Jay-Z, Lil Wayne Talk About Their First Joint Together; Jay Goes All American At NYC Gig

'It's more of a great record than a lyrical slugfest,' Jay says of last-minute addition to his November 6 LP.

NEW YORK — The Mike Jordan of rap says he's coming through in the clutch with his American Gangster album, much like he's done time and time again.

"That's my thing," Jay-Z smiled on Wednesday night at Steiner Studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Jay was there to tape an episode of "VH1 Storytellers," and before showtime, he was scribing some last-minute additions to his November 6 release, including a track called "American Dreaming" that samples Marvin Gaye vocals, and "Hello Brooklyn," which features Lil Wayne.

"I'm the fourth-quarter man," he added. "At the end of the album, I stand up stronger. I made '[I Just Wanna Love U] Give It 2 Me' at the very end of the [recording of The Dynasty: Roc La Familia]. 'PSA' was the last record [I wrote for] The Black Album. I believe in finishing up strong."

"Hello Brooklyn" is the tag-team combination that has been talked about by hip-hop fans for the past year or so, as it features Weezy F. Baby, MTV News' Hottest MC in the Game. What compounds the excitement even more is that the two haven't exactly had the fondest of words for each other in the recent past. Jay described "Hello Brooklyn" as not being a back-and-forth lyrical exercise — like, say "Renegade" or "Black Republican" — but more of a conceptual song.

"[Wayne's camp] sent the record and it was done," Jay elaborated. "So it wasn't like a collaboration thing. It was done already. Gee [Roberson] and [Kyambo] 'Hip Hop' [Joshua], who came from Roc-A-Fella and went on to do great things — I'm very proud of them — manage Wayne. That whole thing came through them. It's more of a great record than a lyrical slugfest. It's more a creative, great record than two guys spitting. 'Success' [another American Gangster track] is more of what people wanna look at when you judge that type of [collaborative] stuff. It's me and Nas going at it."

"Success," Jay explains, is about being at the house of achievement and asking yourself, "Is that it?" "I used to give a sh--," he raps. "Now I give a sh-- more/ Truth be told, I had more fun when I was piss poor/ I'm pissed off/ Is this is what success is all about?/ All this stress, all I got is this big house/ Couple of cars, I don't bring half of them sh--s out."

Nas comes in with lines like, "I climax from paper, then ask, 'Why is life worth living?' "

But back to "Hello Brooklyn." Wayne said the Beastie Boys-sampling "Hello Brooklyn" was actually made for his upcoming album, Tha Carter, Vol. 3. "It was produced by my homeboy Big D a long time ago," he said. "Jay heard the song some type of way, and when he heard it, he said, 'Ask the homie if I can get this.' When I was asked the question, I told them it wasn't even a question — he's got it. Everybody in the world knows how I feel about Jay. ... He's the king, utmost respect.

"The song has a sample on there that says, 'Hello Brooklyn,' " Wayne added. "I made it so that I'm talking to a woman and the woman has the traits of the actual place [where the song is set]. I say, 'She love B.I.G. but she like Tupac, and every time I say, "Jay-Z," she say, "It's the Roc." ' Me not being from Brooklyn, I think it's cool because you always wanna know what an outsider thinks of your place."

Just like Wayne called Jay a "king," Hov proved that he is the reigning king of BK when he was treated like royalty at his hometown show on Wednesday night. He had plenty to share during his "Storytellers" set, during which he performed seven songs from his new album and told the story behind them for an audience that featured Beyoncé, Beanie Sigel and L.A. Reid. Songs included "Blue Magic," during which a female audience member came out of the stands and did the Wop with Jay, and "Party Life," for which Hov specifically requested red lighting, because the song reminds him of old-school house-parties. "Hola Hovito, cooler than zee-ro, bee-low/ Fresh one blade, no chemo," he rapped. "Art with no easel, please there's no equal/ Your boy's off the wall, these other n---as is Tito."

