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30-869: Ries and Muhammad had been friends since they were youths on the block (C-Ave). On "Takeover", a track from his 2001 album The Blueprint , Jay-Z announced the duo as "Chris & Neef". In 2002, the duo performed on the State Property soundtrack album. Chris and Neef starred in the titular movie. Also during this period of their career, Young Chris appeared throughout Dame Dash's Dream Team compilation, and Beanie Sigel's The Reason . The duo performed together on guest appearances for albums like Jay-Z's The Blueprint 2 , Freeway's Philadelphia Freeway , State Property's The Chain Gang Vol. 2 , and Memphis Bleek's M.A.D.E. ; all while recording their album. The Young Gunz scored their first hit with "Can't Stop, Won't Stop",

60-504: A freestyle of their own. Surprisingly, Chris & Neef started a beef with actor, comedian and rapper, Katt Williams . This beef stemmed from "Set It Off" by the Young Gunz, in which they called a character from a movie that Katt Williams played as, a "fake ass pimp." This beef was encouraged by The Game as he and Katt dissed the two on a Freestyle over their own "Set It Off" beat. As early as March 2006, Young Chris thought about recording

90-427: A major stylistic shift in hip hop production towards a more Soulcentric and sample-reliant sound, creating a number of imitators who attempted to emulate the album's atmospheric style. Prior to The Blueprint , mainstream hip-hop producers had largely eschewed music sampling in favor of the keyboard-driven Timbaland sound (characterized by a shifting, syncopated rhythm, similar to samba or jungle music ), due to

120-404: A public beef and a war of words with West Coast rapper , The Game . The feud stems from The Game's beef with Memphis Bleek , which escalated into a beef with the entire Roc-A-Fella camp with the exception of Kanye West , Jay-Z and Just Blaze . The Game dissed Bleek and The Young Gunz on his 15-minute freestyle track "300 Bars and Runnin'". The Young Gunz, along with Pooda Brown, responded with

150-426: A solo album. He initially titled it Now or Never . He stated to XXL magazine that he wanted to release a solo album by the end of 2008 and had been "95 percent done" by June 2008. In this article, Chris also states that he feels himself up there with Lil Wayne and Juelz Santana . Since this time, Chris has taken to the internet to solidify himself as a top solo artist, with his YoungChris.com Social Network, hitting

180-412: A vocal sample on almost every track from such artists as Al Green , Bobby "Blue" Bland , David Ruffin and The Jackson 5 . Exceptions include " Jigga That Nigga ", "Hola Hovito", and " Renegade ", a track produced by and featuring the rapper Eminem, and the only track on the album featuring another rapper on verses. In late August, Jay-Z announced a September–October tour in small venues. Because of

210-522: Is reported that the latter song features uncredited vocals by Michael Jackson . The final track as a whole is 12:07. On the iTunes Store , however, these bonus tracks are released as separate tracks, thus making the album 15 tracks long. On the vinyl edition, there are no long gaps between the songs, but they are not printed on the back of the album jacket or record label. Shipments figures based on certification alone. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. Fred

240-679: Is the sixth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z , released on September 11, 2001, through Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings . Its release was set a week earlier than initially planned in order to combat bootlegging . Recording sessions for the album took place during 2001 at Manhattan Center Studios and Baseline Studios in New York City. Contrasting the radio-friendly sound of Jay-Z's previous work, The Blueprint features soul -based sampling and production handled primarily by Kanye West , Just Blaze , and Bink , as well as Timbaland , Trackmasters , and Eminem , who also contributes

270-421: The early days of the pandemic , and by April 6, 2020, his fever had abated in hospital, according to his publicist and his Instagram account. His wife told media on April 9 that she was concerned he was going to die, but the next day, said he was "going to make it", and was being weaned from a ventilator . Thomas died at Montefiore Medical Center on April 23, 2020, due to complications of COVID-19. He

300-528: The Just Blaze -produced "Friday Night". Tough Luv debuted on the Billboard 200 at #3 after selling 128,000 copies in its first week. That week, the album at #2 was labelmate Kanye West 's debut album The College Dropout , which was released just two weeks earlier. After a brief hiatus, the duo returned with Swizz Beatz produced "Set It Off" from their second album, Brothers from Another . This albums, which

