or Jeezy was on any of the songs. Their crappyness would stick out like a sore thumb and I bet you would hope they would be dropped like Amil.