"The band is great," he said earlier in the night of his accompanying musicians. "I went to Puff and snatched up a couple of his people 'cause he ... and Snoop [recently] went on an international tour. I know him, he's like a drill sergeant. He put them through the wringer. So I knew they would be ready. I didn't have to do much. I just let them hear the songs, and they learned the songs in one day."

Jay and his band, which he dubbed "The Roc Boys" on Wednesday night, will be going to several major cities at the start of November for a promo run. Next year, probably in the spring, he wants to do a full tour, hopefully with his roster of Roc-A-Fellas.

"We're slowly getting our legs to make another run," Jigga said, before rattling off the label's recent and upcoming releases. "First Kanye, then my record, then Free and Beans. [Memphis] Bleek's got a smoker out there. We're gearing up for Tru-Life at the beginning of the year, and [to] make that Dynasty 2 [album]."

It looks like one person will be added to Jay's dynasty soon: The LOX's Jadakiss is apparently on the way to Roc-A-Fella/ Def Jam by way of Ruff Ryders. "It's not done," Jay said of the deal. But, he added, "It's about 90 percent [complete]."

Jay-Z Organizes American Gangster Shows For Early November

Hov maps out five dates at intimate venues; first will be held day of album release.

Like any good businessman — or, better yet, record-company president — Jay-Z understands the laws of supply and demand. So with his latest album, American Gangster, on its way November 6, and the streets and Web abuzz over "Blue Magic" and "Roc Boys (And the Winner Is ...)," the first two tracks to surface from the LP, the savvy rapper decided to take it to the road to quench his thirsty fans.

On Monday (October 22), Def Jam announced Hovito's first dates in support of the LP. Jay has lined up five dates at intimate venues across the country, beginning with a show at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, California, the date American Gangster hits shelves.

Immediately after the California stop, Jay will make a quick jaunt to the Midwest with a show in Chicago (November 7), also at the House of Blues. After that, he'll rally for an East Coast swing through Baltimore at Rams Head Live! (November 9); New York's Hammerstein Ballroom (November 11); and the Fillmore in Philadelphia (November 12).

Jay is currently putting the finishing touches on the album, which he has said he was inspired to make after watching the upcoming Denzel Washington flick of the same name. He told The New York Times last month that as he has been recording the album, it's as if "I was watching the film and putting it on pause and giving a back story to the story. Watching that film, it brought back all these memories. It took me back to those emotions."

For his project, he's logged studio time with a lot of producers: Diddy and the Hitmen, Pharrell, Just Blaze, DJ Toomp, Sean C. and LV, No ID and Jermaine Dupri. Nas was originally slated to be the only guest on American Gangster, but Beanie Sigel and Lil Wayne are also reportedly making contributions to it as well. Timbaland is among a number of producers still trying to elbow their way onto the project.

Jay-Z recently revealed to MTV News that he was planning a larger-scale tour during the summer, with a band backing him onstage.

"I look forward to touring with American Gangster, 'cause of the musicality," he said.

Jay-Z Regrets 'Retirement'; Plus Beanie Sigel, Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love, Naomi Watts, Paris Hilton & More, In For The Record

Prosecutors withdraw charges against Sigel; Love executive-producing Cobain biopic; Watts is one for the 'Birds' flick.


If you thought Jay-Z was a little premature in announcing his "retirement" four years ago, you're not alone. The hip-hop mogul admits in a new interview with XXL that he "pulled the retirement ripcord too many times." He added, "I want to never say that again. ... People looking at me like, 'Please shut up.' I was looking at [my retirement movie] 'Fade to Black' the other day. I was embarrassed. I couldn't watch. I'm not playing with you. I had to turn it off. I was cringing." On November 6, Jay-Z will issue American Gangster LP — the second album he has put out since making the "retirement" announcement in 2003. ...

