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The Canadian Blueprint :: blueprint biotech.ca | Happening: CPhA Takes Action: Blueprint for Pharmacy—Blueprint... pharmacists.ca | AMA Blueprint for Primary Care - AMA (WA) amawa.com.au | Providence Health Care - The Legacy Project - Blueprint for Healthy Senior providencehealthcare.org |
For other uses, see Blueprint (disambiguation).
The Blueprint is the sixth studio album by hip hop 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. Nine songs on The Blueprint were reportedly cut in two days.[11] At the time of its recording, Jay-Z had been awaiting two criminal trials, one for gun possession and another for assault.[11] He had also become one of hip hop's most dissed artists, receiving insults from rappers such as Nas, Prodigy, and Jadakiss.[11] In spite of its release coinciding with the 9/11 attacks, The Blueprint 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 double platinum as sales stand at over two million units in the U.S.[12][13] The album received a perfect "XXL" rating from XXL magazine,[14] while The Source awarded The Blueprint a classic 5 mic rating.[15] The Blueprint received universal acclaim from most music critics, based on an aggregate score of 88/100 from Metacritic.[16] In 2003, the album was ranked number 464 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[17]
[edit] BackgroundThe Blueprint was reportedly cut in two weeks, with Jay-Z allegedly writing the lyrics in two days.[18] At the time, he awaited two criminal trials for gun possession and assault, and was engaged in feuds with various rappers, in particular Nas and Mobb Deep member Prodigy; on "Takeover", Jay-Z attacks the two Queensbridge rappers over a sample of The Doors' "Five to One"[14] with an interpolation of David Bowie's "Fame".[19] On 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. [edit] Reception and impactThe 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.[20] 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. Upon its release, The Blueprint was rated as Vibe Magazine's "Best Album of the year", and even received a 5 mic (out of 5) rating from The Source (a distinction reserved for hip hop classics). Pitchfork Media named it the 2nd best album of 2000-2004, behind Radiohead's Kid A. 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 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.[21] Kanye West would later incorporate some of the production and sampling techniques he used on this album into his own solo albums (see The College Dropout, Late Registration and Graduation.) The song "Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)" has later on been used in the movie trailer for the film American Gangster. [edit] Accolades
[edit] Blueprint Lounge TourIn late August, Jay-Z announced a September-October tour in small venues.[23] Because of 9/11, the first two performances were rescheduled, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles were added and donated a dollar out of every ticket sold to relief organizations. [edit] Track listing
[edit] Bonus tracksAs 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 that the latter song features uncredited vocals by superstar Michael Jackson. 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. [edit] Chart history
[edit] Personnel
[edit] See also[edit] References
[edit] External links
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