I had heard Jay-Z rap circles around the competition before. Throughout The Blueprint, he sounded hungry.
Sonically, Blueprint was a departure from his previous sounds thanks in part to a willingness to work with then largely unknown producers such as Bink, Just Blaze and Kanye West. So much of what I thought Black masculinity was - the fearlessness, the bravado and the ambition - lived in that album. Less than three weeks before Jay-Z’s album dropped and the entire world watched in horror as the twin towers fell in New York City, a plane crash claimed the life of Aaliyah and seven others, sending the music industry into an immediate depression. With so much vibrancy around the game at the moment, tragedy held court, too. Not to mention Jay-Z was finding himself in a war of words with lyrical heavyweights such as Nas, Prodigy of Mobb Deep and The Lox. Superstars such as OutKast, Nelly and Eminem didn’t drop that year, but were still very much part of the hip-hop ecosystem with catalog-defining albums such as Stankonia, Country Grammar and The Marshall Mathers LP, respectively, the year before. The year 2001 was an incredibly strong year for rap albums leading up to Jay-Z’s September release with projects such as Beanie Sigel’s The Reason, Eve’s Scorpion, Project Pat’s Mista Don’t Play: Everythangs Workin’, Missy Elliott’s Miss E…So Addictive, Jadakiss’ Kiss Tha Game Goodbye and Trick Daddy’s Thugs Are Us. And on top of that, the competition was stiff. Jay-Z had seemingly boxed himself into a corner, legally and creatively. In December 1999, Jay-Z stabbed music executive Lance “Un” Rivera for allegedly pirating copies of his album. Then there was the legal drama that threatened to derail his career. Portrait of American rapper Jay-Z (born Shawn Carter) in 2000 in New York. Carter,” a 2000 review proclaimed, “Jay-Z seemed to be making a serious run at Nas’ title of biggest waste of talent in hip-hop.” By the turn of the millennium, backhanded compliments were being handed out for Jay-Z. However, despite the hit records that had come to define his reign, some believed his last few projects didn’t hold the creative weight of earlier works such as Reasonable Doubt or In My Lifetime, Vol. Carter was a solid body of work with records like “Big Pimpin’,” “Dope Man” and “Is That Yo B-?” Likewise, The Dynasty, which dropped in 2000, had its share of classic songs, including its intro, “I Just Wanna Love U,” “This Can’t Be Life,” “1-900-Hustler” and “Where Have You Been.” And though it was billed as a Jay-Z album, in reality, it was a Roc-A-Fella Records compilation album. Yet, depending on who was asked, there was a sentiment that he was beginning to rest on his laurels. But to understand the depth of Jay-Z’s classic opus, though, is to understand the world it was born into.īy the fall of 2001, Jay-Z was one the biggest stars in music with three consecutive No. It’s a coming-of-age project that’ll always hold a special place in my life’s journey, even if I can readily identify its personal flaws as a man who’s now five years away from 40. It’s not that I wanted to be a rapper, but that autonomy to move in the world under my own power and discretion was deeply coveted.
Jay-Z turns 50: Music, money and the legacy of Marcy Houses.The same world I’d have to survive in was the one where Jay-Z was encountering unparalleled success, which at the time, far outweighed the controversies around him.
The album arrived at a time when my adolescence was barreling closer and closer toward young adulthood. The Blueprint, recognized by the Library of Congress for its artistic brilliance, represents the moment when my personal connection to Jay-Z was stamped. 11 to counteract bootlegging.Īs I look back after 20 years, the album represents a time capsule because it reveals two people, Jay-Z and myself, who, in some ways, just don’t exist anymore. Originally planned for a November release, the release date was moved to Sept. I planned to drive to Circuit City after school to purchase an album I’d been awaiting all summer, The Blueprint by Jay-Z. I’d just started driving and the world was opening up. It had been a day of anticipation for me at Matoaca High School in Virginia during the second week of classes. Across multiple platforms, the terrorist attack on America is being revisited with the gift, and grief of 20 years of hindsight. Say the date and watch the reaction: Sept.