September 11 In Hip-Hop History: JAY-Z Releases ‘The Blueprint’ Album

JAY-Z served up one of the best albums of his career on this day 22 years ago despite all the turmoil happening in his life and the United States in general.

On September 11, 2001, Hov delivered his sixth studio album The Blueprint. The 15-track includes breakthrough production from a young Kanye West, who produced four songs including “Izzy (H.O.V.A.)” and “Takeover,” and Just Blaze, who handled the instrumentals on “Girls, Girls, Girls,” “Song Cry” and “U Don’t Know.” The album also features contributions from Timbaland, Bink, Trackmasters and Eminem, who produced and rapped on "Renegade."

The infamous photo on the album's cover was shot by Jonathan Mannion, who was inspired by a photograph series that documented the lives of hustlers in the UK called The Firm by Jocelyn Bain Hogg. Hov's album dropped hours before two planes struck the Twin Towers in New York City. Hov was in Los Angeles shooting the video for the album's second single "Girls, Girls, Girls" while the attack on America was going on.

All the chaos that ensued on 9/11 was just the cherry on top of all the endless problems JAY-Z faced at the time. While he recorded the album, Hov was awaiting two criminal trials, one for gun possession and the other for the 1999 stabbing of Lance "Un" Rivera. He was also involved in beefs with both Nas and Prodigy (RIP), who he took aim at on his song "Takeover." Nonetheless, Hov still persevered.

Even with the tragedy that occurred on the album's release day, The Blueprint still sold over 427,000 copies in its first week and was his fourth consecutive album that hit the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart. The album went platinum a month after it dropped and 2x platinum within eight months. Two decades after its release, the album is revered as a classic by critics and fans alike. In 2019, The Blueprint was added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress.

Listen to JAY-Z's The Blueprint below.