The Blueprint by Jay-Z
The Blueprint is the sixth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, released September 11, 2001 on Roc-A-Fella Records in the United States. 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 and Just Blaze. At the time of its 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. In spite of its release coinciding with the 9/11 attacks, The Blueprint sold over 420,000 copies in its opening week, 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. The album received a perfect "XXL" rating from XXL magazine, while The Source awarded The Blueprint a classic 5 mic rating. The Blueprint received general acclaim from most music critics, based on an aggregate score of 88/100 from Metacritic. In 2003, the album was ranked number 464 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time; in a revised list in 2012, it was ranked number 252. In 2010, Pitchfork Media ranked it number 5 on their Top 200 Albums of the 2000s list. Sales as of February 2012 stand at 2.7 million.
When Roc-A-Fella Records set up its first office in Manhattan, the company didn’t land in midtown Manhattan, but in the financial district—an area far from the music, but close to the money. It was a testament to just to just how much creative and commercial ground JAY-Z had managed to cover in his first few years. During that time, he became a transformative figure not only in the craft of rap, but also in the business of bringing it to the mainstream. That may explain why 2000’s <i>The Dynasty: Roc La Familia</i>, which had originally been planned as a showcase for Jay’s thriving label, wound up instead being marketed as a proper JAY-Z record. By then, he’d become more than an artist—he was a brand, one whose name and image would surely help <i>Roc La Familia</i> move a lot more copies. But this guest-heavy, 16-track collection is no mere cash-grab: “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)” is one of Jay’s catchiest tracks, and “Soon You’ll Understand” one of his most candid—proof he could make club pop while still finding new avenues for self-expression. And <i>Roc La Familia</i> also gives Jay’s protégés plenty of time to shine, most notably Freeway (“1-900-Hustler”) and Beanie Sigel (“This Can’t Be Life”, which finds Sigel holding his own next to Scarface, no less). There’s new talent on the production side, as well, including The Neptunes (“I Just Wanna Love U”), Just Blaze (“Streets is Talking”) and a then-unknown Kanye West (“This Can’t Be Life”). Still, this is a Jay album through and through. He opens <i>Roc La Familia</i> with a breathtaking boast: “Watch it, my n****s/I’m tryin’ to be calm but I’m gon’ get richer/Through any means, with that thing that Malcolm palmed in the picture.” It’s a reference to the author Frantz Fanon’s justification of violence in the name of civil rights, a philosophy later adopted by Malcom X. It wasn’t meant as a slight to a bigger struggle, Jay wrote later—he just felt like they had more pressing concerns on hand. And in a capitalist system, what gets taken more seriously than money?
