This week's hip-hop releases reviewed

JAY-Z

The Blueprint 3 Roc Nation ***

When Jay-Z takes his "Blueprint" mantle down from the shelf, expectations are always going to be high. After all, the 2001 Blueprintremains the rapper's career high, an album in which he took on all comers, deepened his sound (with the help of Kanye West) and really found a swagger. West shows up here, too, one name on a guest list that also has Rihanna, Young Jeezy, Kid Cudi, Pharrell Williams, Alicia Keys, Mr Hudson and even the dude from Empire of the Sun. Naturally, Jigga shines brightest of all in such mixed company – the guy can still drop pearls of lyrical wisdom – but there's little here which moves the game on in any way. While tracks such as the blistering Death of Auto-Tune, the brass-bedecked Thank Youand the scene-setting What We Talkin' Abouthit the right spots, there's isn't much innovation or blue-sky rhyming. It's a good album, maybe one of the best of the hip-hop year, but you know Jay-Z is capable of far better. www.jay-z. com

Download tracks: Thank You, Death of Auto-Tune