Listen to Empire State of Mind from Jay-Z’s new album, Blueprint 3, below.

Jay-Z attempts to continue his reign as one of the best in the rap genre with the release of his 11th solo album, “The Blueprint 3.” While his newest album is undoubtedly superior to that of most other rappers’, it is also one of his weakest. Let’s check into some of the more notable tracks, as some of them further cement Jay-Z’s greatness while others take him down a notch.

The album begins with “What We Talkin’ About,” a weak introduction that lowers the expectations for the entire record. Jay-Z tries to make the point that too many hip-hop artists rap about pointless, immaterial subjects. He asks aloud, “What we talkin’ bout, real s— or we talkin’ bout rhymes.” But later in the album, the listener realizes Jay-Z may contradict himself, sucking himself into a black hole where lyrics reveal no substance whatsoever.

“H.O.V.A.” redeems the album with a strong showing in the second track, “Thank You,” where he pays tribute to all the fans who love and adore him. A classically smooth Jay-Z beat complements the lyrics, as he acknowledges to his follower that “this is your song, not mine.”

The tracks “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)” and “Run This Town” were the first two official singles dropped off “The Blueprint 3,” becoming the album’s most popular radio songs. The beat steals the show in “D.O.A.,” as producer No I.D. makes one great instrumental. Jay-Z asks that hip-hop artists return to their roots, saying, “You rappers singing too much. Get back to rap, you T-Pain-ing too much.” In “Run This Town,” Jay-Z shows some of his worst lyrics on the entire album. Kanye West’s verse on the track displays much better flow, and his words trump Jay-Z’s. Rihanna’s addition on the hook adds some much-needed balance to the verses.

The fifth track, “Empire State of Mind,” showcases one of Jay-Z’s finest lyrical performances on the record. On this tribute to Jay-Z’s hometown, Alicia Keys belts out on the chorus that New York City is a “concrete jungle where dreams are made of. There’s nothing you can’t do…Let’s hear it for New York.” Jay-Z informs the listener of the dynamic nature of his home with the lines “The city of sin is a pity on a whim. Good girls gone bad, the cities filled with them.” The combination of Jay-Z’s passionate words and Keys’ beautiful voice makes this track the best on the album.

In “Real As It Gets,” Young Jeezy makes a solid performance, but the track is nothing special, and some of the lyrics are excessively superficial. The following song, “On to the Next One,” exhibits one of the catchier hooks and beats of the album, where Swizz Beats is always at his best. Jay-Z stays one step ahead of the rap game, as he “moved onward, the only direction, can’t be scared to fail, search and perfection, gotta keep it fresh even when we sexing, but don’t be mad at him when he’s on to the next one.” The next song, “Off That,” continues the theme of innovation, as Jay-Z proclaims that “whatever you about to discover, we off that.” Drake, the next big name in hip-hop, makes a solid contribution on the chorus, but his talent and voice beg for a verse to exhibit his solo talent.

The next few tracks are all very solid, but nothing spectacular is revealed. “A Star is Born” lays the foundation for the album’s title, as Jay-Z is “the blueprint, I’m like the map for ’em.” He gives a shoutout to all the other rappers coming in and out of the limelight and applauds their work but frequently acknowledges that as stars are born and others die, Jay-Z’s light remains in the sky. In “Venus vs. Mars,” Jay-Z explores the dichotomy between man and woman: “Shawty like Pepsi, me I’m the Coke man. Body like a Coke bottle, I crush it like a coke can.” Jay-Z also pulls off one of the more clever rhymes of the album: “We used to make out, kissing each other’s face off. Fell for the Ponzi scheme, damn shawty just Made-off.” Timbaland does what he does best and creates an A-plus instrumental on the track. In “Already Home,” Jay-Z has some strong verses and some great rhymes, as he is “in the hall already, on the wall already. I’m a work of art, I’m a Warhol. Already on another level, on another plane. Already H.O.V., I got my own lane.” Kid Cudi is solid on the chorus, but much like Drake in “Off That,” disappointingly lacks a strong verse to showcase his vocal prowess.

The song “Hate” has one of the best instrumentals on the album. Kanye West and Jay-Z trade off short verses, a nice change of pace from the standard alternating verse and chorus. In “Reminder,” Jay-Z lets no one forget that he is still the best even after 11 albums. Jay-Z puts his competition in its place, since “ain’t nothing changed for me except the year it is. I think I have to send you a reminder, here it is.”

In the following track, “So Ambitious,” Jay-Z sends a serious message, telling the listener to ignore the doubters and always live with ambition. Listening to his own advice, Jay-Z is “different. I can’t base what I’m gonna be off of what everybody isn’t. They don’t listen. Just whispering behind my back, no vision, lack of ambition.” With Pharrell on the chorus, this track is definitely one of the album’s best.

In “Young Forever,” Jay-Z shows a more spiritual and serious side to his skill. Well complemented by the excellent voice of Mr. Hudson on the hook, H.O.V.A. spits off the best lyrics of the entire album. He pleads with the listener to do something of true value in life, to “leave a mark that can’t erase neither space nor time, so when the director yells ‘Cut,’ I’ll be fine.” This song truly reveals Jay-Z’s eternal status as a rap legend: “Life is for living, not living uptight. See ya somewhere up in the sky. Fear not die, I’ll be alive for a million years. Bye bye, so not for legends. I’m forever young, my name shall survive.”

In “Jockin’,” Jay-Z definitely returns to rap’s roots as he samples off Run-DMC’s “Dumb Girl” to create an old-school beat that proves to be one of the better instrumentals on the album. The final song, a “D.O.A.” remix, completes the record. The new beat is definitely welcome since the original hit the scene months ago, but the same lyrics keep it from noteworthiness.

All in all, “The Blueprint 3” is a great album. But after looking at every track and taking them together as a whole, Jay-Z’s latest record pales in comparison to his superior albums. There is no track that energizes the listener for the rest of the album, and some of the lyrics are too simple and superficial. His 11th album cannot rival the original “Blueprint” or especially “The Black Album.” But Jay-Z still makes a strong showing, as “The Blueprint 3” further cements his place atop the rap industry.