Prosecutors in Philadelphia have withdrawn charges against Beanie Sigel after the rapper resolved a dispute over a rental car he had kept long past its return date, The Associated Press reports. Sigel (born Dwight Grant) had rented a 2007 Nissan Altima from Payless Car Rental in July but didn't return the vehicle by its August 13 due date. He also failed to contact the rental company. The car was reported stolen September 6 and was later returned October 5, just as detectives headed to Sigel's home to inquire about the car. Sigel has accumulated $5,000 in late fees, but he has since paid them, which caused prosecutors to withdraw the charges. ...

A Kurt Cobain biopic based on "Heavier Than Heaven," the widely praised 2001 biography of the late Nirvana singer written by Seattle journalist Charles Cross, will be executive produced by Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, according to Variety. The script for the yet-untitled film is slated to be written by "Kite Runner" screenwriter David Benioff, and Universal Pictures is funding the film. The producers have not addressed whether they have the rights to Nirvana's music for the film or which parts of Cobain's life it will cover. ...

Naomi Watts has officially pecked her way into the "Birds" remake, Variety reports. The actress is the first castmember to be announced for the new take on the Alfred Hitchcock classic, while "Casino Royale" director Martin Campbell is reportedly in talks to helm the flick, which will be produced by Michael Bay and is eyeing a 2009 theatrical release. Watts will play Melanie Daniels, a role originally taken on by Tippi Hedren, who recently sounded off to MTV about her distaste for the controversial project. ... What would Fashion Week in Southern California be like without Paris Hilton? The heiress helped close out Petro Zillia's closing show, dubbed "So L.A.," Thursday night in Culver City — although she apparently missed her sister Nicky's spring Chick collection earlier in the week. ...

Bruce Springsteen, Joss Stone, KT Tunstall, Bob Dylan and others are featured on Serve2, a recently released Hard Rock International compilation disc that benefits the Artists Against Hunger & Poverty arm of the World Hunger Year project. Unreleased tracks by those artists — plus Mat Kearney, O.A.R., the Hold Steady and more — will be featured on the set, which is available at Hard Rock Cafes. ... In addition to reuniting for some upcoming shows in November, it appears the Verve have been busy cooking up some new tunes, with the possibility of a new album in 2008. Bassist Simon Jones wrote in his blog that among the band's first new tracks in a decade are the songs "Sit and Wonder," "Judas," "Appalachian Springs," "Mona Lisa" and "Rather Be." ... U.K. shoegazers Swervedriver are also re-forming, bringing their 10-year hiatus to a close. The group is planning a worldwide tour for early next year. ... American Music Club will deliver The Golden Age — their second post-reunion effort, in fact — February 5. The track list hasn't been revealed yet. ...

Hellyeah have set November 13 as the release date for "Below the Belt," their new live DVD. The set will feature footage from the day the hard-rockers got together for the first time, along with performance footage from the making of their album, their first studio sessions and live clips from their world tour. The DVD will also boast personal interviews, as well as a few surprises. ... Irate Aerosmith fans are filing a lawsuit against the band for nixing its September 26 concert on the Hawaiian island of Maui last month, according to The Honolulu Advertiser. The class-action suit claims the band bailed from the sold-out show so it could play a bigger one in Chicago instead; that the late cancellation was unnecessary; and that it caused many fans to lose money they spent — somewhere between $500,000 and $3 million in total — on plane tickets, car rentals and hotels. The suit was filed on behalf of all ticket holders, and, under state law, plaintiffs could be eligible for triple their losses in damages and up to $5,000 if age 62 or over. ...

Stone Roses mastermind Ian Brown is giving his music a classical makeover by enlisting an orchestra to rework his hits. The singer's fifth solo release, The World Is Yours, was released last month, and Brown plans to play a set of classical concerts to put an interesting twist on his famous works. More details will be revealed in the coming weeks. ... Eels are putting out a 10th anniversary best-of set and a collection of rarities, both of which will feature a DVD and land in stores January 15. The sets will be called Meet the Eels: Essential Eels Vol. 1, 1996-2006 and Eels Useless Trinkets: B-Sides, Soundtracks, Rarities and Unreleased 1996-2006. ...

