Izzo (H.O.V.A.)

The Blueprint 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 the album's sole guest feature.

American rapper Jay-Z has released thirteen solo studio albums, four collaboration albums, one live album, one compilation album, one soundtrack album, two extended plays, one hundred and fifteen singles, nine promotional singles and eighty-two music videos. As of December 2014, Jay-Z has sold 29,179,000 studio albums in United States.

The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse is the seventh studio album by American rapper Jay-Z. It was released on November 12, 2002 by Roc-A-Fella Records and Island Def Jam Music Group as a double album. The album serves as a sequel to his sixth album The Blueprint (2001). The album debuted at number one, shipping with first-week sales of 545,000 units. The album is certified 3x Multi-Platinum by the RIAA. In 2013, Jay-Z cited this album as his second-worst due to an overabundance of songs on the album. A one-disc reissue, titled Blueprint 2.1, was released in 2003.

Jay-Z: Unplugged is rapper Jay-Z's 2001 live album that contains some of his past songs with live instruments performed by the hip-hop band the Roots. The album, which sold more than 600,000 copies, was recorded during the taping of an MTV Unplugged 2.0 episode on November 18, 2001.

"Mama's Pearl" was a hit recording for The Jackson 5 in 1971 and was written by The Corporation, a songwriting team that had helped the group score four consecutive #1 singles.

"Dreams" is a song by American rapper the Game, from his debut album, The Documentary. It was released as the fifth official single from the album in all territories except France, which saw "Higher" released there first. The song was produced by Kanye West and features a sample of "No Money Down" by soul music singer Jerry Butler. The song is dedicated to Yetunde Price, who was shot dead on September 14, 2003; the Williams' also came from the Game's hometown of Compton, California. The lyrics cite the Dr. Dre album 2001 being released "in 2001", when it was actually released in 1999. The song was placed 5th on About.com's Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2005.

"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" is a song recorded by American rapper Jay-Z, released on October 10, 2002 as the lead single from his seventh studio album The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse (2002). Composed by Jay-Z, Kanye West, Darryl Harper, Ricky Rouse and Tyrone Wrice, and featuring Jay-Z's then-girlfriend, now wife, American singer Beyoncé, "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" sampled its beat from Tupac Shakur's 1996 song "Me and My Girlfriend", paraphrasing its chorus, as well as Prince's 1987 song "If I Was Your Girlfriend". Inspired by the 1967 crime film Bonnie and Clyde, the song features programmed drums, bass instruments, and a flamenco guitar as instrumentation.

"Excuse Me Miss" is a song by American rapper Jay-Z. It released through his Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings on February 4, 2003, as a single for his seventh studio album The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse (2002). It was also written alongside producers the Neptunes, whose Pharrell Williams sings the hook in falsetto voice (uncredited). The lyrics refer to love at first sight. It contains a more mature sound in comparison of his previous songs about women such as "Girls, Girls, Girls" and "I Just Wanna Love U ". The song samples Prince's 1990 song "Walk Don't Walk," the 2001 hit, "Take You Out" by Luther Vandross as well as "Big Poppa" by the Notorious B.I.G.

"Girls, Girls, Girls" is the second single from rapper Jay-Z's album The Blueprint (2001). The single was released on October 2, 2001. It is a playful description of the artist's promiscuous lifestyle. The song contains a sample of "There's Nothing In This World That Can Stop Me From Loving You" by Tom Brock, who died a year later. The chorus features a lyrical interpolation of "High Power Rap" by Crash Crew. The song has additional vocals sung by Q-Tip, Slick Rick and Biz Markie, but they are not credited as featured guests on the back artwork; they are, however, credited in the album's liner notes.

