Jay-Z is awesome.

First of all, the new Jay-Z album, The Blueprint 3, is awesome. Way better than 2. In fact, it's 3x better.

Jay-Z for Rhapsody
My man Alex sent me this amazing commercial for Rhapsody music, in which Jay-Z recreates each of his album covers (minus the Greatest Hits and MTV Unplugged) in 60 seconds.

Compare Jay-Z's discography with the attached commercial. Alex pointed out that Blueprint 3 is the first studio album that hasn't had Jay-Z's face on the cover. Enjoy this beast of a video:



And now!
The Blueprint 3's cover (Higest-resolution on the net - you're welcome.):

There's tons of information online about this album cover:

-Jay-Z explains the symbolism.
-Interview with artist, Dan Tobin Smith.
-Fast-forward vid of production.
-dantobinsmith.com











Bonus
Jay-Z and his lady were at the free Grizzly Bear / Beach House / Vega concert, the last Brooklyn Pool Party of the summer. I was there (shout-out to Lauren K.) and I took photos for The Music Slut, who was responsible for Lauren's and my V.I.P. status at the show. I'm quite proud to be a part of one of the few reports that focused on the music, and not the celebrity guests in the crowd. Beach House was my personal highlight of the show.

Benjy Ferree @ A Deeper Shade Of Soul

I've been on a major Blues + Soul kick lately - the older the recordings, the better. Re: these categories, it's rare for me to find a modern musician I like, let alone a white one. Well, I like what I've heard of current young guy, Benjy Ferree, but music is not what this blog is about.

The blog, A Deeper Shade Of Soul, had an entry about Ferree with a GIANT button to listen to a track from his album:



How could anyone not click on that? As it turns out, you have to click on a player, which appears when you roll over the button, but it still struck me as pretty brilliant. You're not paying for paper or ink or space.. why not try making the "Click to Play" button as large as the album art?

Speaking of the cover, I also really liked the cover. A solid portrait of Benjy, plus a good understated color on the overlaid title. The filled in B in Benjy bothers me, but His name definitely wouldn't be as readable without it. I would have found other soulutions though..

PS, the music is a combination of early Rock & Roll, Do-Wop, and electrified Blues (which I guess is immediately related to Rock). I recommend Benjy Ferree.