South African reggae star Lucky Dube was shot and killed in an apparent carjacking attempt on Thursday in Johannesburg, South Africa. AP reports that Dube, 43, died when he tried to drive away during the incident and crashed into a tree after being shot twice by two unknown male assailants. Dube's son had reportedly gotten out of the car shortly before the singer was shot.

10.18.07

Jessica Simpson gets physical in the new issue of InStyle, breaking out her trainer's plan to "get your best body now!" But she turns inward as well, telling the magazine for its November issue — which hits racks Friday (check out the full cover here) — that, "I was the princess in the fairy tale — then reality came crashing in, and I learned that isn't always how life works." She insisted that "I am in complete control of my life" after going through her divorce with Nick Lachey and, while she didn't call out ex-boyfriend John Mayer by name, she did reveal, "I've had my heart broken since my divorce. That's OK. I believe you fall in love more than once and get your heart broken more than once. Trust me, I have cried myself to sleep." ...

Kanye West isn't exactly the kind of guy who needs an ego boost, but Jennifer Lopez and Pharrell puffed him up a bit anyway in recent interviews with MTV Europe. J. Lo says she finds West "to be a very smart businessman" and that his album faceoff with 50 Cent was "clever." "I think it's fun for publicity. ... It was really about a healthy competition between two amazing artists," said the singer — whose new album, Brave, unfortunately hasn't been faring too well in record stores. Pharrell is cheering West's Graduation — when asked if he's happy for West's success, the super-producer replied, "Absolutely. That album is a classic: flawless production; lyrically, he absolutely, absolutely took himself to another level. ... He is in the clouds with that album." ...

While he was at it, Pharrell also championed an entirely different musical act — Swedish garage-rockers the Hives, who he teamed with for their November 13 release, The Black and White Album. "Those are my guys," he said. "[They're] fun, they're smart, they have a great image, they love music." Pharrell, who knows a thing or two about turning the knobs, said he actually picked up a few tips from Hives frontman Pelle Almqvist. "Forget about it. He knows everything. I'm in the studio learning things from him." ...

While 50 may still be stinging from the aforementioned chart battle, he's reportedly moving on to something else — a new G-Unit project. The group has pegged December 18 as the release date for their sophomore effort, Shoot to Kill, and Funkmaster Flex will premiere the first single, "Wanna Lick" (featuring Lil' Kim), Friday on Hot 97, according to XXL magazine. "Cancel Christmas, it's over," 50 told the mag in regards to the much-anticipated release. ...

Sorry, Mariah fans — looks like her new album isn't coming out this year after all. While her record label confirmed that her yet-untitled follow-up to The Emancipation of Mimi would be dropping December 4, a label representative now says Carey is still recording and the date has not been solidified. ... Wyclef Jean performed a handful of tunes at a charity-poker event on Tuesday in New York. He played some hits and gave renditions of two traditional songs as well: "La Bamba" (Mexico) and "Guantanamera" (Cuba). Thrice, Joey Fatone, Boyz II Men and others attended the Vail Hold'Em Poker Event for Your Cause, which involved celebrities competing to win money for their charities of choice. More than $250,000 was raised. ...

Alicia Keys, KT Tunstall, Earth, Wind & Fire, Annie Lennox, Juanes, Junoon and Melissa Etheridge will perform at the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Concert slated for December 11 in Norway. Al Gore picked Etheridge for the event, which will serve as a salute to him and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for their efforts to raise awareness about climate change. Gore and the panel won the Nobel Peace Prize last week. ... Speaking of Lennox, she got an unusual scare at her Tuesday concert in Boulder, Colorado, when a man wearing a gas mask and a cape turned up in the crowd toward the end of her show, according to "Access Hollywood." The singer reportedly dropped the mic and booked it backstage without addressing the crowd, though she returned to the stage after the man was removed. "That was really freakish and disturbing, whatever the hell it was. He owes me and my band a f---ing apology," Lennox lashed out on her blog. The man's name hasn't been released, since he has not been charged with a crime, and it's unclear if he will be, as he didn't actually get onstage. ...

