The Blueprint 3

Untitled

The Blueprint³ is the eleventh studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, set to be released in September 11, 2009 on Roc Nation. According to Jay-Z, the album will be his last studio release for the Def Jam Recordings label before beginning recording under his record label Live Nation. 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. On May 20, 2009 Jay-Z confirmed that he bought out the remainder of his contract from Def Jam Records to start his contract with Live Nation. Blueprint 3 will be released under Roc Nation. It was reported that the album will be released on Atlantic Records.

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. No news of a new studio album surfaced until Jay-Z stated in an interview that he will be working on The Blueprint³. Production will be handled by hip hop artist Kanye West among others, with Jay-Z serving as the album's executive producer. In terms of production, the album's sound is akin to that of West's recent fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak. However, West clarified that unlike his album, B³ feautures no auto-tune. There were tracks containing auto-tune, but they were removed. The album is the third installment in the The Blueprint series, preceded by the critically acclaimed The Blueprint (2001) and the follow-up The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse (2002).

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. 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. 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. The song has been confirmed as the album's first single and was released as a digital download on September 6, 2008. 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. The following day, the station premiered the full song, exclusively.

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". On June 5, 2009, the album's first street single "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)" debuted on Hot 97. The single was produced by No I.D. and samples a Janko Nilovic song by the name of "In the Space".