Jay-Z good, but not transcendent on The Blueprint 3

Expectations for innovators are always higher, and over his long and exceptional career Jay-Z has certainly been far more than just a hitmaker. From the moment his brilliant debut release Reasonable Doubt hit both the streets and charts more than 13 years ago, he's been the figure constantly eyed, evaluated and targeted by rap friends, fans and foes as the best indicator of where the music's going and what it could achieve at its highest level.

As with Ornette Coleman, B.B. King or Aretha Franklin, his talent on any project is a given. Instead, the focus, hopes and questions about Jay-Z albums revolve around whether he's crafted something experimental and inspirational, or just cranked out something successful but derivative. He's also among the few rappers who've maintained their ties with the music's underground sensibility and rebellious edge while simultaneously reaping the material rewards of its emergence as American youth's premier pop sound. Jay-Z's on the covers of Forbes and XXL, appears on BET and Oprah, and is an entrepreneur and voice for the homeless and dispossessed without seeming disingenuous or fake. 

Much of the time, he's been up to the challenge, from the stylistic range of Vol 2... Hard Knock Life, to the confrontational edge of The Dynasty: Roc La Familia or most notably the verbal ferocity and flair exhibited in arguably his greatest overall work, The Blueprint. Jay-Z has consistently excelled at hard-edged political commentary, slacker themes, lightweight, radio-friendly rhymes and recalling rap's creative foundations and heritage.

It's impossible to deny the production quality, commercial acumen and general skill exhibited on Jay-Z's latest, The Blueprint 3. Besides completing the trilogy he began so spectacularly on Sept. 11, 2001, with The Blueprint, it's a key transitional work. (No longer a label head, Jay-Z arranged a special one-off distribution deal for The Blueprint 3 with Atlantic.) The disc is also the first from Roc Nation, the entertainment, publishing and management company he's developed in partnership with worldwide promotional czars Live Nation. Once again, Kanye West ("My Jimi Hendrix," Jay-Z calls him) provides great production on several tracks, though there's a lengthy list of additional studio collaborators, from The Neptunes and Swizz Beatz to Timbaland and Al Shux. 

The Blueprint 3 certainly contains hits, from "Run This Town," which pairs him with Rihanna and West, to "Empire State of Mind," a deft number that fits Jay-Z's commanding verbal forays and Alicia Keys' soothing refrains into a framework that borrows snippets of the Moments' "Love on a Two-Way Street" and Isaac Hayes' "The Breakthrough." He also answers critics who've deemed him too old (approaching 40) or gone soft with the opening salvo "What We Talkin' About" and tart, in-your-face sentiments of "Reminder," where he celebrates attaining his 11th No. 1 disc—a figure that puts him ahead of Elvis Presley. 

But what you don't get from The Blueprint 3 is the inventive flash and unforgettable rhymes of classic singles like "Big Pimpin" or the transcendent mastery displayed on The Blueprint and Vol. 3: Life and Times of S. Carter. From a master who's blazed as many trails and delivered as much great music as Jay-Z, The Blueprint 3 is a solid, even occasionally outstanding work. It's just not a masterpiece.

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