Blueprint (Explicit Version) CD

MUSIC

RAP / HIP-HOP

Song Listing

Disc 1

Song Title

1. Ruler's Back, The ~ Jay-Z

2. Takeover ~ Jay-Z

3. Izzo (H.O.V.A) ~ Jay-Z

4. Girls, Girls, Girls ~ Jay-Z

5. Jigga That N***a ~ Jay-Z

6. U Don't Know ~ Jay-Z

7. Hola Hovito ~ Jay-Z

8. Heart Of The City (Ain't No Love) ~ Jay-Z

9. Never Change ~ Jay-Z

10. Song Cry ~ Jay-Z

11. All I Need ~ Jay-Z

12. Renegade - (featuring Eminem) ~ Jay-Z

13. Blueprint (Momma Loves Me) ~ Jay-Z

Album Notes and Credits

Notes & Personnel Info
	Personnel includes: Jay-Z, Eminem, Q-Tip, Slick Rick, Biz Markie (rap vocals); Josey Scott (vocals); Victor Flowers (organ); Bink (programming).
	Producers include: Kayne West, Just Blaze, Trackmaster, Timbaland, Bink.
	THE BLUEPRINT was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance.
	"Song Cry" was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards for Male Rap Solo Performance.
	Personnel: Stephanie Miller, Michele Mills, Josey Scott, Keon Bryce, Q-Tip, Slick Rick, Biz Markie (vocals); Victor Flowers (organ); DJ Head (drum programming).
	Audio Mixers: Jason Goldstein; Doug Wilson; Eminem; Jimmy Douglas; Richard Huredia.
	Recording information: Baseline Studios, New York, NY; Manhattan Center, New York, NY.
	Photographer: Jonathan Mannion.
	It's official. With his fifth album, aptly titled THE BLUEPRINT, Jay-Z has crowned himself the king of rap music. Laying a foundation for other MC's to follow, Jay Hova presents a lyrical masterpiece. And to make matters worse (for the competition, that is), he does so over a selection of the tightest beats (Jus Blaze, Timbaland) to come by hip-hop since fellow Brooklyn-ite Notorious B.I.G. changed the game. Jay-Z sets it off with a clear and concise statement of his purpose, "The Ruler's Back." From then on, each track dares rappers who tried to test his skills to answer back this time. There's also the cleverly worded (sort of a) love song "Girls, Girls, Girls," where Jay calls out every type of woman in the book. He limits the guest appearances to just one when he collaborates with Eminem for "Renegade." As always, classic material proves why Jay-Z retains his iconic status in the hip-hop world.
Engineer: Jimmy Douglas
Musical Guests
	Eminem
	Q-Tip
	Biz Markie
	Slick Rick

Artist Overview

Considered one of the best lyricists to emerge in the wake of the Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac's deaths, Jay-Z has since carried the flag of hip-hop narrative skill. His Roc-A-Fella family had already created a solid reputation based on Jay-Z's 1997 debut. As his fame has grown, so has his tendency to bring more R&B production elements into his work, creating a club-friendly, danceable version of east coast gangsta hip-hop that hasn't diminished his reputation as a preeminent force in rap. Perhaps even more importantly, Jay-Z has become a powerful musica impresario. In his role as president/CEO of Def Jam in the early 2000s, he fostered the careers of popular R&B singers Rihanna and Ne-Yo, and enjoyed a high profile as a co-owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team. His long relationship and eventual marriage to superstar Beyonce has further endeared him to fans.

