Jay-Z’s ‘The Blueprint’ Achieves Triple Platinum Milestone
Jay-Z has reason to celebrate as his iconic album, ‘The Blueprint,’ has just been awarded a new platinum plaque, certifying it as triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Over twenty years have passed since the RIAA last upgraded the album’s certification. Released in September 2021, ‘The Blueprint’ debuted at no. 1, selling 427,000 copies in its first week. It reached platinum status just over a month later and double platinum in May 2002. The latest plaque signifies 3 million album-equivalent units for one of Jay-Z’s most remarkable works and one of the best hip-hop albums of the 2000s.
Jay-Z recently addressed comments Kanye West made during a 2021 Drink Champs interview, in which West accused Just Blaze of copying his work on ‘The Blueprint’: “He get credit for ‘The Blueprint,’ I did the first half of ‘The Blueprint,’ and he just copied my half. I mean, look where I’m at today and look where he at today. So that should show you…”
In response, Jay-Z defended superproducer Just Blaze during a Twitter Spaces conversation: “The thing was, the baby was ‘The Blueprint,’ and I think everyone should be prized for what we created. It’s in, I don’t know what you call that, the Library of Congress or something. It’s something that we all should be proud of and everyone should be prized for their contributions. Everyone had a contribution, I will say, and I don’t think anyone was copying off of anyone. We all had the assignment and created this one body of work.”
