Jay-Z releases 'The Blueprint' on September 11
Roc-A-Fella issues Jay-Z's sixth solo LP on the morning of September 11. Despite the day's catastrophe, the album sells 427,000 copies in its first week. The production is the breakthrough credit for both Just Blaze and Kanye West, whose chipmunk-soul Doors/Bobby Bland/Bobby Byrd loops set the East Coast sonic template for the next half-decade.
Why it matters
*The Blueprint* establishes Jay-Z at the peak of his commercial and critical authority — confirmed two months later when his diss track 'Takeover' anchors the year's biggest hip-hop feud (Jay vs Nas). It also sets up the Kanye West story: the same producer credited on 'Heart of the City' and 'Izzo (H.O.V.A.)' would release *The College Dropout* less than three years later.
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