Album of the day (#3393): The Blueprint by Jay-Z

[albummaster]

Today's album of the day

The Blueprint by Jay-Z (View album | Buy this album)

Year: 2001.
Country:
Overall rank: 525
Average rating: 78/100 (from 597 votes).

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Tracks:
1. The Ruler's Back
2. Takeover
3. Izzo (H.O.V.A.)
4. Girls, Girls, Girls
5. Jigga That Nigga
6. U Don't Know
7. Hola' Hovito
8. Heart Of The City (Ain't No Love)
9. Never Change
10. Song Cry
11. All I Need
12. Renegade (Feat. Eminem)
13. Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)

About album of the day: The BestEverAlbums.com album of the day is the album appearing most prominently in member charts in the previous 24 hours. If an album, or artist, has previously been selected within a x day period, the next highest album is picked instead (and so on) to ensure a bit of variety. A full history of album of the day can be viewed here.

[Skinny]

Whilst it's hard to beat the luxurious mafioso vibe and sheer technical mastery of flow displayed on his debut, or match the forward-thinking, kitchen sink approach and massive, memorable hooks that make Volumes 2 and 3 both so exhilarating, I think this album is still the best entry point to Jay's discography, the record where his pop smarts and almost nerdy love of rhyming are most balanced, the one record in his discography on which neither accessibility nor cohesion - both thanks largely to those excellent Just Blaze and Kanye beats, which (along with Heatmakerz' work with Dipset) managed to usher in that chipmunk soul sound which dominated hip-hop for the first five years of this millennium - are compromised, the record with the least fat on it (which is even more impressive when you think that it came out at the height of the No Limit era, when 20+ song, 70+ minute, 10+ features albums which filled an entire CD were the industry standard), and almost certainly his last truly great album. That said, it is also the first hip-hop album I ever owned, and subsequently the first one I loved, which means there's a very real bias and a very real emotional attachment at play here, so take the above with a pinch of salt.
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[HoldenM]

Probably my favorite Jay-Z record. Definitely the most consistent and satisfying.

Track picks
2. Takeover
3. Izzo (H.O.V.A.)
4. Girls, Girls, Girls
8. Heart Of The City (Ain't No Love)
12. Renegade (Feat. Eminem)
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Inversion Verses
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[CharlieBarley]

Great album.
I remember seeing the video for Girls, Girls, Girls on MTV and being impressed.
That was my introduction to Jay-Z.
I think that it's his best album, closely followed by Reasonable Doubt.

[Spyglass]

Best hip hop album ever. I'm actually a bit pissed about it because I don't buy a lot of music and it took forever for Jay-Z's albums to get on Spotify.