Talk:The Blueprint

The best?
I don't think an encyclopedia should be labelling something so subjective as a music album as the 'best' album by Jay-Z. Remove it.


 * I agree. The reception section reads like an ad. I'll try looking over this when i have time. Kulukimaki (talk) 19:29, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

songwriters
songwriters for the second song, TAKEOVER include the members of the band THE DOORS (even the late jim morrison). probably the songwriters should only include those who prepared THIS song and not those who wrote the song from which a sample is taken to create this one. John Densmore Robby Krieger Ray Manzarek Jim Morrison 24.232.74.200 (talk) 23:02, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Girls, Girls, Girls (Jay-Z).jpg
Image:Girls, Girls, Girls (Jay-Z).jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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Fair use rationale for Image:Song Cry.jpg
Image:Song Cry.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 04:54, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

Renegade/Renagade
How do we know that the misspelling of renegade was indeed a mistake and not Artistic licence? I can't see any reason for it to be deliberately spelt wrong but is it safe to assume it was actually a misprint/typo? Is there another source which spells it correctly? -- Borb (talk) 18:06, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

NME review
Transcription of NME review (Kessler, Tim. 41. October 6, 2001) using Google News Advanced Archive search:

"The ruler's back. You don't have to take Jay-Z's word for it (although listening to 'The Blueprint' makes that tough). Check this week's American chart for confirmation of the unique hat-trick he nets courtesy of 'The Blueprint'. Three albums in three years: three Number Ones. There isn't an artist in the world - rap or otherwise - who can match Shawn Carter's profitable prolificacy.

Nor is there a rapper who can stand toe-to-toe with him in the actual rapping department, either. Jay-Z thinks Notorious B.I.G had a better flow, and Tupac was definitely cuter, but nobody has better lines. Not Woody Allen, not Chris Rock, not even Eminem who cuts 'The Blueprint''s only guest spot on the bleak 'Renegade' (a track Marshall Mathers also produces - Timbaland and Kayne West handle most of 'Blueprint's' other productions). Jay-Z is the don of the one-liner, the couplet, the verse and the chorus too.

"These are just my thoughts, ladies and gentlemen", explains the Jigga on opener 'The Ruler's Back' (of course), as he's wafted into the rap arena after a mere ten-month absence on the crest of a horn-parping, soul-a-delic wave. It's no big deal for him, he1s saying, but it is for all his competitors. "Your reign was shorter than leprechauns", he snorts in their direction.

In fact, he gets all his disses out of the way nice and early on track two, 'Takeover' ..Rapping over The Doors ' 'Five To One' he steamrollers fellow New Yorkers Mobb Deep ("Mobb Deep, you little creeps/I got money stacked bigger than you") and one-time protege Nas. The message is clear: You will learn to respect the king.

Once that lesson's absorbed, we get down to the meat of the affair. Like all his albums there's a concept revealed in the title and here, on album number six, it's the blueprint for the Jigga's life and career. That's sex - the brilliantly vaudeville 'Girls, Girls, Girls' makes that clear - drugs ("so much coke on me you could run a slalom," he admits on 'U Don't Know'), hustling, and....yes, pain.

Because Jay 's tough enough to cry sometimes. On the soft-focus funk of 'Song Cry' he's so cut-up over his true, teenage love that he even makes the song weep. On 'Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)' he takes us on a backseat ride through his traumatic teens in the projects of Brooklyn, introducing us to his life's cast over a stolen Al Green riff. And on the album's strident soul-stew centre piece, 'Heart Of The City (Ain't No Love)', he hilariously mourns the fate of his many foes.

By its close, 'The Blueprint' has eloquently mapped out life's foundations: laughter, tears, joy and pain, and has marked the Jigga as the complete rapper. Jay, of course, knows it: "I'm the Sinatra of my day, compadre," he chuckles on 'Hola Hovita'. Nobody could disagree.

8 out of 10"

- Ted Kessler

Dan56 (talk) 12:52, 5 September 2009 (UTC)

The Washington Post review
Transcription using Google News Advanced News Archive Search. The Washington Post (Fields, Curt. T.06. September 21, 2001) review of The Blueprint (2001):

"Jay-Z doesn't lack for confidence. It takes a certain amount of brass to declare "If I ain't better than Big, then I'm the closest one." After all, the late Notorious B.I.G. has iconic status in much of the rap community. Then again, when you consider Jay-Z's sales, his emphasis on ear-grabbing, body-shaking beats and his smooth lyrical flow, he may just be stating fact.