Compilation Appearances

	Life After Death (Explicit Version)
	Streets Is Watching
	Flesh Of My Flesh-Blood Of My Blood (Explicit Version)
	Vol. 1-Traffic Jams (Explicit Version)
	Hardcore (Explicit Version)
	Venni Vetti Vecci (Explicit Version)
	Last Of A Dying Breed (Explicit Version)
	Mariah Carey's Greatest Hits
	8 Mile (Clean Version)
	R. (Explicit Version)
	Backstage Mixtape (Explicit Version)
	Girl Interrupted (Explicit Version)
	8 Mile (Explicit Version)
	Paid Tha Cost To Be Da Boss (Explicit Version)
	Dangerously In Love (Bonus Tracks)
	Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (Explicit Version)
	R. In R&b Collection Vol. 1
	Source Presents: hip Hop Hits Vol. 7
	College Dropout (Explicit Version)
	College Dropout (Clean)
	Late Registration (Explicit Version)
	Baptism
	In My Mind (Explicit Version)
	The Breakthrough
	Duets: The Final Chapter (Explicit Version)
	Port Of Miami (Explicit Version)
	Island Def Jam Recording Presents 1 (Explicit Version)
	TI Vs Tip
	Ti Vs Tip (Explicit Version)
	Alive On Arrival
	Hip Hop Is Dead (Explicit Version)
	Ultimate Grammy Collection: Contemporary R&B
	From Nothin To Somethin(Explicit Version)
	X2
	Strange Hip Hop
	Total Club Hits
	B'day
	Good Girl Gone Bad:Reloaded
	Because Of You
	Paper Trail
	Way I See It
	Solution
	Theater Of The Mind(Explicit Version)
	The Best Of NOW That's What I Call Music - 10th Anniversary Edition
	Trilla
	Nortorious (Ost)
	Sex Therapy
	Sex Therapy
	Teflon Don
	Teflon Don(Explicit Version)
	Xxxo:remixes
	Raymond Vs Raymond
	Here I Stand
	Good Girl Gone Bad:remixes
	Good Girl Gone Bad:remixes
	Ultimate Collection
	Greatest Story Never Told(Explicit Version)
	Greatest Story Never Told
	Talk That Talk [Deluxe] (Explicit Version)
	Talk That Talk [edited]
	Talk That Talk (Explicit Version)
	Talk That Talk [Deluxe] [edited]
	Talk That Talk [Deluxe] [edited]
	Paper Trail (Explicit Version)
	God Forgives I Don't
	Essential Mariah Carey
	Streets Advocate
	Good Music Cruel Summer(Explicit Version)
	Now 46
	Tbd
	My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Explicit Version)
	Loso's Way(Explicit Version)
	Loso's Way
	God Forgives, I Don't [edited]
	God Forgives, I Don't [Deluxe] [Explicit]
	God Forgives, I Don't [Explicit]
	Tha Carter Iii(Explicit Version)
	Tha Carter Iii(Explicit Version)
	Tha Carter Iii(Explicit Version)
	B'day
	Road To Revolution:live At Milton Key(Explicit Version)
	Tm 103
	Cole World:sideline Story
	Tm 103 Hustlerz Ambition(Explicit Version)
	Cole World:sideline Story
	Black And White America
	Tm 103(Explicit Version)
	Food & Liquor(Explicit Version)
	Sex Therapy:session
	Paper Trail [PA]

Associated Artists and Works

	Bleek, Memphis
	Bloodfire
	Cent, 50
	Dre, Dr.
	Jeezy, Young
	Streets Is Watching [PA] ~ Original Soundtrack
	Tapemasters, Inc.

Technical Info

	Release Date : 09/11/2001
	Original Release Date : 2001
	Catalog ID : 5863962
	Label : Roc-A-Fella (USA)
	Number of Discs : 1
	Studio/Live : Studio
	Mono/Stereo : Stereo
	SPAR Code : n/a
	UPC : 00731458639626

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (1/03/02, p.119)
- Ranked #5 in Rolling Stone's "Top 10 2001".

Spin (1/02, p.76)
- Ranked #7 in Spin's "Albums of the Year 2001" - "...Dig the planet's most charismatic egoist flowing like Cristal....Punk record of the year? Fo'sheazy!"

Entertainment Weekly (9/28/01, p.72)
- "...Jay spits his outlaw boasts and pimp-slap toasts with the same cooly obstreperous flow that's always gilded his thug-life cliches..." - Rating: B-

Q (12/02, p.67)
- Included in Q Magazine's "The 50 Best Albums of 2002."

Q (11/01, pp.122-3)
- 3 out of 5 stars - "...Drenched in slinky, '70s soul samples this time round, the hooks, and inevitably the hits, just keep on coming."

Uncut (12/01, p.108)
- 5 stars out of 5 - "...The sonics here are relentlessly ear-catching. Almost every tune sounds like a hit..."

The Wire (1/02, p.40)
- Ranked #12 in Wire's "50 Records of the Year 2001".

Vibe (1/02, p.74)
- Rated as Vibe's "Best Album" of the year, 2001.

Vibe (11/01, pp.145-6)
- 5 discs out of 5 - "...Like a bookend [to his forst album 1996's REASONABLE DOUBT], or the second key on a double-bolt lock. Only better...he is our cleanest poet, rethinking space..."

NME (Magazine)
(12/29/01, p.59)
- Ranked #4 in NME's 50 "Albums Of the Year 2001".

NME (Magazine)
(10/6/01, p.41)
- 8 out of 10 - "...Eloquently maps out life's foundations: laughter, tears, joy and pain, and marks the Jigga as the complete rapper..."