330-624: The September 11 attacks occurring on the same day the album was released, the first two performances were rescheduled. Chicago, San Francisco , and Los Angeles were subsequently added, and Jay-Z donated to relief organizations one dollar of the cost of each ticket sold for the tour. The photograph on the album's cover, taken by Jonathan Mannion , was inspired by one from The Firm , a series by Jocelyn Bain Hogg depicting organized crime in Britain . Instead of

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360-481: The answer song , "Monique's Room". He released two additional mixtapes in 2020, Training Day in January with Jay Pharoah , and Payback , released on March 20, 2020, which would be his last release before his death from COVID-19 one month later. Thomas was married to LeeAnn Jemmott; they had two daughters. Thomas was reported to be suffering from acute asthma and kidney problems, after contracting COVID-19 during

390-674: The Godson Frederick Thomas (February 22, 1985 – April 23, 2020), known as Fred the Godson , was an American DJ and rapper from The Bronx , New York . He was the first high-profile hip hop personality to have died from COVID-19 in April 2020; the early stages of the pandemic. Frederick Thomas was born on February 22, 1985, and grew up in The Bronx, New York City . He gained an early nickname of "Big Bronx". He started freestyling in

420-484: The U.S. Sales stand at 2.7 million as of February 2012. Notes Samples As with Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter , Jay-Z put two hidden bonus tracks at the end of the final track. "Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)" is 3:41 by itself. Twenty-five seconds of silence follows after and the bonus track "Breathe Easy (Lyrical Exercise)" begins. That song fades and is immediately followed by "Girls, Girls, Girls (Part 2)". It

450-581: The Year Best Album of the 2000s Top Album Best Album of the Decade Greatest Album of All Time In spite of its release coinciding with the 9/11 attacks , The Blueprint sold over 427,000 copies in its opening week, becoming Jay-Z's fourth consecutive album to reach number one on the Billboard 200 chart. It was certified double platinum as sales stand at over two million units in

480-558: The album was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant," becoming the first entry created in the 21st century. The Blueprint was reportedly cut in two weeks, with Jay-Z recording nine songs in two days. At the time, he was awaiting two criminal trials for gun possession and assault . He

510-418: The album's sole guest feature. At the time of the album's recording, Jay-Z was awaiting two criminal trials, one for gun possession and another for assault, and had become one of hip hop's most dissed artists, receiving insults from rappers such as Nas , Prodigy , and Jadakiss . The album is also notable for both its producers Kanye West and Just Blaze's breakouts as major producers. West produced four of

540-509: The album's soul-based soundscape. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time as well as one of the greatest albums ever made in general. Despite its release coinciding with the September 11 attacks , it sold over 427,000 copies in its opening week and debuted at number one in the US, holding the spot for three weeks. It was later certified 3× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA . In 2018,

570-775: The early 2000s. Thomas's music was characterized by his husky voice, humorous wordplay , and creative rhymes. In the early-2010s, he released two mixtapes; his debut was Armageddon in 2010, featuring samples of The Notorious B.I.G. , Busta Rhymes and Cam'ron . His second release, City of God , was one of a series for DJ Drama's Gangsta Grillz, and featuring Pusha T and Raekwon . In 2011, XXL included him in its annual Freshman class of up-and-comers. Between 2011 and 2020, Thomas released music and performed regularly, guest DJ-ing on New York radio station based in Hudson Hot 97 , and collaborated with artists including Pusha T, Jadakiss , Cam'ron, and Raekwon, as well as releasing

600-469: The financial and legal issues associated with copyright laws. The Blueprint , however, revived musical sampling as a common practice in hip hop music and dislodged the digital keyboard-driven production style as the dominant sound in hip-hop music. West would later incorporate some of the production and sampling techniques he used on this album into his own solo albums. Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "One of

630-425: The greatest poets ever to pick up a mic released his magnum opus in 2001. One retirement and one un-retirement later, it's still his finest hour." In 2003, The Blueprint was ranked number 464 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time ; in a revised list in 2012, it was ranked number 252; in the 2020 revised list, the album was ranked number 50. Pitchfork named The Blueprint