Are Rihanna and Josh Hartnett an item? One would be led to think so after seeing the "30 Days of Night" actor's Thursday appearance on "The Morning Show With Mike and Juliet." When the hosts asked him to address rumors that he's dating Rih Rih, he started smiling and stuttering heavily. "No, no, come on, you guys," he said. "We weren't supposed to talk about these sort of things, were we? I thought we were going to come out here and talk about the movie. ... I can't really respond to things like that, because if I start responding to them, then everybody wants a response on everything." ... Francis Ford Coppola unleashed: The director is ripping into two of his "Godfather" actors, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, as well as Jack Nicholson, telling GQ that the Oscar-winners have become too apathetic. "They all live off the fat of the land," the esteemed director said, adding that he doesn't know "what any of them want anymore." The interview is featured in GQ's November issue, which hits newsstands Tuesday. ...

Radiohead will be chasing Rainbows — well, technically, their new album, In Rainbows — with an international tour next year, Billboard.com reports. The band is reportedly planning to hit the tarmac in May and continue playing sizeable venues through the end of the year. The trek would be unusual given that frontman Thom Yorke has voiced his distaste for international touring in the past, and the band played only select shows in the U.S. and Europe in summer 2006. ... Bruce Springsteen continued to speak out about his political beliefs at his Thursday night show at New York's Madison Square Garden, sounding off about wiretapping and infringements on the Bill of Rights. He also made an elliptical reference before performing the title track to his new Magic LP, saying the song was "not about magic but about tricks." Bono, Jon Stewart, James Gandolfini and R.E.M.'s Mike Mills were in attendance, RollingStone.com reports. ...

Josh Homme says Queens of the Stone Age could "blow through a whole record quick" with their new roster, according to Billboard.com. "Queens sounds better than it ever has live, but we're trying to figure out how to tour and how to [write and record], 'cause I think for everyone right now, the idea of creating something is even more enticing than going on the road," he told the site. In addition to Homme, the QOTSA lineup includes multi-instrumentalist Troy Van Leeuwen and drummer Joey Castillo, who joined the entourage in 2002, and two musicians who hooked up with the band earlier this year — keyboardist Dean Fertita, who has also toured with the Raconteurs, and Wires on Fire bassist Michael Shuman. ...

Johnny Marr, former guitarist for the Smiths and current axeman for Modest Mouse, has a new handle: professor of music. Manchester, England's University of Salford has given Marr the honorary title and tapped him to host workshops on music composition and performance, according to U.K. newspaper The Guardian. ... If you thought the Led Zeppelin roller coaster being constructed for the Hard Rock Park was out there, wait till you hear what else is in store: a mock Mount Rushmore sculpture called "Mount Rockmore" and featuring the likenesses of Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Bob Marley and Elvis Presley. The 50-acre park — located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina — is set to open in the spring. ...

John Goodman left the Promises Malibu Alcohol and Drug Rehab Treatment Facility in Southern California — the rehab center where Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan also stayed — after being treated there for an undisclosed reason and undisclosed period of time, The Associated Press reports. The actor "took the necessary steps to remain sober the rest of his life," according to a statement issued by his publicist, Stan Rosenfield. Goodman earned an Emmy Award this year for his part in "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." ...

Joey Bishop, a comedian who was a member of Frank Sinatra's famed Rat Pack, died Wednesday night in Newport Beach, California, of multiple causes, AP reports. The actor, who appeared in the original "Ocean's Eleven" movie, was 89. ... AP also reports that Deborah Kerr, an actress who appeared in "The King and I" and "From Here to Eternity," died Tuesday in England after battling Parkinson's disease. She was 86.

Kanye West And Jim Jones Paying Tribute To Jay-Z Online, Thanks To Dame Dash? It's Odd, No Doubt

Dash and Kareem 'Biggs' Burke recently slipped out Beyond a Reasonable Doubt on their new social-networking site.

