The Blueprint is the sixth
studio album by American rapper
Jay-Z, released on September 11, 2001, through
Roc-A-Fella Records and
Def Jam Recordings. Its release was set a week earlier than initially planned in order to combat
bootlegging. Recording sessions for the album took place during 2001 at
Manhattan Center Studios and Baseline Studios in New York City. Contrasting the radio-friendly sound of Jay-Z's previous work, The Blueprint features
soul-based
sampling and production handled primarily by
Kanye West,
Just Blaze, and
Bink, as well as
Timbaland,
Trackmasters, and
Eminem, who also contributes the album's sole guest feature.
At the time of the album's recording, Jay-Z was awaiting two criminal trials, one for gun possession and another for assault, and had become one of hip hop's most
dissed artists, receiving insults from rappers such as
Nas,
Prodigy, and
Jadakiss.[2][3] The album is also notable for both its producers Kanye West and Just Blaze's breakouts as major producers. West produced four of the thirteen tracks on the album, including the songs "
Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" and the controversial "
Takeover", which included diss lyrics aimed at rappers Nas and Prodigy, while Just Blaze produced three tracks, "
Girls, Girls, Girls", "
Song Cry", and "U Don't Know", also including the hidden bonus track "Breathe Easy (Lyrical Exercise)".
The Blueprint received universal acclaim from music critics, with praise being directed at Jay-Z's performance and the album's soul based soundscape. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time as well as one of the greatest albums ever made in general. Despite its release coinciding with the
September 11 attacks, it sold over 427,000 copies in its opening week and debuted at
number one in the US, holding the spot for three weeks. It was later
certified 3x Multi-Platinum by the
RIAA. In 2018, the album was selected by the
Library of Congress for preservation in the United States
National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant," being the first entry created in the 21st century.[4]
Background
The Blueprint was reportedly cut in two weeks, with Jay-Z recording nine songs in two days.[5] At the time, he was awaiting two criminal trials for gun possession and
assault. He was also engaged in feuds with various rappers such as Jadakiss,
Fat Joe and in particular Nas and
Mobb Deep member Prodigy. In the song "
Takeover", Jay-Z attacks the two
Queensbridge rappers, using a sample of the song "
Five to One" by
The Doors[6] and an interpolation of
David Bowie's "
Fame".[7] On The Blueprint, Jay-Z and his producers used vintage
soul as inspiration, including a vocal
sample on almost every track from such artists as
Al Green,
Bobby "Blue" Bland,
David Ruffin and
The Jackson 5. Exceptions include "
Jigga That Nigga", "Hola Hovito", and "
Renegade", a track produced by and featuring the rapper Eminem, and the only track on the album featuring another rapper on verses.
Blueprint Lounge Tour
In late August, Jay-Z announced a September–October tour in small venues.[8] Because of the
September 11 attacks occurring on the same day the album was released, the first two performances were rescheduled. Chicago,
San Francisco, and Los Angeles were subsequently added, and Jay-Z donated to relief organizations one dollar of the cost of each ticket sold for the tour.
