EMPIRE STATE OF MIND

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I can't decide whether this is timely optimism or hollow American Dreamery.

In a way over-harsh review Pitchfork made much of the indie/hip-hop crossover context on Blueprint 3. So how about 'Paris' by Friendly Fires as an inspiration for this one? If the genealogy holds, although I quite like FF, this is surely a step in the wrong direction for Jay Z (and hip-hop generally) - a step off the ground and into the clouds, a step into hedonism and the rarefied melancholy that comes with it.

Aspirational-Thatcherite? Or Obamanian-communitarian?

Whatever, the album's (mostly) delicious.