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International superstar and multi-media mogul, JAY-Z confirms the most highly speculated date in recent music history. Friday, September 11, 2009 is the official release date for the eagerly anticipated The Blueprint 3
. The follow up to JAY-Z’s instant classic Blueprint (2001) and the critically acclaimed Blueprint 2 (2002); The Blueprint 3 is the final installment in the The Blueprint series. The Blueprint 3 is a Roc Nation / Live Nation release distributed through Atlantic Records. The album’s first single “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)” has exploded since it’s June release. Performed live on the BET Awards on June 28th, the song’s video premiered immediately following the show to great acclaim. Second single “Run This Town” with Rihanna and Kanye West was just serviced to radio. Since 1995, Jay-Z has dominated the rap industry and set the trends for a generation. Over his career, he has sold more than 40 million albums and sold out arenas worldwide. Winner of 7 Grammy Awards, his 10 No. 1 albums tie him with Elvis Presley and place him behind only The Beatles for the most of all-time. He is the founder and chairman of Rocawear, co-owner of the NJ Nets, 40/40 Sports Clubs and co-owner of the skin care and beauty line Carol’s Daughter. Jay-Z became the first non-athlete to enter into a major footwear coventure with his S. Carter line for Reebok and in addition, continues his philanthropic work through his Water For LIfe initiative and Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation. In 2008, JAY-Z entered into a partnership with Live Nation forming Roc Nation. This groundbreaking new division, headed by Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter creates unique management, publishing and distribution deals with artists and songwriters.

Kanye West is in the producer’s chair for seven tracks, and it’s clear he was reaching for the same energy level as the original Blueprint (which he produced). “What We Talkin’ About” begins the album with a wave of surging, oppressive synth, while Jay-Z enumerates with an intriguing lack of detail what he’s said and what’s been said about him, ending with a nod to Barack Obama and the future. West also produced the second, “Thank You,” and while it starts with typical Jay-Hovah brio, the last verse piles on more witty criticism of unnamed rappers. There’s plenty more lyrical violence to come, but most of the targets are much safer than they were eight years earlier. (Jay doesn’t sound very convincing when he claims in “DOA (Death of Auto-Tune)” that it’s not “politically correct” to rail against one of the most reviled trends in pop music during the 2000s.)

Listen D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune)!

From there, he branches out with a calculating finesse, drawing in certain demographics via a roster of guests, from Young Jeezy (hardcore) to Drake (teens) to Kid Cudi (the backpacker crowd). The king of the crossovers here is “Empire State of Mind,” a New York flag-waver with plenty of landmark name-dropping that turns into a great anthem with help on the chorus from Alicia Keys. The Blueprint 3 isn’t a one-man tour de force like the first; Jay is upstaged a time or two by his guests, and while the productions are stellar throughout — Timbaland appears three times, and NO ID gets multiple credits also — it’s clear there’s less on Jay’s mind this time. Not tuned out like on Kingdom Come, but more content with his dominance as a rap godfather in 2009.

Check Out The Blueprint 3 on Amazon.com

Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), better known by his stage name, Jay-Z, is an American hip hop artist and businessman. He is the former CEO of Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records. He co-owns The 40/40 Club and the New Jersey Nets. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having sold over 26 million units in the United States and receiving several Grammy Awards for his musical work. Along with his financial and musical success, Jay-Z is known for being involved in the feud between him and fellow New York rapper Nas, which was eventually settled in 2005. He is also known for his relationship with Beyoncé Knowles, whom he married on April 4, 2008. MTV named him number one on their list of the greatest MCs of all time.

Originally from Marcy Houses housing project in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, Jay-Z was abandoned by his father Adnes Reeves and shot his brother in the shoulder for stealing his jewelry when he was twelve years old. Jay-Z attended Eli Whitney High School in Brooklyn, along with rapper AZ, until it was closed down. After that he attended George Westinghouse Information Technology High School in Downtown Brooklyn, which fellow rappers The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes also attended, and Trenton Central High School in Trenton, New Jersey, but did not graduate. In his music he refers to having been involved in selling crack cocaine.

According to his mother Gloria Carter, a young Jay-Z used to wake his siblings up at night banging out drum patterns on the kitchen table. Eventually, she bought him a boom box for his birthday and thus sparked his interest in music. He began freestyling, writing rhymes, and followed the music of many artists popular at the time.

In his neighborhood, Carter was known as “Jazzy”, a nickname that eventually developed into his stage name, “Jay-Z”. The moniker is also an homage to his musical mentor, Jaz-O, as well as to the J/Z subway lines that have a stop at Marcy Avenue in Brooklyn.

Jay-Z can be heard on several of Jaz-O’s early recordings in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including “The Originators” and “Hawaiian Sophie”. His career had a jump start when he battled a rapper by the name of Zai. The battle caught the eye of many record labels, as Jay-Z was able to hold his own against Zai. He first became known to a wide audience by being featured on the posse cut “Show and Prove” on the 1994 Big Daddy Kane album Daddy’s Home He made an appearance on a popular song by Big L, “Da Graveyard”, and on Mic Geronimo’s “Time to Build”, which also featured early appearances by DMX, and Ja Rule in 1995. His first official rap single was called “I Can’t Get With That”, for which he released a music video.