Cover
The
photograph on the album's cover, taken by
Jonathan Mannion, was inspired by one from The Firm, a series by Jocelyn Bain Hogg depicting
organized crime in
Britain. Instead of the telephone and
brass knuckles seen next to the ashtray in the original picture, a
cigar, a pack of cigars and a
microphone were placed.[9] It also is a homage to The Blueprint album, by Boogie Down Productions; using a switched point-of-view and dynamic, but the same pose, as the original album title.[citation needed]
The Blueprint received rave reviews from critics. At
Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 88, which indicates "universal acclaim", based on 12 reviews.[10] Upon its release, The Blueprint was hailed by Vibe's
dream hampton as Jay-Z's best album, as well as the best album of the year,[20] while The Source awarded The Blueprint a perfect "
five-mic" rating,[21] a distinction reserved for hip hop classics.[22] In his review for The Source, Carlito Rodriguez described The Blueprint as "the defining moment of Jay-Z's career", commending his ability to convey emotions through his lyrics.[21]Nathan Rabin called it Jay-Z's "strongest, tightest, most consistent album since his legendary debut, 1996's Reasonable Doubt."[23]
The popularity and commercial success of The Blueprint established Kanye West and Just Blaze as two of hip hop's most celebrated producers. West in particular would later be signed by Roc-A-Fella Records in 2002. Both West and Just Blaze would go on to have successful music careers. Furthermore, The Blueprint signaled a major stylistic shift in hip hop production towards a more
Soulcentric 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, similar to
samba or
jungle music), 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.[24] West would later incorporate some of the production and sampling techniques he used on this album into his own solo albums. Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "One of the greatest poets ever to pick up a mic released his magnum opus in 2001. One retirement and one un-retirement later, it's still his finest hour."[25]
In 2003, The Blueprint was ranked number 464 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of
the 500 greatest albums of all time;[26] in a revised list in 2012, it was ranked number 252;[27] in the 2020 revised list, the album was ranked number 50.[28]Pitchfork named The Blueprint the second best album of 2000–2004, and in 2010, it ranked fifth on their Top 200 Albums of the 2000s list.[29] It is ranked at number 4 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Best Albums of the 2000s".[30] The album received a perfect "XXL" rating from XXL magazine in a 2007 retrospective article.[6]The Blueprint was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[31]
In spite of its release coinciding with the
9/11 attacks, The Blueprint sold over 427,000 copies in its opening week,[39] becoming Jay-Z's fourth consecutive album to reach number one on the
Billboard 200 chart. It was certified
double platinum as sales stand at over two million units in the U.S.[40][41]
Sales stand at 2.7 million as of February 2012.[42]
"Girls, Girls, Girls" contains a sample of "There's Nothing in This World That Can Stop Me from Loving You" performed by
Tom Brock, and "High Power Rap" performed by
Crash Crew.
"U Don't Know" contains a sample of "I'm Not to Blame" performed by
Bobby Byrd.
"Never Change" contains a sample of "Common Man" performed by
David Ruffin.
"Song Cry" contains a sample of "Sounds Like a Love Song" performed by Bobby Glenn.
"All I Need" contains a sample of "I Can't Break Away" performed by
Natalie Cole.
"Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)" contains a sample of "Free at Last" performed by
Al Green.
"Breathe Easy (Lyrical Exercise)" contains a sample of "Got to Find My Own Place" performed by
Stanley Clarke.
"Girls, Girls, Girls (Part 2)" contains a sample of "Trying Girls Out" performed by
The Persuaders.
Bonus tracks
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 and the bonus track "Breathe Easy (Lyrical Exercise)" begins. That song fades and is immediately followed by "Girls, Girls, Girls (Part 2)". It is reported[by whom?] that the latter song features uncredited vocals by
Michael Jackson. The final track as a whole is 12:07. On the
iTunes Store, however, these bonus tracks are released as separate tracks, thus making the album 15 tracks long. On the vinyl edition, there are no long gaps between the songs, but they are not printed on the back of the album jacket or record label.
Personnel
Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter – performer, executive producer
^Jay-Z &
Linkin Park (2004).
Collision Course DVD. I mean, when I made Blueprint, the album, I did nine songs in, in uh... in two days. It was pretty much to add, it was pretty much to record, like, just done, it was done.
^
ab"Retrospective: XXL Albums". XXL. December 2007.
^Geier, Thom; Jensen, Jeff; Jordan, Tina; Lyons, Margaret; Markovitz, Adam; Nashawaty, Chris; Pastorek, Whitney; Rice, Lynette; Rottenberg, Josh; Schwartz, Missy; Slezak, Michael; Snierson, Dan; Stack, Tim; Stroup, Kate; Tucker, Ken; Vary, Adam B.; Vozick-Levinson, Simon; Ward, Kate (December 11, 2009), "THE 100 Greatest MOVIES, TV SHOWS, ALBUMS, BOOKS, CHARACTERS, SCENES, EPISODES, SONGS, DRESSES, MUSIC VIDEOS, AND TRENDS THAT ENTERTAINED US OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS AND DECADES TO COME". Entertainment Weekly. (1079/1080):74-84
^Dimery, Robert; Lydon, Michael (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe.
ISBN978-0-7893-2074-2.