Jay-Z holds one of the strongest discographies in all of hip-hop. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who didn’t find Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint to be classics. The Black Album, In My Lifetime Vol. 1, and American Gangster further prove his incredible rapping pedigree.
However, despite this strong track record, none of these albums proved to be arduous for Hov to complete. Instead, one of the albums later in his career proved to be a lot harder to make than his classics.
In a 2010 profile with Interview Magazine, Jay-Z candidly told writer Elvis Mitchell why rappers tend to fall off as they get older. Ultimately, it becomes a matter of fear. If they don’t make the same kind of record that gave an artist success, they fear losing their career. Eventually, it doesn’t work out either way because fans grew weary of their music.
Jay-Z Explains Why ‘The Blueprint 3’ Proved to Be so Difficult to Make
Hov admitted that he’s not exempt from this feeling, despite laughing a little bit at the logic. “It’s difficult for me as well. The Blueprint 3 was the most difficult album that I’ve ever made,” he told the publication. “What I was trying to do with this album…is go somewhere that hadn’t been gone before, to try to chart a new territory in rap.”
The only way he was able to reach the finish line with The Blueprint 3 was with people he trusted. They would tell him if something wasn’t hitting the mark or if he was out of touch with his music.
“That’s who keeps you grounded—the people who have known you longest. People who don’t know you, you don’t know their motives,” Jay-Z explained. “They smile at you all day, ‘Oh, that’s great. You’ve done it again! You’re the greatest!’ And that’s not good for an artist. You’ve gotta keep the people that have been around you, who saw you when you didn’t have anything, so they have the confidence to say, ‘Get out of here. That s**t is bulls**t!’ I welcome that.”
Additionally, calling it The Blueprint 3 sets a standard of excellence because the first one is so great. But that was also intentional on Jay-Z’s part. “I think this Blueprint is even bigger than the first one [The Blueprint, 2001] in terms of rap music in general. It shows that a guy who isn’t 16 years old can make relevant music,” Jay-Z continued.
“That’s a big thing in rap because it used to be that when guys got to be 30 years old,” he added, “that was it because they had to try to rap like they were 18, and then the 18-year-olds were like, ‘We don’t even use that slang! That’s so last week!’”
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