![]() ![]() Nas’ debut, Illmatic, created a template for the sonic strand of East coast Hip-hop, as subsequent debut albums by Biggie and Jay-Z followed suit Dr. In the past, many albums became influential in shaping the soundscape regionally. With more than half of the album drenched in the soul sound, it became one of the first Hip-hop albums that was structurally cohesive, not because of its vivid lyricism and storytelling, but solely due to its sound. Jay-Z focused less on what he had to say, instead letting the beats take the forefront. Kanye and Just Blaze popularized the chipmunk soul samples that made up most of the album, creating a groundbreaking effort that would become a staple in Hip-hop. He created a template for the future soundscape of Hip-hop tapping unknown producers, Kanye West and Just Blaze, during a time when the genre was dominated by the sounds of Dr. It was backward-looking enough to touch on the life he left behind, while present enough to unapologetically speak on daily experiences of money, cars, women, and clothes. With The Blueprint, Jay-Z left behind the drug-laden lyrics of past offerings, in favor of a self-consciously infused album that zeroed in on his life at this moment. After spending his first five albums focusing on his struggle to come up through the drug-game in the urban decay of the Brooklyn projects, how could multi-millionaire Jay-Z relate to his audience while keeping a false persona dependent on poverty, when in fact he rose the economic ranks to mogul status? Thus, it wasn’t that rappers couldn’t remain popular into their 30s, rather, they couldn’t sustain the relate-ability with their audience. For young African Americans, this rebellion stemmed from police brutality, the drug-infested environment of the projects, and the inability to progress economically, socially, and educationally, in a system set up for them to fail. The genre had always been a young man’s game, serving as the outlet for teenage rebellion. If it isn’t hypocrisy, it wouldn’t be American, right?Īt the time of the release, Jay-Z was 32 years old, which in Hip-hop is the twilight. And while the 9/11 attacks made us finally come to terms that most countries hated the way we live, the consumer in us still went out and purchased an album soaked in the American arrogance that fuels their hate. It was the American Dream personified, as he led listeners on tales of decadence, while sipping champagne on a yacht in the Hudson River, spitting braggadocios lines about his growing money supply fueled by ghetto capitalism The same capitalism promising wealth and prosperity that the World Trade Center symbolized. He didn’t see himself as a business man anymore, rather a business in of itself. While in the past he rapped about his hustle in the drug-game on through the extravagance that comes with living the life of a multi-million dollar recording artist, The Blueprint was Jay first tapping into his mogul-like status. The Blueprint was Jay-Z’s most opulent, materialistic, business-minded release. While one can point to the role music has played in escapism and healing during catastrophic events, most notably, during Vietnam as bands came out in droves singing about peace, Jay-Z was speaking from a mindset that perfectly aligned with the idea our country most relates to: capitalism. The attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon hardly affected The Blueprint’s sales, as the album sold close to 500,000 copies its first week. While terrorists struck our nation’s symbols of capitalism, causing the country to shut down for the rest of the week, people still got their hands on the album, taking part in the consumerism that eastern societies hate us for. ![]() The irony lies in the context of the music released by Jay-Z against the backdrop of the biggest foreign attack on U.S. What are the odds that on the most historically tragic day in the history of the the United States, the most successful rapper at the time, and biggest New York artist since Frank Sinatra, no less, drops the most anticipated, and critically acclaimed album of his career? On September 11, 2001, Jay-Z released, The Blueprint. ![]()
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