Time to Build, the Making of Jay-Z’s Blueprint [Story from October 2009 Issue]

 •  News  •  by XXL Staff  •  16 Comments

9) “NEVER CHANGE”
Produced by KANYE WEST

YOUNG GURU: Jay always does his sequencing. The thing that makes him who he is, he has a certain amount of people, maybe four or five, that
he really trusts, that’s in his inner circle, and he takes all of our opinions and then makes a decision based on all of our opinions. So Jay doesn’t really have an A&R. It’s just him. But he takes into account everyone’s opinion. The lessons that he’s giving in “Never Change” is just crazy. It’s about not changing who you are. Obviously, Jay evolved, but it’s about not changing the core of who you are. That’s that line from [“Public Service Announcement:”] “You could try to change, but that’s just the top layer/You was who you was when you got here.”

JAY-Z: [With the line, “You say you lost $100,000 worth of crack? And you got it all back,”] I remember doing that, I remember saying that,
and [former Def Jam VP of A&R Tyran “Ty Ty” Smith] going crazy, like, “Yo, you can’t do that. Yo, you buggin’.” He really didn’t want me to put that on there at all. I remember it was a big thing, like, “Yo, I said it.” I ain’t doing shit now, but it was a lot of information.
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  • sosa

    Mannnn i was 9 when the towers fell,and wasn’t really familar with hip hop that wasn’t a single on the radio or a video on TV.Its funny how time flies,from nelly to ja rule to ludacris and the commerial rap changes up.I found out about the blueprint when i was 15 and was a fan of hov every since.No wonder why hes still relevant unlike his contemporaries in 01′. I wish i could trap myself in those days when life was easy and simple.

  • Sean Izzle

    @Sosa:

    You got that right, I still remember september 11, 2001 like it was yesterday. I remember the clothes is wore and how the weather was since it was such a special day. That morning, everything was different. But still these 10 years that passed alot has happened. We all went from boys to young men. I love the 2000′s and will always remember it and think of it. From Nelly, Ja Rule, Ludacris, Mystikal, Eminem, Petey Pablo and all that other good commercial Hip Hop of those years to the commercial Hip Hop we have today which sucks.

  • Pingback: Killer Mike Reflects on Jay-Z’s Real Blueprint | XXLMAG.COM

  • TicNitty706

    Props to Jay and the team for making one of the best rap albums period. People take for granted these days I think what a true classic album can do for your career and legacy.

  • Sean Izzle

    To this day I still havent heard Fabolous debut- Ghetto Fabolous album and it came the same day as The Blueprint :P anyone else?

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