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International superstar and multi-media mogul, JAY-Z confirms the most highly speculated date in recent music history. Friday, September 11, 2009 is the official release date for the eagerly anticipated The Blueprint 3
. The follow up to JAY-Z’s instant classic Blueprint (2001) and the critically acclaimed Blueprint 2 (2002); The Blueprint 3 is the final installment in the The Blueprint series. The Blueprint 3 is a Roc Nation / Live Nation release distributed through Atlantic Records. The album’s first single “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)” has exploded since it’s June release. Performed live on the BET Awards on June 28th, the song’s video premiered immediately following the show to great acclaim. Second single “Run This Town” with Rihanna and Kanye West was just serviced to radio. Since 1995, Jay-Z has dominated the rap industry and set the trends for a generation. Over his career, he has sold more than 40 million albums and sold out arenas worldwide. Winner of 7 Grammy Awards, his 10 No. 1 albums tie him with Elvis Presley and place him behind only The Beatles for the most of all-time. He is the founder and chairman of Rocawear, co-owner of the NJ Nets, 40/40 Sports Clubs and co-owner of the skin care and beauty line Carol’s Daughter. Jay-Z became the first non-athlete to enter into a major footwear coventure with his S. Carter line for Reebok and in addition, continues his philanthropic work through his Water For LIfe initiative and Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation. In 2008, JAY-Z entered into a partnership with Live Nation forming Roc Nation. This groundbreaking new division, headed by Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter creates unique management, publishing and distribution deals with artists and songwriters.

Kanye West is in the producer’s chair for seven tracks, and it’s clear he was reaching for the same energy level as the original Blueprint (which he produced). “What We Talkin’ About” begins the album with a wave of surging, oppressive synth, while Jay-Z enumerates with an intriguing lack of detail what he’s said and what’s been said about him, ending with a nod to Barack Obama and the future. West also produced the second, “Thank You,” and while it starts with typical Jay-Hovah brio, the last verse piles on more witty criticism of unnamed rappers. There’s plenty more lyrical violence to come, but most of the targets are much safer than they were eight years earlier. (Jay doesn’t sound very convincing when he claims in “DOA (Death of Auto-Tune)” that it’s not “politically correct” to rail against one of the most reviled trends in pop music during the 2000s.)

Listen D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune)!

From there, he branches out with a calculating finesse, drawing in certain demographics via a roster of guests, from Young Jeezy (hardcore) to Drake (teens) to Kid Cudi (the backpacker crowd). The king of the crossovers here is “Empire State of Mind,” a New York flag-waver with plenty of landmark name-dropping that turns into a great anthem with help on the chorus from Alicia Keys. The Blueprint 3 isn’t a one-man tour de force like the first; Jay is upstaged a time or two by his guests, and while the productions are stellar throughout — Timbaland appears three times, and NO ID gets multiple credits also — it’s clear there’s less on Jay’s mind this time. Not tuned out like on Kingdom Come, but more content with his dominance as a rap godfather in 2009.

Check Out The Blueprint 3 on Amazon.com

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