

One dropped after a loaded handgun was initially discovered in a car that he and several others used to convoy to a New York night club. Jay-Z’s street cred had also been raised with the culmination of two criminal proceedings.
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Jay’s tycoon persona was also in full swing here with a record label, a clothing company, and a production company under his belt. “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” signalled the first number one hit for the album, the first number one hit produced by Kanye West, and would kick off the 2000’s fascination with expensive and modulated soul samples.

His music populated rap radio and club DJ rotations with a slew of increasingly splashy Def Jam singles post- Reasonable Doubt: “The City is Mine,” Foxy Brown’s “I’ll Be,” “(Always Be My) Sunshine,” “Hard Knock Life,” “Money, Cash, Hoes,” “Nigga What, Nigga Who,” “Big Pimpin,” Mariah Carey’s “Heartbreaker,” & “I Just Wanna Love You (Give It 2 Me)” creating sky high anticipation for The Blueprint. 20 years later, The Blueprint is still a contender for one of the greatest rap albums of all time, and rightfully so. This record not only stands as a career defining body of work for Jay Z but also, ushered in a new sound, mentality, and orientation towards the business of making rap music. The Blueprint does exactly what its title expresses. The Blueprint holds historical significance in its introduction of producers and a new lyrical flamboyance, but the album’s status as a classic of 2000s rap is justified in how it took two sides of New York, commercially viable radio and club rap via Bad Boy & Def Jam and street smart gangster rap and combined them for the new decade. In reflecting 20 years after The Blueprint was released, it is imperative that we draw attention to the pivotal moments that set the landscape for Jay-Z’s domination in the rap game, while simultaneously recognizing the legacy that this album left behind. Summer Jam ‘01 also saw Jay-Z bring out the-then elusive King of Pop Michael Jackson, further increasing the mania surrounding Jay’s marquee album and inaugurating him into icon status. After Nas responded with “ Ether” containing lines like “Fuck Jay-Z” and referring to him as “Gay Z and Cock-a-Fella records,” Jay-Z added a new verse immediately.

Nas’ “ We Will Survive,” a letter to Biggie, subliminally questioned rappers who claimed there was a throne to be taken, which Jay-Z took personally and responded with one line on “Takeover,” which he debuted at Summer Jam as a more Prodigy-aimed diss track. After Nas apparently failed to show for a recording of Jay-Z posse cut “Bring It On” in 1996, the two fell off, recording corresponding diss tracks and fans positioning the victor as the new King of New York.

Hov saw himself embroiled in beefs with NY MCs Mobb Deep, Jadakiss, Fat Joe, and a legendary spout with Nas, whose Illmatic created a firestorm as the best recording on the market when he was just 17. had left vacant causing conflict within a very volatile New York rap scene. Naturally, the rise of Jay-Z’s commercial cache led to figurative claiming of the throne that B.I.G. While both sides of this debate may hold merit, it is without question that, at the very minimum, the unequivocal influence of The Blueprint solidified Jay Z as the undisputed momentary King of Rap. was alive, is still a hotly debated point. However, whether The Chairman of the Board would have acquired the level of success achieved to date if B.I.G. The Blueprint represents peak moment Jay-Z, recording the album in a breakneck two weeks and allegedly writing the lyrics in two days. Yet, Carter’s undeniable skill and unique cadence over pop-friendly beats, turned rapping into a genuine business endeavor for artists and hustlers alike, that pushed for accessibility over exclusion. Prior to these feats, many MCs were reluctant to make records that were too commercial – in fear of losing the essence in which hip-hop music was born out of. Turning rhymes into wealth, Jay-Z used his next two albums, which went 5x and 3x platinum respectively, as the symbolic demolition of “sell-out” culture in hip-hop. 1 Jay Z, the business…maaann, emerged as a dominating force in the industry. After the commercially viable success of Vol.
