Jay-Z Stays Calm Over "Blueprint 3" Leak, Tells Fans "Enjoy It"

A handful of tracks from Jay-Z's September 11th album The Blueprint 3 made their way onto the Web in the past few weeks, but yesterday the floodgates opened: as you've probably heard by now, either from passing car stereos or chatter on social networks, the full Blueprint leaked yesterday. Jay was made aware of the news at a press conference for his 9/11 Madison Square Garden benefit concert, and he took word of his Blueprint hitting the streets early graciously.

"I may be the most bootlegged artist in history," Jay-Z told MTV News yesterday at the Answer the Call conference. "It's a preview. I'm excited for people to hear the album. I'm very proud of the work I've done, so enjoy it."

After the initial singles "D.O.A." and "Run This Town" dropped, a trio of BP3 tracks, conspicuously all produced by Timbaland, leaked last week (Jay-Z told MTV that Timbaland blamed e-mail hackers). One reason why Jay may be taking the news so well: with fans able to hear the album before its due date, Jay's getting reviews earlier than expected, and so far he's enjoying the response.

"My pager is actually ringing right now, so people are probably calling me and telling me they pretty much like it," Jay-Z told MTV. "I can tell by the way my pager rings if a song is good or not. It's really going crazy right now."

As Rock Daily previously reported, Jigga will perform at MSG on September 11th to support the New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children's Benefit Fund. On September 13th, Jay-Z will hit up the VMAs, followed by a September 14th performance on the debut episode of The Jay Leno Show with "Run This Town" cohorts Rihanna and Kanye West.

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Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

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