\n\tWhen I woke up on Tuesday, Sept. 11, I thought I was going to head to class at our local community college during my first week of freshman year. I walked into my kitchen and saw my grandmother, who lived on the second floor, nervously washing dishes while she had the news on the TV in the living room. When she saw me, she said somebody had bombed the Twin Towers. I kinda dismissed her and told her that was old news, because terrorists had bombed the Towers a few years earlier. But then I walked into the living room and saw the smoke coming out of the first building that was hit first, and as I stood there watching the live coverage, I saw the second plane hit. <\/p>\n
\n\tThe rest of the day was spent talking with family and friends about what we had witnessed and listening to this album. I sometimes forget how this particular project is so intertwined with this day. It\u2019s a testament to how things like music can help you escape the harsh realities of the world.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Blueprint is Jay-Z<\/a>\u2018s magnum opus. If it dropped in 2026, every song would chart in the Top 40. It\u2019s the closet project of Jay\u2019s to Michael Jackson\u2019s Thriller, because every track on this album could\u2019ve been a single. The Brooklyn rapper had fully crossed over into the mainstream at this point and was thirsty to be anointed the King of New York, which back then meant the King of Rap. With this project, he not only solidified his standing, he took the throne \u2014\u00a0even after ultimately losing his battle with Nas. Regardless how you about the Jigga Man, you have to concede that this is not only one of the most pivotal albums in his career, it\u2019s also one of the pivotal albums in rap history. It set off his beef with Nas and it essentially gave us Ye (formerly known as Kanye West<\/a>), who produced some of the set\u2019s most seismic tracks. <\/p>\n \n\tFor its 25th anniversary, we ranked every track on The Blueprint. Check out our picks below.<\/p>\n \t\u201cJigga That N\u2014a\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tProducer(s): Trackmasters\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThis would be a single and have a nice, shiny video if it came out today. It just has radio written all over it \u2014 and while it might get a bad rap from some fans, this joint rang off during his Yankee Stadium performance. I was right there rapping along with everybody else. However, I will concede that this track is pretty inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, and it\u2019s Blueprint tracks like this that make me rate Reasonable Doubt higher on my personal Jay-Z Albums Ranked list.<\/p>\n \t\u201cIzzo (H.O.V.A.)\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tProducer(s): Ye (formerly Kanye West)\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tJay wearing the Sprewell jersey in the music video remains iconic, but I\u2019ve grown tired of this track over the years. I can appreciate the Jackson 5 lift, and the song\u2019s overall catchiness, but this sometimes is a skip for me. They used give the music video all the time too, so that could be why I usually don\u2019t really pay this any mind. \u201cIzzo\u201d was this project\u2019s lead single and Jay\u2019s first Hot 100 top 10 hit as a lead artist \u2014\u00a0and was also Ye\u2019s coming out party as a producer. So I don\u2019t wanna just dismiss it, but that\u2019s the way I feel about it.<\/p>\n \n\tHe\u2019s going off on this track, though. He gave us quotables like, \u201cUse to dribble down in V.A.,\u201d \u201cShow \u2019em how to move in a room full of vultures\/ Industry shady, it need to be taken over,\u201d \u201cI\u2019m overcharging n\u2014as for what they did to the Cold Crush,\u201d \u201cN\u2014as acting like I sold you crack\/ Like I told you sell drugs\/ No, Hov did that, so hopefully you won\u2019t have to go through that,\u201d and of course, \u201cI\u2019ve seen hoop dreams deflate like a true fiend\u2019s weight.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOkay, so maybe it\u2019s not really as played out as I made it out to be.<\/p>\n \t\u201cAll I Need\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tProducer(s): Bink!<\/p>\n \n\tIt still trips me out that this wasn\u2019t a single. It has all the ingredients just like \u201cJigga That N\u2014a\u201d and \u201cHola\u2019 Hovito\u201d do. The production and hook are made for radio and for the club. He should retroactively make videos for those songs. I think that\u2019s would\u2019ve been cool for the anniversary. Anyway, I\u2019m not gonna die on the \u201cAll I Need\u201d hill. Just know it passes the car test and had a sold-out crowd singing along. Shout out, Bink!. He\u2019s one of the must underrated.<\/p>\n \t\u201cGirls, Girls, Girls, Pt. II\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tProducer(s): Ye (formerly Kanye West)<\/p>\n \n\tI like the Just Blaze version better, but this is still a worthy sequel. Jay\u2019s having fun with the wordplay and isn\u2019t leaning too much on stereotypes like on the first one \u2014\u00a0and then you get early, yet quintessential Kanye production with the way you can hear him punching pads on the MPC he used to make this on. It\u2019s just a beautifully genius way to flip that sample.