This album did for Jay what Recovery did for Eminem. It brought him back as a mainstream star and ensured his relevance with the younger generation. It wouldn't surprise me if Eminem saw how successful BP3 was and decided to use it as a blueprint (pun intended) for Recovery.
The album reminds me of Kingdom Come in that the first half is better than the second half, but it goes back and forth between having good songs ("A Star is Born") and bad songs ("Hate"). I unironically love "Reminder" and "Venus vs. Mars," but other than that, I feel like my opinions line up with most people here. BP3 is clearly meant to be bigger, to be more pop-friendly, to give Jay a place in the new era of hip hop. The production sounds more futuristic and electronic, he gives time to the new school of rap ("As Real as It Gets," "A Star is Born," "Off That"). At the same time, he's bragging about knowing Oprah and Obama, which means in some ways, he's above hip hop. If there's any album that established Jay-Z as someone your grandparents could listen to, it's this one.
It's better than Kingdom Come because I don't pretend half the album doesn't exist, but it's inconsistent and sounds very much like a late 2000s/early 2010s rap album. Certain songs, I'm fine with never hearing again, compared to the big hits from Kingdom Come. This is the beginning of Euro Hov and he stays like this until 4:44.
Seriously, it's crazy how similar the second half of Jay and Eminem's careers are. I didn't even realize it until now.
I always liked Hate though