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660-676: The lead-off single from the Chain Gang, Vol. 2 album. Its song and video received major airplay on hip-hop radio, MTV2 , and BET and reached #14 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and #6 on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart. After the success of their single, "Can't Stop, Won't Stop", the label jumped and was ready to release their debut album, Tough Luv . It included the remix to "Can't Stop, Won't Stop", which featured St. Louis rapper Chingy . Singles included "No Better Love" featuring former Roc-A-Fella Records crooner Rell and

690-490: The remix circuit, and his much anticipated "The Network" Mixtape series, hosted by DJ Don Cannon . Later in 2010 signed with Division 1, a label started by Rico Love, under the Universal/Motown umbrella. Rico considers Young Chris his flagship artist, working closely with Chris on his debut album and pre-album/mixtape. The mixtape, called "The Re-Introduction", was released on November 20, 2010. The aptly titled mixtape gives

720-413: The second best album of 2000–2004, and in 2010, it ranked fifth on their Top 200 Albums of the 2000s list. It is ranked at number 4 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Best Albums of the 2000s". The album received a perfect "XXL" rating from XXL magazine in a 2007 retrospective article. The Blueprint was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . Album of

750-441: The spotlight to a newly signed Young Chris, as a solo artist, and also, re-introduces the combination of DJ Drama and Don Cannon, the former "Affiliates" partners, hosting their first mixtape together, in several years. On January 28, a song called "Philly Shit (Mega Mix)" featuring Eve, Black Thought, Money Malc, Fat Joe, Fred the Godson , Diggy Simmons, Jermaine Dupri & Game was leaked. The Blueprint The Blueprint

780-400: The telephone and brass knuckles seen next to the ashtray in the original picture, a cigar , a pack of cigars and a microphone were placed. The Blueprint received universal acclaim from critics. At Metacritic , which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 88, based on 12 reviews. Upon its release, The Blueprint

810-445: The thirteen tracks on the album, including the songs " Izzo (H.O.V.A.) " and the controversial " Takeover ", which included diss lyrics aimed at rappers Nas and Prodigy, while Just Blaze produced three tracks, " Girls, Girls, Girls ", " Song Cry ", and "U Don't Know", also including the hidden bonus track "Breathe Easy (Lyrical Exercise)". The Blueprint was universally acclaimed by music critics, particularly for Jay-Z's performance and

840-402: Was also engaged in feuds with various rappers such as Jadakiss, Fat Joe and in particular Nas and Mobb Deep member Prodigy . In the song " Takeover ", Jay-Z attacks the two Queensbridge rappers, using a sample of the song " Five to One " by The Doors and an interpolation of David Bowie 's " Fame ". On The Blueprint , Jay-Z and his producers used vintage soul as inspiration, including

870-880: Was hailed by Vibe ' s dream hampton as Jay-Z's best album, as well as the best album of the year, while The Source awarded The Blueprint a perfect " five-mic " rating, a distinction reserved for hip hop classics. In his review for The Source , Carlito Rodriguez described The Blueprint as " the defining moment of Jay-Z's career", commending his ability to convey emotions through his lyrics. Nathan Rabin called it Jay-Z's "strongest, tightest, most consistent album since his legendary debut, 1996's Reasonable Doubt ." The popularity and commercial success of The Blueprint established Kanye West and Just Blaze as two of hip hop's most celebrated producers. West in particular would later be signed by Roc-A-Fella Records in 2002. Both West and Just Blaze would go on to have successful music careers. Furthermore, The Blueprint signaled

900-667: Was released May, 24th 2005, sales were somewhat of a disappointment compared to the first, despite the decent exposure of the lead single, promotion from Jay-Z himself, TV, radio & magazine appearances. It was the second release from the "new" Roc-A-Fella Records , referencing when Jay-Z became president of Def Jam Records , the first being Memphis Bleek 's 534. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at #15, and included guest features from Kanye West, Swizz Beatz, Slim of 112 (Marvin Scandrick III) and John Legend. The Young Gunz were part of

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