It looked like an afterthought.Well, the awards are over, and it looks like 2009 should be great musically: you got Hov, Slim Shady, the return of Dre, 50, the Notorious soundtrack, Ludacris’ Theatre of the Mind 2, Kanye West, Drake, Common, Lupe Fiasco…I could go on and on. Taunting fans waiting on line (“Is that for me?” one young woman blurted as a man walked past carrying a sign), had a cruder declaration: “In Stores Now!!!” And on posters for “Theīlueprint 3″ that were scattered around, a small date was listed: 09.11.09. But the oversize cutouts of Jay-Z that workers lugged around outside before the show, DJ Hero prominently displayed its on-sale date, 10.27.09. Still, the damage was done, and it was visible at the Gramercy Theater. Without a single on-saleĭate that customers can be trained to remember, the important first-week sales of new albums often suffer, but on Wednesday Billboard reported that “The Blueprint 3″ is likely to be No. The album went on sale through Rhapsody last Saturday and physical copies of the CD went to stores on Tuesday, but iTunes and other digital retailers can deliver it no earlier than Friday. The concert was to have coincided with the release of “The Blueprint 3,” but once the album leaked online, on Aug. Jay-Z is playing a benefit concert on Friday at Madison Square Garden, for the New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s Benefit Fund, which supports the families of police officers and firefighters Mars,” a track from the new album that drops references to BlackBerrys, Sidekicks, Macs, PCs,Ĭoke, Pepsi, euros and, of course, dollars. “I just figured that’s the best way to silenceĪll the critics: just keep hitting with joints like this,” he added, before going into “Venus vs. “You all ready for that ‘Blueprint 3’?” he asked between songs on Wednesday night, to roars of “Hova!” (his nickname). “The Blueprint 3″ is released by Roc Nation, the company he runs as part of a multifaceted deal with Live Nation that is worth an estimated $150 million.
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He is music’s ultimate hustler - or huckster, take your pick -Īnd the pitchman persona is an essential part of his mythology: he’s the crack dealer from the Marcy housing projects in Brooklyn who became a major entertainment mogul, playing by his own rules all the way. More often than not promotion like this seems crass and intrusive, but with Jay-Z you have to admire the pure capitalism of it all. Lounge” in the basement to the upper walls of the club, which were filled with projected logos. Advertising for the game and for MySpace went from the “gameplay Held captive to a demonstration of DJ Hero - its controller resembles a turntable and crossfader, and the player scratches virtual vinyl. Pimpin'” and “99 Problems” that are now hip-hop standards, and in material from “The Blueprint 3.” But that was only part of the experience.
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Jay-Z’s 74-minute, 25-song set, played with a 10-piece band that included two drummers and a three-part horn section, was a muscular, virtuosic and totally satisfying performance, both in older hits like “Big (The other 350 or so in attendance were assorted V.I.P.’s from the companies involved, andįrom the news media.
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It was announced barely 24 hours before, and 250 fans were given free tickets. Rather, it was time to promote “ The Blueprint 3,” the latest release in the ever-expandingįor the occasion Jay-Z performed a guerrilla show on Wednesday night at the Gramercy Theater, a 600-capacity club on East 23rd Street in Manhattan, with help from MySpace Music and DJ Hero, a new video game that adapts And not Apple’s latest iTunes tweaks, either. The date had been set, the branding tie-ins had been tied in, and the product wasĪll set to go on sale to a salivating public. It was 09.09.09, a date burned into the popular consciousness as an almost astrological convergence of music and technology marketing. Rahav Segev for The New York Times Jay-Z performed Wednesday at the Gramercy Theater.