NEW YORK — Dame Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke laughed on Monday (October 15) when they came up with a new crew name on the spot: "Block-A-Fella." The "Block" in question refers to their new social-networking Web site, BlockSavvy.com, which has also served as a platform for Dame to blog and, maybe most significantly, resurrect Roc-A-Fella Records material from when Dash and Burke were tight with Jay-Z.

They were so tight that a few years ago, Dame wanted to pay tribute to his onetime inseparable buddy by having several artists on the label remake some of Hov's tunes from his various albums. The project was called Beyond a Reasonable Doubt.

"We made this a while ago when [we still co-owned] Roc-A-Fella," said Dame, who later formed the Dame Dash Music Group with Burke after the three principal players sold their remaining 50 percent stake of the label to its parent label, Island Def Jam, in December 2004.

"We got Juelz [Santana] ... Young Gunz ... Rell, Jimmy Jones, Kanye West, Beanie [Sigel]," Biggs added of the Beyond a Reasonable Doubt collection.

(Hear the tribute tracks for yourself! Check out reworked versions of the Reasonable Doubt cuts "Politics as Usual," "Regrets" and "Can I Live," as well as a new rendition of the In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 song "You Must Love Me.")

"At the time, I was looking for platforms to showcase the artists," Dash chimed in. "This was my [mental] state three, four years ago. I was always looking for projects to showcase the artists and move as a team. We had the talent. Cam'ron did a record too. Everybody did renditions of Jay songs. Some from Reasonable Doubt, some from other records."

The entire project was sparked by the original Reasonable reaching a milestone, its 10th anniversary, last year.

"Honestly, Reasonable Doubt was very important to us — despite the fact that people are paying homage to it without us, and I'm seeing stuff on television," Dash said, referring to the "VH1 Classic Albums" episode that broke down the making of the classic Jigga debut. "[But] we're not getting interviewed, which is cool.

"It's a piece of us. It's the only thing we still own that has anything to do with Roc-A-Fella," he continued. "So back then, and being a part of the DNA of Roc-A-Fella, I was always trying to figure out a way to celebrate it. I knew the 10th anniversary was coming up. I said, 'Let's do an album with all the relevant artists doing a rendition of Jay records.' But Jay said he didn't like it, so we scrapped it. ... You know what it was, he said the best record was Jimmy's, so he didn't want to put it out."

Although there aren't any current plans to release the album conventionally in stores, the duo have posted the project up on their Web site.

"We felt like we might as well, why not?" Dame shrugged. "I don't know, I'm living more on the virtual/digital side."

When he thinks back a decade, to the making of Hov's first LP, Dame tells the story of how a couple of decisions and maybe one or two missed studio sessions could have changed history.

"Nas and AZ was supposed to be on 'Bring It On,' they kept not showing up," Dash recalled. "That's when we wanted to put out the Firm. They didn't show up. We was meeting and they was saying, 'Yeah,' but they wasn't showing up. We would be waiting and we would be getting offended. So we brought Sauce [Money] and [Big] Jaz on the song."

"Jay didn't want to rap over that beat," Biggs offered of "Can't Knock the Hustle," "but I called him and said he should rap over the beat, because it would come out hot regardless."

"He didn't want to do it, so I had to get Mary J. [Blige], and [I] gave her 10 grand out of a paper bag," Dash added. "She did it for us. I knew her when she was young."

Some of the tracks on Beyond a Reasonable Doubt feature Cam'ron rapping over "Show You How" — which appeared on The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse — while another has Beanie Sigel redoing In My Lifetime, Vol. 1's "Where I'm From" and Freeway taking on "Politics as Usual."