<\/p>\n \t\u201cBreathe Easy (Lyrical Exercise)\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tProducer(s): Just Blaze<\/p>\n \n\tNever forget how much streaming took so much from us. My friends and I stumbled on this track by complete mistake. We were hotboxing in my sea green \u201989 Honda Accord coupe after playing the album straight through, and were bulls\u2014tting around looking for the next CD to listen to \u2014\u00a0when all of a sudden, we heard the start of this track. Then I remember we went crazy he said he was the \u201cTrinidad of the Game\u201d \u2014 but that line aged like milk because B. Hop beat the breaks off our favorite Bori of the moment a few weeks later. I wanna say that he did this same thing on Vol. 3 when he included \u201cJigga My N\u2014a\u201d and \u201cGirl\u2019s Best Friend\u201d at the end of the bonus cut \u201cAnything.\u201d This was a cool street single and easter egg that I still listen to and remember every word.<\/p>\n \t\u201cThe Ruler\u2019s Back\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tProducer(s): Bink! \t\u201cHola\u2019 Hovito\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tProducer(s): Timbaland<\/p>\n \n\tI always liked this track. It\u2019s another one of those records on this project that would\u2019ve been a single and a video today, now that I look back on it. The formula for a hit record during the early 2000s is all there. You have the upbeat Timbaland beat, the catchy hook, Jay at the top of his game rapping in Spanish; I mean, what more could you ask for? This had Yankee Stadium rocking just like it used to have the club rockin\u2019 back in the day, with everyone in attendance screaming \u201cHola Hovito\u201d in unison in collared shirts and dress shoes.<\/p>\n \t\u201cGirls, Girls, Girls\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tProducer(s): Just Blaze\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tCancel culture would\u2019ve had a field day with this song if it came out today, because of all the stereotypes that he\u2019s leaning on. In fact, he barely performed it during the second night of his Yankee Stadium weekend if I remember correctly. Outdated humor aside, I feel like Just Blaze doesn\u2019t get enough credit for how soulful this beat is. I\u2019ve always felt like it\u2019s one of his best. The chorus is pretty great too, and you know what? Some of these lines are still funny. \u201cMami\u2019s a narcoleptic, she\u2019s always sleepin\u2019 on Hov,\u201d will always get a chuckle out of me. Sue me.<\/p>\n \t\u201cBlueprint (Momma Loves Me)\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tProducer(s): Bink!<\/p>\n \n\tWell, well, well, what do we have here? Yet another beat I bet some casual thinks Ye made. Jay did this type of outro on The Black Album a couple years later on the track \u201cMy 1st Song\u201d where he\u2019s shouting people out in his verses as well. The coolest thing about this song \u2014 and this is something you won\u2019t experience unless you get a physical copy\u00a0\u2014 is that it\u2019s about 11 minutes long because the next two tracks after were hidden at the end of this one. I\u2019ll always love the way Bink! incorporated those organs, and how it makes this track feel like a gospel song.<\/p>\n \t\u201cRenegade\u201d (feat. Eminem)<\/p>\n \n\tProducer(s): Eminem<\/p>\n \n\tThe biggest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the masses that Eminem washed Jay on this track. Now, don\u2019t get me wrong, Slim Shady got off \u2014 especially when you consider he did double duty as the song\u2019s producer \u2014 but some fans seriously underrate Jigga Man\u2019s performance on here. In the first verse, he\u2019s talking crazy to critics of rap music and how they don\u2019t understand the trials and tribulations it took for someone like him to get to where he\u2019s at, and in his second verse, he\u2019s rapping about the dire situation he grew up in. Do you fools listen to music or do you just skim through it?<\/p>\n \t\u201cNever Change\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tProducer(s): Ye (formerly Kanye West)\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe hood f\u2014ks with this record heavy. The loss of 92 bricks aside (I believe him), the somber production coupled with the detailed sincerity in his voice makes this a favorite of those that have been around the things and situations he\u2019s referring to. \u201cNever Change\u201d is a ghetto anthem, I don\u2019t how else to put it. Lines like, \u201cWe all fish, better teach your folk\/ Give him money to eat, the next week, he\u2019s broke\/ \u2018Cause when you sleep, he\u2019s reachin\u2019 for your throat,\u201d \u201cStreets robbed me, wasn\u2019t educated properly,\u201d and \u201cChains are cool to cop, but more important are lawyer fees\u201d are some of the best and memorable lines he ever laid down. And I gotta show love to Ye on the hook. I might get \u201cI\u2019m still f\u2014kin\u2019 with crime, \u2019cause crime pays\/ Out hustlin\u2019, same clothes for days\/ I never change, I\u2019m too stuck in my ways, I\u2019ll never change\u201d tatted in the form of a Dead Sea Scroll one of these days.