Blueprint III

I also copped that Blueprint III earlier on this week. Honestly, and this is the first time that it's happened, but I was more excited for another artists' release than Hov with Raekwon releasing in the same week. Admittedly, I'm a Hov stan and was amped for damn near every release the man has put out, but with the leaks of certain tracks, I was sorta disappointed from what I heard. I thought they leaked it on purpose but obviously not.....

The album really isnt that bad upon my third listen. Even Cudi, who I have a remarkable dislike for as an artist,showed up on "Already Home". The standout track on the album is "Empire State of Mind" featuring Alicia Keys which details NY home pride; the song holds more weight to me especially after 9/11. This is more of a statement album, with songs like "DOA" and "Off That" showing Hova flexing his trendsetting muscle and declaring what's wack. I dont like "Run This Town" as Rihanna's voice just irritates the shit outta me.

"So Ambitious" is a MUTHAFUCKING problem. J. Cole gets a chance to shine on the "Star Is Born"(Having met him a couple of times and seeing him pass out "The Warm Up" mixtapes at Le Poisson Rouge, he's earned my respect of his artistry). For the direction the album took, I could see why there's no Bleek, Beans, etc features but Hova coulda at least threw Chris on there (especially if Cudi got on there...like c'mon). Jeezy totally kills "As Real As It Gets". "Venus Vs. Mars" is pretty dope as well.

"It all good/the streets is A&Ring this....I went from pauper to the president/Cuz every deal I ever made set precedents..."-"So Ambitious"

The album is prolly a 3.8/5 album to me right now. I was pleasantly shocked. I expected it to be as bad as Kingdom Come but it really was not.