Ok, I won’t lie to you, I only bought this album to see what all the hype was about. I’d never really been a big Jay-Z fan, infact, I’d have struggled to name three of his songs. Yet this album has opened doors to me.

This album has belatedly introduced me to one of the biggest and best hip-hop/rap artists of all time.

Upon released The Blueprint 3 - named after Jay-Z’s most successful studio album - was surrounded by hype. It was arguably the most awaited album of 2009, and rightly so. After his controversial appearance at Glastonbury 2008, his high profile relationship with pop sensation Beyoncé, work with the Pussycat Dolls and Rihanna, Jay Z was THE man of hip hop. This is the guy that the likes of Kanye West looked up to. And I knew nothing about him.

The critics were not unkind to the release, many of the singles (especially Empire State of Mind) loved both by the critics and by the public, yet many seemed underwhelmed by the entire package. Killian Fox, of the Obeserver states: ”His spectacular career arc might bear out some of these claims but, while an improvement on the last two albums, this is no Warhol masterpiece.”

This makes reference to his self styled ‘Saviour of Hip Hop’ slant, with songs such as D.O.A. (Death of Autotune) admonishing the current generation of rappers and producers, telling them: “You niggas singin too much, Get back to rap you T-Pain’n too much”. Alongside this is boast upon boast of his musical talent (”I crush Elvis in his blue suede shoes”) and his power and influence (he’s a ”small part of the reason the president is black”). Yet surely this is deserved self praise? What other rapper is as rich as him, as powerful as him, as successful as him?

Sure, this is a boastful, self congratulatory album. And no, it probably isn’t his best work. But for me, this is what hip-hop is all about. To me this album is perfect.