Laid-Back Jay-Z’s ‘Life’ Lacks His Spectacular Wordplay

** 1/2 JAY-Z

“Vol. 3 . . . Life and Times

of S. Carter�

Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam

For a man who rode to commercial prominence with the help of up-tempo, dance-ready tracks, Jay-Z is sounding pretty laid-back. When you couple the much more relaxed musical approach on the Brooklyn rapper’s fourth album with his conversational rapping style, you’ve got a mostly mellow effort that’s more likely to have fans nodding their heads than going into a frenzy.

Timbaland, best known for his production work with Aaliyah and Missy “Misdemeanor� Elliott, delivers the album’s stronger beats on the distorted “Snoopy Track� and the colorful “Big Pimpin’ .�

Like the subdued vibe of the production, Jay-Z seems overly relaxed on the album, content to revisit his ascent to stardom, his penchant for jewelry and his struggles as a poor child. While these are safe topics for rappers, in the past Jay-Z injected biting humor and spectacular wordplay into his dramatic tales. Neither are plentiful this time, leaving the album far short of the level of his Grammy-winning breakthrough, 1998’s “Vol. 2 . . . Hard Knock Life.� This album will appeal to core Jay-Z fans who have followed him since his landmark debut album, 1996’s “Reasonable Doubt.� Others, however, may wonder what all the hype is about.

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