The 500 - #251 - The Blueprint - Jay Z

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #252
Album Title: The Blueprint
Artist: Jay-Z
Genre: East Coast Hip-Hop
Recorded: Two Studios, New York, NY
Released: September, 2001
My age at release: 36
How familiar was I with it before this week: Not at all

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #50, moving up 201 spots since 2012
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: IZZO (H.O.V.A.)

In the mid-’80s, music retailers in remote geographical areas were frustrated. When a new record was released, they would often receive it days after it had made its way to shelves at other stores -- usually those in larger cities with faster postal delivery. To level the playing field record labels decided on Tuesdays as a universal release day. Records and compact discs that arrived before the weekend were kept boxed-up until the store opened on Tuesday morning, giving stores at the end of the supply chain a little extra time to receive their deliveries. Hence, an industry standard - dubbed New Music Tuesday, Record Release Tuesday or New Release Tuesday - was born.

The Blueprint, the sixth studio record, from rapper, songwriter, producer and entrepreneur Jay-Z (born: Shawn Corey Carter), was released on a Tuesday. Unfortunately, it was one of 19 major record releases that were scheduled to hit shelves on September 11, 2001 -- when four planes hijacked by terrorists were flown into the World Trade Centre in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, and a rural field in Pennsylvania. About 3,000 people were killed – and the world was convulsed and changed forever.

Among the other records debuting on that terrible day was Bob Dylan's Love And Theft, which came in at #385 on The 500. I wrote about it in January, 2021. That is a strange coincidence, but not the strangest I've discovered.

The most mind-bending coincidence involved the release of a live recording from the progressive rock band Dream Theatre. Unwittingly titled Live Scenes from New York. The recording was made at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City in August, 2000. Like 18 other records in the works, it, too, was scheduled to arrive in record stores that world-wrenching week 13 months later. The artwork selected for the cover was based on a motif printed on Dream Theatre’s 1992 album, Images and Words, featuring a burning heart wrapped in barbed wire.

Cover to Image and Words, by Dream Theatre 

On Live Scenes From New York, the heart was replaced with a flaming apple wrapped in barbed wire, set against the backdrop of the New York City skyline showing the World Trade Center engulfed in flames.

Original cover of Live Scenes From New York

Given the events of the day, the band/record company panicked and pulled the record from the shelves, to be replaced by a re-issued cover weeks later – before the conspiratorially-minded among us were thrown into a frenzy.

Reissued cover to Live Scenes From New York

The Blueprint, from Jay-Z, required no changes to its cover art. It features an aerial shot, depicting the New York-based rapper smoking a cigar while seated on a table. It was taken by photographer Jonathan Mannion, who shot many of Jay-Z's covers. However, its composition was inspired by the portfolio of British photographer Jocelyn Bain Hogg, who spent 10 years documenting British gangsters in South London for her 2001 exhibit, The Firm.    

Jocelyn Bain Hogg shot on the left, from her The Firm portfolio
Jay-Z inspired, The Blueprint, cover on the right.

The gangster motif Jay-Z selected to emulate was fitting. At the time, Carter, who also goes by the monikers, Hova, El Presidente, Jigga, HOV and The Carter Administration, was awaiting two criminal trials for gun possession and assault. He pleaded not-guilty, but eventually accepted a three-year probationary sentence on a lesser charge of third-degree assault.

Jay Z - early 200s

Jay-Z was also embroiled in a number of "feuds" with other rappers, including Jadakiss, Fat Joe, Nas and Mobb Deep. Takeover, the second song on The Blueprint, features lyrics intended to "disrespect" or "disparage" all four -- a familiar tactic in hip-hop music called a "diss track". The premise presented in the song's lyrics asserted the dominance of Jay-Z and his rap crew, The Roc A-Fella Family, as the best in the genre. Each verse is then dedicated to defaming the skills and reputation of his rivals, who are identified by name within the song.

Promotional photo for Jay-Z and his posse - Roc A-Fella Family

"Diss Tracks" were common in the rap genre at the time and could have real world consequences. Numerous hip-hop feuds have turned violent and several have resulted in death. Consequently, the cover of The Blueprint, depicting Jay-Z as a confident, cigar-smoking gangster, is an intentional part of the fearless and tough image he deliberately portrayed.

Fortunately, with age comes wisdom and cooler heads eventually prevailed. Nas, whose record Illmatic (#402 on The 500) reconciled with Jay-Z in 2005 when the pair performed together at a concert in New Jersey -- fitting neutral grounds for two of the biggest artists to come out of the New York scene in the ‘90s.