"It was so ill, because he was talking about struggles in the street," Biggs said about the Jay-Z original. "We did that song before Jacob [the Jeweler] was out. Remember the line, 'to Tito in the district'? When we really started buying jewelry, we would go to Tito. Everything about Reasonable Doubt was [the] reverse of what you think. Like 'Can't Knock the Hustle' — he wasn't talking about hustling, he was talking about the music business [being] the hustle. He was talking to everybody else like, 'Don't knock us.' 'Cause that's the new hustle. That's why it's so funny — people don't understand the genesis. It was representation of us and our life together. 'Regrets' was my favorite song on the album. I liked 'Regrets' and 'Cashmere Thoughts.' He wasn't gonna put 'Cashmere Thoughts' on there — he only put it on there 'cause it was my favorite."

" 'Dead Presidents II' was mine," Biggs said of his favorite Reasonable Doubt track.

Biggs and Dash's post-Roc life, as you know, has also involved fashion and films. Their most current project is "Mr. Untouchable," an upcoming documentary on the life of Harlem, New York, drug kingpin Nicky Barnes that arrives in theaters October 26.

But as far as music goes, it's still up in the air how many more albums Biggs and Dash will put out. They don't see the biz being lucrative anymore.

"We got heat. Nicole Wray's album [Lovechild] is hot, ODB's album [A Son Unique] is hot," Dash said of the label's two LPs, which have been kicking around for quite some time but haven't been officially released. "Everybody acts like they doing us a favor by putting it out.

"We got deals everywhere," he added when asked about a recent deal he struck with Koch Records to distribute his music. "It's not about the deal, it's about the frustration and hassle. We turned into real business men. We're here to make money, and it seems like the money ain't there."

The Blueprint: The Gift & the Curse (2002)

Main article: The Blueprint: The Gift & the Curse

Jay-Z's next solo album was 2002's 4 million (USA only) selling The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse a double-album. It was later reissued in a single-disc version, The Blueprint 2.1, which retained half of the tracks from the original and went on to sell a further 800,000 copies. The album spawned two massive hit singles, "Excuse Me Miss" and "'03 Bonnie and Clyde" featuring Jay-Z's girlfriend of four years Beyoncé Knowles. "Guns & Roses", a track featuring Lenny Kravitz, and "Hovi Baby" were two successful radio singles as well. The album also features the tracks "A Dream", featuring Faith Evans and a recording of the late The Notorious B.I.G.; and "The Bounce", featuring Kanye West (who, at that time, was not yet an artist). The Blueprint 2.1 features tracks that do not appear on The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse, such as "Stop", "La La La (Excuse Me Again)", "What They Gonna Do, Part II" and "Beware" produced by and featuring Panjabi MC.

The Blueprint (2001)

Main article: The Blueprint

2001's The Blueprint is considered by many to be one of hip hop's "classic" albums, receiving the coveted "5 mic" review from The Source magazine. Released on September 11, 2001, the album managed to debut at #1, selling more than 450,000 albums in its first week. The success of the album was overshadowed by the terrorist attacks that same day. The Blueprint was applauded for its production and the balance of "mainstream" and "hardcore" rap, receiving recognition from both audiences. Eminem was the only guest artist on the album, producing and rapping on the single "Renegade". Four of the 13 tracks on the album were produced by Kanye West and represents one of West's first major breaks in the industry. The Blueprint also includes the popular "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" and "Takeover", a song that takes on rivals Prodigy of Mobb Deep and Nas. The Blueprint has obtained a 2x Platinum status in the US. This album was the first album not to feature Amil, which was dropped in late 2000 because of a feud between Jay-Z/Roc-A-Fella and herself, caused of her meager album sales and her gain of weight, since his breakthrough album Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life.

The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2000)

Main article: The Dynasty: Roc La Familia

The subject of much criticism, praise, popularity, condemnation, and discussion, Jay-Z decided to begin developing other artists. Around 2000, he and Damon Dash signed various artists (including "Dynasty" members Amil, Beanie Sigel and Memphis Bleek) and began introducing them to the public. He next appeared on The Dynasty: Roc La Familia, which was intended as a compilation album to introduce these new artists, though the album had Jay-Z's name on it to strengthen market recognition and by extension, sales. This strategy worked to an extent - The Dynasty: Roc La Familia sold over 2 million units in the US alone.