Jay-Z Discusses ‘The Blueprint 3’ Cover Art

New York, NY – The coming of ‘The Blueprint 3’ has swirled up a good amount of anticipation as his most devoted fans continue to countdown the days until its release date. The idea of the album has been in the work since the beginning of 2008 with production commencing with Kanye West around the same time. This album is said to be the final installment in Hov’s Blueprint series, however, the first album to be released under Live Nation and Atlantic Records.

The official album cover art for ‘The Blueprint 3’ has just recently surfaced on the net and as some thought it was a fake; Jay-Z later confirmed its authenticity. The album art showcases a collection of white instruments gathered together in a corner with three red horizontal lines drawn above them. When MTV News questioned Jay on the set of his Roc-A-Wear commercial in Brooklyn, he described the reasoning behind his decision for the cover art.

These were his comments:

“These things are like the forgotten pieces in hip-hop, it’s still about music. It’s not about radio, making gimmicks — it’s still about making music. Those things are piled in the corner. These are the forgotten things about music. It’s still about music. It’s not about radio, it’s not about making gimmicks, it’s about music. The three stripes that everybody is asking about is made from the original [number] three. The first three they made on the wall was someone carving. If you look at [the number] 3, all they did was connect lines. The whole thing about this album, how I approached it, is that I wanted to make a new classic to start that all over again — to go back to making classic albums like the ones we grew up listening to.”

At press time, the third and final installment into the Blueprint series has been officially set for a September 11 release. This will be Jay’s first release under his new contract with Live Nation under his own imprint entitled Roc Nation with distribution under Atlantic Records.

Here is the official album cover art for ‘The Blueprint 3:’



MTV Releases Complete List of 2009 VMA Nominees

New York, NY – The second most watched music award show is just around the corner and fans are rapidly raising their curiosity on who the nominees for each category will be this year. The MTV Video Music Awards has been a major award showcase next to that of the Grammy’s that is quite possibly the biggest award presentation in all of music in general.

This year’s VMAs have both Eminem and Kanye West going toe to toe as the two with the most nominations in different categories. In the past years, Eminem has already won 9 moonmen while Ye only holds 2. Both heavyweight artists are set to battle in the categories of Video of the Year, Best Hip-Hop Video, and Best Male Video with Em’s ‘We Made You’ against ‘Ye’s Love Lockdown.’ Miami veteran, Flo Rida, also has his sights set on a moonman as his ‘Right Round’ video will go up against both Em and Ye in the Best Hip-Hop Video as well. Congrats to Flo are being nominated for that category.

Here is the complete list of VMA Nominees released by MTV:

Video of the Year
» Beyoncé, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
» Lady Gaga, “Poker Face”
» Eminem, “We Made You”
» Kanye West, “Love Lockdown”
» Britney Spears, “Womanizer”

Best New Artist
» Lady Gaga, “Poker Face”
» Drake, “Best I Ever Had”
» 3OH!3, “Don’t Trust Me”
» Kid Cudi, “Day ‘N’ Nite”
» Asher Roth, “I Love College”

Best Male Video
» Eminem, “We Made You”
» Ne-Yo, “Miss Independent”
» Kanye West, “Love Lockdown”
» T.I. (featuring Rihanna), “Live Your Life”
» Jay-Z, “D.O.A.”

Best Female Video
» Lady Gaga, “Poker Face”
» Beyoncé, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
» Katy Perry, “Hot N Cold”
» Kelly Clarkson, “My Life Would Suck Without You”
» Taylor Swift, “You Belong With Me”
» Pink, “So What”

Best Hip-Hop Video
» Eminem, “We Made You”
» Flo Rida, “Right Round”
» Kanye West, “Love Lockdown”
» Asher Roth, “I Love College”
» Jay-Z, “D.O.A.”

Best Pop Video
» Britney Spears, “Womanizer”
» Beyoncé, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
» Lady Gaga, “Poker Face”
» Wisin y Yandel, “Abusadora”
» Cobra Starship (featuring Leighton Meester), “Good Girls Go Bad”

Best Rock Video
» Coldplay, “Viva la Vida”
» Paramore, “Decode”
» Kings of Leon, “Use Somebody”
» Green Day, “21 Guns”
» Fall Out Boy, “I Don’t Care”

Breakthrough Video
» Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Heads Will Roll”
» Matt and Kim, “Lessons Learned”
» Passion Pit, “The Reeling”
» Bat for Lashes, “Daniel”
» Anjulie, “Boom”
» Cold War Kids, “I’ve Seen Enough”
» Death Cab for Cutie, “Grapevine Fires”
» Gnarls Barkley, “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul”
» Chairlift, “Evident Utensil”
» Major Lazer, “Hold the Line”

Best Video (That Should Have Won A Moonman)
» David Lee Roth, “California Girls”
» Foo Fighters, “Everlong”
» U2, “Streets Have No Name”
» George Michael, “Freedom”
» OK Go, “Here It Goes Again”
» Tom Petty, “Into the Great Wide Open”
» Dr. Dre (featuring Snoop Dogg), “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang”
» Beastie Boys, “Sabotage”
» Björk, “Human Behavior”
» Radiohead, “Karma Police”

Best Choreography
» Beyoncé, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
» Kristinia DeBarge, “Goodbye”
» Britney Spears, “Circus”
» Ciara (featuring Justin Timberlake), “Love Sex Magic”
» A. R. Rahman and Pussycat Dolls (featuring Nicole Scherzinger), “Jai Ho!”

Best Direction
» Beyoncé, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
» Lady Gaga, “Paparazzi”
» Britney Spears, “Circus”
» Cobra Starship (featuring Leighton Meester), “Good Girls Go Bad”
» Green Day, “21 Guns”

Best Editing
» Beyoncé, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
» Lady Gaga, “Paparazzi”
» Britney Spears, “Circus”
» Miley Cyrus, “7 Things”
» Coldplay, “Viva la Vida”

Best Special Effects
» Gnarls Barkley, “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul”
» Lady Gaga, “Paparazzi”
» Beyoncé, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
» Eminem, “We Made You”
» Kanye West (featuring Mr. Hudson), “Paranoid”

Best Cinematography
» Beyoncé, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
» Lady Gaga, “Paparazzi”
» Britney Spears, “Circus”
» Green Day, “21 Guns”
» Coldplay, “Viva la Vida”

Art Direction
» Beyonce “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”<
» Lady Gaga, “Paparazzi”
» Britney Spears, “Circus”
» Gnarls Barkley, “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul”
» Coldplay, “Viva la Vida”

The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards has been set to air live on Sunday, September 13 at 9pm EST in the Radio City Music Hall in the heart of New York City.

Keep posted to 24hourhiphop.com for a full review of the awards show with a complete list of the winners.