"Fiesta (Remix)" is a song by singer R. Kelly featuring rappers Jay-Z & Boo & Gotti. The hit song spent five weeks at number-one on the US R&B chart and peaked at number six on the US pop chart. R. Kelly and Jay-Z have worked several times together. In 2002, they released the album "The Best of Both Worlds" which sold 285,000 copies in its first week. The single is ranked by Billboard as the best selling and most played R&B/Hip Hop song of 2001.

"Imagination" is a song by Canadian recording artist Tamia, released as the first single from her self-titled debut album (1998). It was written and produced by Jermaine Dupri and his protégé Manuel Seal and features additional vocals by the former. "Imagination" is a mid-tempo R&B song that contains an interpolation from The Jackson 5's 1969 song "I Want You Back", written and produced by Motown's The Corporation team consisting of Berry Gordy, Alphonzo Mizell, Freddie Perren, and Deke Richards.

The Blueprint 3 is the eleventh studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, released September 8, 2009, on Roc Nation and Roc-A-Fella, through distribution from Asylum Records and Atlantic Records. It is the third album in the Blueprint series, preceded by The Blueprint (2001) and The Blueprint²: The Gift & The Curse (2002). Production for the album took place during 2008 to 2009 at several recording studios and was handled by Kanye West, No I.D., The Neptunes, Jeff Bhasker, Al Shux, Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, The Inkredibles, Swizz Beatz, and Timbaland. The album also features guest appearances by Kanye West, Rihanna, Drake, Kid Cudi, Young Jeezy, J. Cole and Alicia Keys among others.

"Swagga Like Us" is a song by American rappers Jay-Z and T.I. featuring fellow American rappers Lil Wayne and Kanye West, the latter of whom also produced the song, constructed primarily around a vocal sample of "Paper Planes" by British musician M.I.A. It was released on September 6, 2008, in the United States as the fifth single from T.I.'s sixth album Paper Trail (2008). The track was also initially slated for inclusion on Jay-Z's eleventh album The Blueprint 3 (2009), however it ultimately failed to make the final track listing.

"Run This Town" is a song by American rapper Jay-Z featuring Barbadian singer Rihanna and fellow American rapper Kanye West. Released on July 24, 2009, it was written by the artists alongside Athanasios Alatas, Jeff Bhasker, and No I.D., the latter producing it with West. "Run This Town" was released as the second single from Jay-Z's eleventh studio album, The Blueprint 3.

"Otis" is a song by American hip hop artists Jay-Z and Kanye West from their first collaborative album Watch the Throne (2011). The song posthumously features soul singer Otis Redding, whose version of "Try a Little Tenderness" is sampled in the song. The production was covered solely by West. The track was premiered by Funkmaster Flex's Hot 97 radio show and was released onto the Internet the day afterward. Lyrically, the song has the two rappers sharing lines discussing wealth, decadence and fame. The track received highly positive reviews from music critics who praised the trading off of verses by the two rappers and the Redding-sampled beat, which was compared to the style heard on West's The College Dropout. Several publications placed the song amongst the best of the year.

"Niggas in Paris" is a song by American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West from their collaborative album Watch the Throne (2011). The song is built around a synth bell loop from the Dirty South Bangaz music library, and contains vocal samples from "Baptizing Scene" by Reverend W.A. Donaldson, an interpolation of "Victory" by Puff Daddy featuring The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes, and dialogue excerpts from the 2007 film Blades of Glory. On the week of the album's release, "Niggas in Paris" debuted at number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100, eventually peaking at number five. Outside of the United States, "Niggas in Paris" peaked within the top ten of the charts in the United Kingdom. As of 2018, it has sold 6.7 million archetype digital units in the United States. The song won Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards.

"Pop Style" is a song by Canadian rapper Drake, featuring American rappers Kanye West and Jay-Z, collectively known as The Throne. The song was released alongside "One Dance", as singles promoting Drake's fourth studio album Views, initially for exclusive digital download on iTunes on April 5, 2016. The album version features only Drake with a new verse. The single version was nominated for Best Rap Performance at the 59th Grammy Awards.