<\/p>\n \t\u201cHeart of the City (Ain\u2019t No Love)\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tProducer(s): Ye (formerly Kanye West)\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tWhen people mention Kanye\u2019s imprint on this album, I think of this song and \u201cNever Change\u201d before anything else. Jay feeling like he doesn\u2019t get the reverence he deserves is nothing new. He was looked at as the best rapper alive by many during this period, but not to all, so he still had a chip on his shoulder \u2014 and this was him getting in the booth, sighing and wondering why some fans and peers didn\u2019t rock with him like they really should. His nonchalant delivery over Ye\u2019s masterful Bobby Bland flip makes this one of the many standout songs on a classic album.<\/p>\n \t\u201cSong Cry\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tProducer(s): Just Blaze<\/p>\n \n\tAgain, why do we let people act like this is a Kanye album \u2014 and like if it wasn\u2019t for Kanye, this album wouldn\u2019t be as revered as it is today? Just and Bink! are all over this project, alongside the Chicago producer. I\u2019m convince some of you fools don\u2019t read lines notes. This one was a first for Jay, who\u2019d hop on R&B remixes in the past, but had never given us a heartbreak anthem before \u2014\u00a0even if he was gonna get right back after f\u2014kin\u2019 around. This track isn\u2019t as serious as some of the others, but I always felt like it was in the vein of some of his more vulnerable efforts like \u201cYou Must Love Me\u201d\u00a0and \u201cSoon You\u2019ll Understand.\u201d The humorous vulnerability over Just Blaze\u2019s beautiful production\u2026<\/p>\n \t\u201cTakeover\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tProducer(s): Ye (formerly Kanye West)\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tYou just had to be there when word came back from Summer Jam<\/a>. Not only did he infamously put Prodigy (RIP) \u201con that Summer Jam screen\u201d and call out the then-reigning King of New York in Nas, he also brought out Micheal Jackson, who he sampled on the track after this one. It\u2019s really hard to explain how seismic this moment was if you weren\u2019t there in real time. He didn\u2019t perform the whole song during his set, so this was the first time everybody was hearing him going directly at Nas in the last verse. It was an act of war that would set off a battle royale between the Roc and Queensbridge, while changing the course of rap history as we know it. <\/p>\n \n\tWith that being said, I can\u2019t fail to mention how hard this beat is. Ye\u2019s sampling of the Doors\u2019 classic \u201cFive to One\u201d I\u2019m sure put the legendary rock band on the radar for many rap fans who weren\u2019t privy to their work and influence before. This most brilliant sample flips are ones like this \u2014 simple, yet effective \u2014 and it remains one of the more memorable tracks in both Ye\u2019s and Jigga\u2019s catalog. \u201cTakeover\u201d is in the pantheon of all-time great diss songs, and there it will remain.<\/p>\n \t\u201cU Don\u2019t Know\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tProducer(s): Just Blaze\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThis is one of those \u201cI remember where I was and what I was doing\u201d type of songs. I was still sitting out front of the record store in my car when I got to this song. The beat \u2014\u00a0maybe Just Blaze\u2019s best \u2014 the confidence he rapped with, the bars that would eventually become prophecy\u2026 it all blew my mind. It was my favorite song on the album back then, it remains my favorite track, and seeing this ring off live at Yankee Stadium<\/a> was a moment I\u2019ll never forget. Jay laid everything out there and gave cats the blueprint as he really began to ascend to new heights in the business world. <\/p>\n \n\tMy own personal politics aside, it\u2019s always going to be impressive how he did what he\u2019s done while navigating the environment that he\u2019s from. He had me really thinking I was getting to the bag like he was, and had me talking like I was signed to Def Jam and had a clothing line that was clocking millions in annual revenue. I would also like to add that I think it\u2019s pretty fascinating that most of Jigga\u2019s most memorable songs are the non-singles. This track doesn\u2019t even have it\u2019s own Wiki page \u2014 as if it\u2019s not a top 10 song in his catalog.<\/p>\n \t<\/p>\n \t<\/a><\/p>\n Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox<\/p>\n![\"Billboard](\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-billboard-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
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People don\u2019t give Bink the credit he deserves when it comes to this album. Here he and Jay set things off with one of his more triumphant intros, as they pays tribute to Slick Rick by doing their own version of the the classic cut of the same name. I don\u2019t have this in my top five Jay-Z intros, but it was the perfect one to start this particular album with \u2014\u00a0and proved prophetic, because he hasn\u2019t stepped down from rap\u2019s throne since.<\/p>\n