Today in Hip-Hop — Jay-Z dropped his sixth studio album, ‘The Blueprint.’ The album was meant to be released later in the month but was eventually bumped up to help combat bootlegging—the final chosen release date wound up being a monumental day for a much different reason. Despite the release of ‘The Blueprint’ coinciding with the September 11 terror attacks, the album still debuted at No. 1 and held the top spot for three weeks. It later went out to be certified 3x Multi-Platinum. ‘The Blueprint’ also became a significant moment in the careers of both Kanye West and Just Blaze. The soul-sampling style of both producers helped shift the sound of the era and established both Kanye West and Just Blaze as ones-to-watch. 📹: HovVideos / YouTube (slide 3), ESPN (slide 10) #Jayz #theblueprint #justblaze #kanyewest #hiphop