The Blueprint³ is the eleventh studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, set to be released in September 2009 on Def Jam Recordings.[1] According to Jay-Z, the album will be his last studio release for the Def Jam label before beginning recording under his record label Live Nation.[2] Hip hop artist Kanye West, who served as the album's co-producer, stated in an interview that it would be released in February 2009, although the record was not actually released then.[3] The true release date is still unknown.
Background
The initial hype over The Blueprint³ came when DJ Clue released a mixtape song called "Ain't I", produced by Timbaland. In the intro, Clue said, "Off that Blueprint 3 baby!" However, a spokesperson for Jay-Z said that the song was an older, unreleased Jay-Z song and that the recording of Blueprint 3 had not yet started.[4] No news of a new studio album surfaced until Jay-Z stated in an interview that he will be working on The Blueprint³.[5] Production will be handled by hip hop artist Kanye West among others, with Jaym's executive producer. The album is the third installment in the The Blueprint series,[6] preceded by the critically acclaimed The Blueprint (2001) and the follow-up The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse (2002).[7]
Timbaland originally said he was producing the whole album; however, Kanye West flew to Germany to meet Jay-Z and gave him a CD containing approximately 15 beats. West later flew to Hawaii where Jay-Z was working and from there they finished most of the album.[8] The collaboration was later confirmed on August 6, 2008 by Kanye West and Jay-Z onstage during the former's Glow in the Dark Tour.[9] Jay-Z was called onto the stage by West to perform "Jockin' JAY-Z" along with West. On August 22, 2008, the song "Swagga Like Us" was leaked onto the Internet. A music video for the song is confirmed to be shot in the near future. Although rapper T.I. revealed that the song would be featured on his album, Paper Trail, Jay-Z assured it will be included in The Blueprint 3.[10] The song has been confirmed as the album's first single and was released as a digital download on September 6, 2008.[11] On November 5, 2008, Jay-Z previewed a clip of the song "History", in honor of Barack Obama's presidential victory, on the Hot 97 radio station in New York during the Angie Martinez Show.[12] The following day, the station premiered the full song, exclusively.[13]
On January 22, 2009, Jay-Z announced that he is still working on the album, aiming for it to be perfect, stating "I wanna make it beyond and above. I'm gonna take my time with it. I don't have any quotas, and that's a good thing. It may be too freeing. It's a good thing and a bad thing. You know, I think I need some restrictions".[14]
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