Nas (left) and Jay-Z reconcile in New Jersey (2005)

The practise of releasing records on New Music Tuesday came to an end in 2015 when digital downloads became the industry norm. The Blueprint, which was released on that fateful Tuesday in September, 2001, rebounded quickly from understandably poor sales in its first week. It went to the top of the Billboard charts a few weeks later and has been certified platinum three times in the United States -- more than 3 million copies sold. It also moved to the top 50 on the 2020 edition of The 500.

What about Illmatic by Nas?

Well, it jumped 358 spots to land at #41. So, if a quiet beef was still going on, Nas won that battle. Granted, with a combined worth of three billion dollars, Jay-Z and his wife, Beyonce, are likely unconcerned with arbitrary album rankings.

  

The 500 - #402 - Illmatic - Nas

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

(On September 14, 2020, Rolling Stone released an updated version of The 500 List. I am sticking with the 2012 edition and, when I get through it, I'll circle back and discuss the new additions to the list.)

Album # 402

Album Title: Illmatic
Artist: Nas
Genre: East Coast Hip Hop, Hardcore Hip Hop, Jazz Rap
Recorded: Unique Recording Studios, New York City, New York
Released: April, 1994
My age at release: 28
How familiar was I with it before this week: Fairly
Song I am putting on my Spotify Mix: Life's a Bitch

It will likely surprise many who know me, or who have been following my journey through The 500, that I am quite familiar with this record. My taste in music is well documented and "East Coast Hip Hop" is not what most would expect to see under the Jeopardy category: "Things Hodgy Listens To". 

Here's the story: I was an early adopter of the Facebook social media network. My friends are "techie", so we were already on the My Space platform. When Facebook came around in late 2007 we made a quick transition. 

As Facebook gained mainstream popularity, I, like many others, was eager to build my "friend" base and added nearly anyone who asked. Wisely, I did not accept requests from the students in my Grade 8 class. However, less wisely, I agreed to add them post-graduation. I also accepted requests from former students and the parents of any student. Clearly, I hadn't thought this through. Now, my social media world and professional world had been linked, and I had to maintain a "professional teacher presence" at all times. This meant, I had to:

• refrain from commenting on any post that could be considered controversial
• tread lightly when it came to humour and
• remain apolitical (as much as possible).

However, there was one positive. With more than 300 diverse "friends" available for commentary, I could curate a wide range of opinions and ideas when I posed a question about music. Such was the case when, in the summer of 2010, I was preparing for a lengthy road trip (London-Toronto-Ottawa-Albany-Boston-Salem-London) and I posted the following:

"Road Trip Coming Up - Post your favourite song from your favourite album and I'll put it on my playlist."  

I had just purchased my first iPod Touch music player and these were the early days of inexpensive music downloading through iTunes. A world of music was, virtually, at my fingertips.

Responses came in quickly and many were familiar songs already in my collection. Then, I got a direct message (DM) from a brother of a former student -- a person I had never met but, somehow, had been added to my Facebook Friend roster. He wrote..."Anything from Illmatic by Nas. It's the greatest record of all time." 

Over the next few days, we conversed online about the record, hip-hop music and "great records" in general. I agreed to give the album a listen and played it on my computer headphones from YouTube links. At the time, I was working on my Master's Degree, so many weekend days and nights were spent hunched over a keyboard with headphones plugged in.

I didn't like Illmatic at first. Well, I didn't "get it" is probably a better way to contextualize the experience. The lyrics seemed unnecessarily vulgar and the themes appeared to celebrate violence. Then, late one night, the closing section of Life's a Bitch was playing and I found myself lost in the groove and mesmerized by the jazz trumpet that was beautifully layered into the background. The song won me over and I immediately gave it another listen. Slowly, I came around. I wasn't about to put Illmatic in my Top 10, but I was willing to say that I genuinely liked it.

Revisiting this record over the past week has rekindled that flame. This is a terrific album and I better understand the themes Nas was exploring. These are highly personal, first person explorations of the troubled life of an inner-city teenager surrounded by poverty, isolation and the strife created by gang violence. Violence, that Nas managed to minimize through his passion for music.

In 2018, Nas was invited to the Kennedy Centre to perform the entire Illmatic record backed by the National Symphony Orchestra. If you're unfamiliar with East Coast Hip Hop and want an introduction to this terrific record, this performance might be the perfect place to start.

Nas performs Illmatic with the National Symphony Orchestra