"The Blueprint" follows Jay-Z's proven formula. The production tends toward the busy side, with lots of little trills, blurts, chants and percussive bits popping in and out around a big beat anchor on most of the songs. There are astute samples (the Doors's "Five to One" and Bobby "Blue" Bland's "Heart of the City"). And he's not afraid to apply a little pop polish -- case in point, the radio-saturating "Izzo (HOVA)." Riding a relentless beat, Jay-Z's "Takeover" sounds inevitable. "U Don't Know" is a lyrically clever business report, with Jay-Z counting millions and outlining a hustler's rise, one who can "sell water to a well."

He avoids the genre's tendency to load up albums with big-name guests with a couple of exceptions. Q-Tip, Slick Rick and Biz Markie cameo on the soul-powered "Girls, Girls, Girls" but it's Eminem's appearance on "Renagade" that stands out. The beats are laid back relative to much of the album, the better to put Jay-Z's and Eminem's microphone skills center stage. Shrewd as ever, Jay-Z knows that if you open with the declaration that "The Ruler's Back," you have to deliver. What follows makes a good case for his claim."

- Curt Fields

Dan56 (talk) 08:18, 25 December 2009 (UTC)

BP Collectors Edition
i added the article but somehow someone deleted it and redirected it to here. its not the same album. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.177.76.242 (talk) 06:17, 25 February 2010 (UTC)

Orphaned references in The Blueprint
I check pages listed in Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting to try to fix reference errors. One of the things I do is look for content for orphaned references in wikilinked articles. I have found content for some of The Blueprint's orphans, the problem is that I found more than one version. I can't determine which (if any) is correct for this article, so I am asking for a sentient editor to look it over and copy the correct ref content into this article.

Reference named "SWE": From Eminem discography:  From Jay Z discography:  

Reference named "SWI": From Kanye West discography:  From Jay Z discography:  From Nas discography:  From Bad Meets Evil:  

I apologize if any of the above are effectively identical; I am just a simple computer program, so I can't determine whether minor differences are significant or not. AnomieBOT ⚡ 05:41, 11 September 2015 (UTC)

Writers for Song Cry
DJ Toomp is credited as a writer on Song Cry instead of Jay-Z (Shawn Carter) on this wikipedia page. However, if you do ASCAP title search, it has Jay-Z as a writer on the track, and doesn't mention DJ Toomp. Perhaps someone should remove DJ Toomp and replace with Jay-Z.

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080517051324/http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/jay-z/the-blueprint.htm to http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/jay-z/the-blueprint.htm

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External links modified
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Louis resto credit added back to renegade
Putting back louis resto's credit back to renegade. fuck's sake who deleted that and who was the amazing person who added it. I would chop off my cock if eminem composed/produced(I don't care how they're gonna share the credit) it by himself. I saw on micrisoft and wikipedia that resto was credited. and i saw that on wikipedia it was written by resto too. is this the music mafia that also made the world think that thick guy (andre whatever his name is) "discovered" eminem? wow. resto's credit coming back. why does this song keep getting credited with eminem only??? it's so obvious he didn't produce it solely.so annoying. the man knows no music yet the most complex track of his is somehow credited only to his name in every source. I'd chop off my cock if he could make songs like that. it's clear as day that luis resto has written renegade and I have seen it on wikipedia and microsoft. stop deleting the poor bastard's name. case of a celebrity getting too much fucking credit. ok this was the wikipedia page with resto's name not the album page i guess. well i added it to the album. really... neither eminem nor jay z can make music like that trust me. that may be the best hip hop track right there.

Scott Storch...? No!
Scott Storch. No he does NOT appear on this album. However he does appear on The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse. BUt NOT "THE BLUEPRINT"! I have the original album, I have looked through the credits back and forth, up and down, inside and out. NO Mention of Scott Storch. Give credit where credit is due people. The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse YES The Blueprint NO! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 144.133.97.9 (talk) 08:42, 11 February 2020 (UTC)

First Piece of Art from the 2000s to be Entered in the National Recording Registry
I believe this album was the first “thing,” song or otherwise, to enter the National Recording Registry that was created beyond or in the year 2000. I believe we should include that in the article, after the last sentence on how it was inducted in 2019. 2600:1700:AA98:4010:80D5:C732:FAED:1FF9 (talk) 19:12, 1 December 2021 (UTC)

Done ✅ (talk) 17:23, 3 December 2021 (UTC)