Jay-Z: The Blueprint

The Blueprint is the sixth studio album from Jay-Z. It was released on September 11, 2001 (a week earlier than planned, to combat bootlegging). Despite being overshadowed by the 9/11 attacks, the album sold over 426,000 copies in its opening week, becoming Jay-Z’s fourth consecutive album to reach number one on the Billboard 200. It was certified two times platinum as sales stand at over two million units in the U.S. The album received a perfect “XXL” rating from XXL magazine, while The Source awarded The Blueprint a classic 5 mic rating. The album received universal acclaim, based on an aggregate score of 88/100 from Metacritic. It came #464 on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

The Blueprint was reportedly cut in two weeks, with Jay-Z allegedly writing the lyrics in two days. Jay-Z awaited two criminal trials for gun possession and assault. At the time he was engaged in feuds with Nas, Prodigy of Mobb Deep, and others attacking him in song. Parts of The Blueprint became a battle album, particularly in “Takeover”, in which Jay-Z attacks Nas, Prodigy, and all manner of persecutors, set to the hard rock of samples of The Doors’ “Five to One.” “Takeover” closes with the line “To all you other cats throwing shots at Jigga/You only get half a bar, fuck y’all niggas” as a blanket response to all his enemies not mentioned elsewhere in the song.

In The Blueprint, Jay-Z and his producers turn to vintage soul, fuelling almost every song with a stirring vocal sample: Al Green, Bobby “Blue” Bland, David Ruffin and the The Jackson 5. Exceptions include “Jigga That Nigga”, “Hola’ Hovito”, and most notably “Renegade”, a track produced by and featuring Eminem.

The Blueprint contained a unique and balanced blend of soulful samples that had both street credibility and mainstream appeal, thereby garnering praise from all quarters of the hip-hop community and receiving special recognition from critics. Most consider The Blueprint to be one of Jay-Z’s best albums, holding it on a level close to that of his debut, Reasonable Doubt. The popularity and commercial success of the album established Kanye West and Just Blaze as two of hip-hop’s most celebrated producers. Furthermore, The Blueprint signaled a major stylistic shift in hip-hop production towards a more Soul/R&B-centric and sample-reliant sound, creating a number of imitators who attempted to emulate the album’s atmospheric style. Prior to The Blueprint, mainstream hip-hop producers had largely eschewed music sampling in favor of the keyboard-driven Timbaland sound (characterized by a shifting, syncopated rhythm), due to the financial and legal issues associated with copyright laws. The Blueprint, however, revived musical sampling as a common practice in hip hop music and dislodged the digital keyboard-driven production style as the dominant sound in hip-hop music.

As with Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter, Jay-Z put two hidden bonus tracks at the end of the final track. “Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)” is 3:41 by itself. Twenty-five seconds of silence follows after that and “Breathe Easy (Lyrical Exercise)” begins. That song fades and is immediately followed by “Girls, Girls, Girls (Part 2).” The final track as a whole is 12:08. On the iTunes Store, however, these bonus tracks are released as separate tracks, thus making the album 15 tracks long.

Singles

1. “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)”
   • Released: August 21, 2001
2. “Girls, Girls, Girls”
   • Released: October 2, 2001
3. “Jigga That Nigga”
   • Released: January 29, 2002
4. “Song Cry”
   • Released: August 8, 2002

U.S. Billboard Charts

#3 on Billboard 200
#2 on Billboard Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums

- The above information was taken from Wikipedia

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