The Blueprint (studio album)
by Jay-Z

The Blueprint by Jay-Z
Year: 2001
Overall rank: 521st   
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 726 votes)
     
Accolades:
Award Top 10 albums of 2001 (10th)
Award Top 100 albums of the 2000s (85th)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (521st)

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JAY-Z - The Blueprint
Condition: Brand New


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The Blueprint, Vol. 2: The Gift and the Curse by Jay-Z (CD, 2002)
Condition: Very Good


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Jay-Z - The Blueprint - VG+ 2 x Vinyl LP - Blue Color Promo 2001 314-586-396-1
Condition: Used


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Jay-Z bestography

The Blueprint is ranked as the best album by Jay-Z.

Jay-Z album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (521st)
The Blueprint
Lower ranked (799th) »
Reasonable Doubt

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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The Blueprint track list

   The tracks on this album have an average rating of 82 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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1.
Average Rating: 83 (127 votes)Comments: View 0
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2.
Track pick (860 - 150 votes)
Average Rating: 86 (150 votes)Comments: View 1
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3.
Average Rating: 85 (151 votes)Comments: View 0
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4.
Average Rating: 80 (124 votes)Comments: View 0
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5.
Average Rating: 77 (107 votes)Comments: View 0
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6.
Average Rating: 81 (110 votes)Comments: View 0
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7.
Average Rating: 78 (112 votes)Comments: View 0
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8.
Track pick (870 - 142 votes)
Average Rating: 87 (142 votes)Comments: View 0
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9.
Average Rating: 83 (120 votes)Comments: View 0
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10.
Average Rating: 83 (120 votes)Comments: View 0
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11.
Average Rating: 78 (98 votes)Comments: View 0
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12.
Track pick (860 - 136 votes)
Average Rating: 86 (136 votes)Comments: View 1
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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

The Blueprint rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 521st | 2000s rank: 85th | 2001 rank: 10th

The Blueprint collection

The Blueprint ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 726 votes)
   Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 726 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
20/100
 !
4 days ago Olli   6,67264/100
 
65/100
 !
12/03/2025 12:53 Tamthebam   22,85769/100
 
70/100
 !
11/28/2025 00:05 Exist-en-ciel   4,02770/100
 
75/100
 !
11/13/2025 14:22 AledJames   1,44369/100
 
80/100
 !
10/13/2025 20:20 SD100852   1,24176/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.8/100, a mean average of 75.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.9/100. The standard deviation for this album is 20.8.

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The Blueprint comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 37 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
95/100
From 07/06/2024 19:23 | #304189
The album is impeccably produced. It does not overstay its welcome. It has a bunch of hits and some clever lyrics. Jay-Z has great flow. The album does suffer a little bit, though, from too much focus on hedonism, and it doesn't help that Eminem "murdered" Jay-Z on the song "Renegade" (Nas was right about that).

Overall: 9.5/10!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
45/100
From 09/06/2022 15:29 | #289295
Decent rap album, but for me Heart of the City is the only standout track
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 05/13/2022 08:05 | #285268
Album Rating: 82.54
(1,073/13)

1.The Ruler's Back. 74
2.Takeover. 85
3.Izzo (H.O.V.A.). 70
4.Girls, Girls, Girls. 84
5.Jigga That Nigga. 68
6.U Don't Know. 88
7.Hola' Hovito. 76
8.Heart Of The City (Ain't No Love). 97
9.Never Change. 81
10.Song Cry. 84
11.All I Need. 81
12.Renegade (Feat. Eminem). 90
13.Blueprint (Momma Loves Me). 85
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 02/16/2022 07:36 | #281376
A one of the better RAP albums made by a future billionaire and businessman.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 11/03/2021 12:22 | #275724
Catchy, politically correct hip hop anthems that panders to white people and radio stations in order to sell as much as possible. And even though I can enjoy a good '00s' rap chorus, and he inspired many artists to do the same (I especially like Lil Wayne's eloquent earworms), but I also... don't really care. I rather praise Jay-Z to what he brought to hip hop flow-wise, but on this album it isn't really there, let's be honest. Really listen to the flow - not the lyrical content, or how fast he's rapping - and tell me it's not less rewarding than what he did on Reasonable Doubt.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 12/09/2020 16:25 | #262404
One of few Jay-Z albums that are consistently good, and it is incredibly good, every track is amazing.
except Girls, Girls, Girls
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (2 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 11/26/2020 16:56 | #261448
Um hip hop novo começava!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 11/04/2020 03:36 | #260166
I like the music and production, but get tired of Jay not having much to say.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 12/27/2019 08:03 | #245966
Jay-Z is that first-person shooter game that only has going for itself that it has slightly better graphics. Yes, his flow flows, but that's all. And then to hear his rapping go over snippets of The Doors' "Five to One" even borrowing the bass and percussion, I'm like what's the point? Like a lot of '00s rappers the beats are so random; just the minimum they need to get their flow going. Thankfully, Kanye brought some difference in that (but not as succesfully yet on every track of this album). But all that is no problem if the rapping is something exceptionally interesting to listen to, but to some of y'all rap can only be so enjoyable to listen to and your support for the game is just an act of political correctness. Lyrically though, he might be exceptionally interesting - although "Girls, Girls, Girls" makes me put huge question marks to that statement. He likes to have his cake and eat it; have his street cred and have a rich, book smart vocabulary. And rich his vocabulary is, and OG his history is, but unlike others I don't need my black heroes to conform to white standards of quality to call them genius, and I don't need my black heroes to conform to black standards of quality to feel justified to like them, respectively. They just have to make good music.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 11/09/2019 02:47 | #244571
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Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -3 votes (0 helpful | 3 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 2001
1. Is This It by The Strokes
2. Amnesiac by Radiohead
3. Discovery by Daft Punk
4. Vespertine by Björk
5. Lateralus by Tool
6. The Glow Pt. 2 by The Microphones
7. Origin Of Symmetry by Muse
8. Toxicity by System Of A Down
9. White Blood Cells by The White Stripes
10. The Blueprint by Jay-Z
11. Oh, Inverted World by The Shins
12. Gorillaz by Gorillaz
13. Blackwater Park by Opeth
14. Leaves Turn Inside You by Unwound
15. No More Shall We Part by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
16. Jane Doe by Converge
17. Drukqs by Aphex Twin
18. Bleed American by Jimmy Eat World
19. "Love And Theft" by Bob Dylan
20. The Cold Vein by Cannibal Ox
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