It’s also one of the best albums recorded during the ’00s, across hip-hop and other genres. It was a commercial and critical success. However, on the infamous morning of September 11, 2001, he released The Blueprint. Peers like Nas, Snoop Dogg, Mase, and Cam’Ron all followed this path, to varying degrees of financial success. And in fairness, it wasn’t like Jay-Z was the only rapper that spent the late ‘90s going this route. His third, In My Lifetime: Vol 2, went five times platinum. Among his first five albums, two went platinum and his other three went multi-platinum.
Sales-wise, the strategy very much worked for Jigga. It seemed he was going the route that Puff Daddy famously laid out for Biggie: create hype with poppy tracks with recognizable samples and catchy hooks, while the lyrical and musical red meat was to be found on the album tracks. After his friend and rhyme partner/peer Biggie’s tragic death in 1997, Jay-Z slid into the Notorious One’s role as “King of New York,” the vanguard of New York hip-hop.īut with his early albums that he released himself, there was always the sense that he wasn’t living up to his potential. He’d displayed his skills with guest appearances on Jaz’s “The Originator” and “It’s That Simple” to Original Flavor’s “Can I Get Open?” to Big Daddy Kane’s “Show & Prove.” He eventually teamed up with Damon Dash and Kareem “Biggs” Burke to create Roc-A-Fella Records, and starting with his debut album Reasonable Doubt, released in 1996, ascended to heights of fame seldom seen in hip-hop. Jay-Z had never been a slouch on the mic. Jay-Z, first made a name for himself during this mid ’90s environment. Rap videos were getting regular run on MTV, rather than isolated to Yo! MTV Raps. Rap tracks were being played on mainstream radio during the daytime. Suddenly, the idea of rappers making music designed to sell millions didn’t seem that weird anymore. But slowly, as Bad Boy and Death Row exploded onto the scene, the template for the commercially successful rapper shifted from Young MC and Vanilla Ice to Snoop Doggy Dogg and Biggie Smalls. This tenet held through the mid ’90s, at least partially because “pop” friendly rappers were viewed as less-than-skilled cornballs. And one of the things that “No Sell Out” entailed was that rappers didn’t compromise their music for the sake of sales. The concept of “No Sell Out” was built into rap music’s DNA. In its early days, the idea of a rapper making an album was completely alien to hip-hop, much less a rapper making an album that was designed to sell millions of records. It’s become a quaint idea to many that during the ’80s and ’90s, rappers that sold lots of records were often considered less than “real.” At its core, hip-hop is a culture built on being everything that other genres of music are not. There has long been a complicated relationship between hip-hop and commercial success. The album was so impactful that other rappers were inspired to name their projects in a similar fashion, and here, XXL highlights a few.Happy 20th Anniversary to Jay Z’s sixth studio album The Blueprint, originally released September 11, 2001. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, even with the world being in turmoil and reeling from the 9/11 terrorist attack in Jay's home city of New York. The Blueprint sold 427,000 units in its first week and cruised to No. With Just Blaze-"Song Cry," "U Don't Know"-and Kanye West-"Izzo (H.O.V.A.)," "Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)," "Takeover," "Never Change"-both coming into their own here as producers, this was a pivotal time in Roc-A-Fella Records history for not only Jay but the company surrounding him. He fired back at then-foes Nas and Mobb Deep on "Takeover," showed off his hitmaker muscle on "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)," sparred with Eminem on "Renegade" and created timeless classics like "U Don't Know," "Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)" and more. The effort, which is now 20 years old, put him in a whole different space as a well-respected artist. Released on Sept 11, 2001, The Blueprint is considered by many to be Hov's magnum opus. Some art just stands the test of time, reverberating from the minute it's released into the world.
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