We previously reported on Luke Steele’s involvement with Jay-Z on his recently leaked Blueprint 3 which is kind of like the Odd Couple but with less cohabitation and more synthesizers.
Now, thanks to the leaking ship that is the internet, we can hear the fruits of Steele’s labour. Titled “What We Talkin’ About” Blueprint 3’s opening track doesn’t hold a candle to The Blueprint’s “The Ruler’s Back” but comparing Hova’s new jams to the near-perfection of his old ones is an exercise in futility. The game’s changed. Jigga Man is older, there’s less fire in his delivery, no nemesis to obliterate and his bravado dripping assertion that “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man” is actually kinda true. Still the floating 80’s inspired synths and Steele’s falsetto croon service Jay-Z’s chest thumping call to arms as well as any sped up soul sample provided by Mr. West. Listen to the track below…
In other Jay-Z news, the die-hard Brooklynite and closeted indie-rock enthusiast(?) was recently spotted at the Grizzly Bear headlined Williamsburg Waterfont party. Speaking with MTV Jay-Z said this of the Brooklyn indie darlings: “They’re an incredible band…The thing I want to say to everyone — I hope this happens because it will push rap, it will push hip-hop to go even further — what the indie-rock movement is doing right now is very inspiring. It felt like us in the beginning. These concerts, they’re not on the radio, no one hears about them, and there’s 12,000 people in attendance. And the music that they’re making and the connection they’re making to people is really inspiring. So, I hope that they have a run where they push hip-hop back a little bit, so it will force hip-hop to fight to make better music, because it can happen, because that’s what rap did to rock.”
Discount the fact that Beyonce Knowles is on his arm and Jay-Z is pretty much a regular guy like the rest of us right? Check out Jay-Z and Beyonce watching Grizzly Bear below…
Via Stereogum
