Jay-Z's "The BluePrint 3" CD Shows Other Rappers How Hip Hop Should Sound

In the October 2009 issue of XXL Magazine, the reporter asked cover story artist Jay-Z what was more important--fortune or fame. What I wondered while listening to Jay-Z's latest CD was what hip hop lovers felt was more important--beats or lyrics. When I was really young, I was listening to lyricists like MC Lyte, Grandmaster Flash, Whodini and Queen Latifah. Then somewhere along the line beats started outweighing lyrics, and I could juke to some of the most degrading songs if the beat was hot (ex. Ying Yang Twin's "Get Low [The Whisper Song]"). But what I've learned throughout the years is that the older I get, the more important lyrics become to me, and Jay-Z is one of the few artists that can bring quality lyrics to danceable beats and please both audiences.

As the saying goes, with age comes wisdom, and every time Jay-Z puts out a CD like his latest, "The Blueprint 3," it gets that much better and has that much more growth. There are those who believe that rapping is a young man's game. I disagree. I believe hip hop is a lyrical man's game. I'd choose a Rakim or Ice Cube CD over the latest dance craze hard knock thug life CD. I prefer soulful conscious hip hop like that of my favorite rapper Mos Def, who is younger than all three but obviously could care less about saying what's "cool" or "hard" to say. I'm bored with the thought of hip hop artists thinking "we need to get back to the hood." No, we need to get back to what's good.

There aren't too many artists who can have thugs and bookworms alike bobbing their heads to lyrics like Jay-Z's "What We Talkin' About" when he says: "Ain't nothing cool 'bout carrying a strap/'Bout worrying your moms/And burying your best cat/Talkin' 'bout revenge/While you're carrying his casket/All teary-eyed/'Bout to take it to your mattress." Those lyrics that avoid the stereotypes of rap being violent made me remember the days of Public Enemy's "Self-Destruction" and Queen Latifah's "U.N.I.T.Y."

I dig how Jay-Z and Beyonce give out enough information to let you know they're a couple (although the media sure played Inspector Gadget on that topic too), and although powerhouse singer Beyonce needs to never ever in her life rap again ("Video Phone" and "Diva" had pitiful lyrics), I like it when they tag team on songs like "Venus Vs. Mars").

And you can't lose with beats from Swizz Beatz's "On To The Next One" and Timbaland's "Off That" with the latter song's contagious soul clap. These are party tracks with quality lyrics, something that you don't find much on your average radio stations: On "Off That," Jay-Z rhymes, "Please tell Bill O'Reilly to fall back/Tell Rush Limbaugh to get off my balls/This is 2010, not 1864." I wonder how many people looked that year up to find out that it was the last year before the 13^th Amendment passed to end slavery. And he wasn't lying when he rhymed on "On To The Next One" about "Meanwhile I had Oprah chillin' in the projects/Had her out in Bedstuy chillin' on the steps/Drinking quarter waters/I gotta be the best/MJ at Summer Jam/Obama on the text/Y'all should be afraid of what I'm gone do next."

And this elite talk show host has made it obvious that she's not a fan of rap music, but Oprah Winfrey hung out with Jay-Z. President Obama has dusted his shoulders off in front of an audience during his campaign, mimicking the dance move from Jay-Z's "Dirt Off Your Shoulder"; he actually does pay attention to Jay-Z. That's huge (plus I love how the brotha behind him stood up immediately and started laughing because he knew exactly what that dance move meant). I'm not easily impressed, but I have to give credit where credit is due. Jay-Z is doing big things consciously (his work to bring healthy water to African countries is huge to me), politically (ex. Pres. Obama), socially (ex. Oprah Winfrey), lyrically (ex. "The Blueprint 3") and financially (according to Forbes, his last estimate in 2006 was $34 million as Def Jam's previous president).

And while I don't always agree with some of his decisions, such as defending Kanye West by saying his Taylor Swift bumrush was "inappropriate" but "he's just a super passionate person" in US magazine, and I thought Young Jeezy's lyrics on "Real As It Gets" were about as recycled as any other rapper trying to represent for the streets talking about the same old thing, I can honestly say that Jay-Z usually makes excellent business decisions. Plus, "The Blueprint 3" is Jay-Z's best work yet. Minus the Young Jeezy song, I let the entire CD play through, and these days, that's really difficult to do. The other two "Blueprint" albums were cool, but this third one is really the blueprint to what a hip hop CD should entail.