Maps of Music

The Blueprint (2001)

Where the lyrics of The Blueprint take you, and where it was really made.

The Blueprint came out on the same day as the September 11 attacks, yet it still debuted at number one in the US and held the top spot for three weeks.

Key places

Recording sessions at Manhattan Center Studios (2001)

Recording site Manhattan Center Studios — The album's recording sessions took place in 2001 at Manhattan Center Studios in New York City. The point marks the studio's location in the city. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording sessions at Baseline Studios (2001)

Recording site Baseline Studios — Baseline Studios in New York City is listed as one of the two 2001 recording sites for the album. The point shows the city-level area only. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• The Blueprint: sixth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z
• Released September 11, 2001 through Roc-A-Fella Records and The Island Def Jam Music Group
• Release was moved up one week from the original plan to combat bootlegging
• Soul-based sampling, with production handled mainly by Kanye West, Just Blaze and Bink
• Timbaland, Trackmasters and Eminem also contributed production
• Eminem appears as the album's sole guest feature
• Release coincided with the September 11 attacks

Background

• Jay-Z was awaiting two criminal trials at the time, one for gun possession and one for assault
• He had become one of hip-hop's most dissed artists, insulted by rappers including Nas, Prodigy and Jadakiss
• The album is notable for turning Kanye West and Just Blaze into major producers
• West produced four of the thirteen tracks, including Izzo (H.O.V.A.) and Takeover
• Just Blaze produced three tracks, including Girls, Girls, Girls and Song Cry
• The album was reportedly cut in two weeks, with nine songs recorded in two days
• Takeover attacks Nas and Mobb Deep member Prodigy

Recording

• Sessions took place during 2001 at Manhattan Center Studios and Baseline Studios in New York City
• Musical direction drew on vintage soul, with a vocal sample on almost every track

Cover

• Photograph taken by Jonathan Mannion
• Inspired by a picture from The Firm, a series by Jocelyn Bain Hogg on organized crime in Britain
• A cigar, a pack of cigars and a microphone replace the telephone and brass knuckles beside the ashtray of the original picture

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early life

• Shawn Corey Carter, born December 4, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York City.
• Raised in Marcy Houses in Bedford–Stuyvesant; mother Gloria Carter raised him and his three older siblings after his father left when he was 11.
• Dropped out of Trenton Central High School during his sophomore year.
• Adopted the stage name Jay-Z in homage to his mentor Jaz-O.

Career

• Began recording in the late 1980s, contributing verses to Jaz-O's records.
• Co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records; debut album Reasonable Doubt (1996) was critically acclaimed.
• Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life (1998) became his most commercially successful album, certified 6× Platinum in the US.
• The Blueprint (2001) debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.
• Led Def Jam Recordings as president and CEO from 2004 to 2007.
• Founded Roc Nation in 2008 and later 4:44 (2017) and Everything Is Love with Beyoncé (2018).
• Has 25 Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic: universal acclaim, weighted average score of 88 out of 100 from 12 critics
• Vibe's dream hampton called it Jay-Z's best album and the best album of the year
• The Source gave the album a perfect five-mic rating, a distinction it reserves for hip-hop classics
• Carlito Rodriguez in The Source described it as the defining moment of Jay-Z's career and praised his emotional delivery through lyrics
• Nathan Rabin called it Jay-Z's strongest, tightest and most consistent album since Reasonable Doubt in 1996

Reappraisal

• Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums list: number 464 in 2003, number 252 in the 2012 revision, number 50 in the 2020 revision, still 50 after the 2023 revision
• Rolling Stone's 100 Best Albums of the 2000s: number 4
• Pitchfork: second best album of 2000–2004 and fifth on its Top 200 Albums of the 2000s list in 2010
• Entertainment Weekly included it on its end-of-the-decade best-of list
• XXL gave it a perfect rating in a 2007 retrospective article
• Complex rated it Jay-Z's best album in April 2026
• Included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die

Records

• Sold over 427,000 copies in its opening week
• Debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and stayed there for three weeks
• Jay-Z's fourth consecutive album to reach number one on the Billboard 200
• Certified 3× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA
• Selected in 2018 by the Library of Congress for the National Recording Registry, the first entry created in the 21st century

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Takeover samples The Doors' Five to One and interpolates David Bowie's Fame, with lines aimed at Nas and Prodigy
• Renegade, produced by and featuring Eminem, is the only track on the album with another rapper's verses
• The Blueprint Lounge tour was added to in late August with small venues; the first two dates were rescheduled because of September 11, and one dollar of each ticket sold went to relief organizations
• The album's 25th anniversary concert was held at Yankee Stadium in New York City on July 11, 2026, with guest appearances by Slick Rick, Eminem and Pharrell Williams
• Izzo (H.O.V.A.) samples I Want You Back by Jackson 5

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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