The hidden message in Jay-Z’s ‘The Blueprint 3’ album cover
Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 3 is one his most critically acclaimed works. The album sold over 3 million copies worldwide, and was the rapper’s 11th LP to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Even the cover of The Blueprint 3 holds an interesting story.
Released in 2009, The Blueprint 3 is Jay’s first solo album not to feature a photo of himself. Instead, the artwork shows white painted instruments stacked atop of one another with three horizontal red stripes in front. The abstract image surprised many rap fans who couldn’t immediately interpret the deeper meaning.
A year later, during an MTV interview, Jay provided an answer. He told reporters that the album cover has intentional symbolism. The white painted instruments are the essence of hip hop, he explained. The saxophones, turntables, tape decks, and phonographs that are shown are the basis for hip hop. “These are like the forgotten pieces in hip hop […] It’s not about radio, and it’s not about making gimmicks, and it’s not about anything, it’s still about making music”, he said.
From these words, it’s safe to assume that The Blueprint 3 is a return to hip hop’s core values, where artistic integrity and musical substance matter more than commercialisation.
As for the three red stripes, Jay shared that they represent… the number three. He calls them “the original three” because the lines are how the number three appeared on cave drawings before someone connected them to be the ‘3’ we know today. By using the original construction of three, Jay connects the album artwork to the album’s title, The Blueprint 3, and he stresses that he’s going back to old roots.
While it might sound a bit pretentious for Jay-Z, who is usually far grittier in his portrayals, he elaborated that the design reflects his artistic philosophy for the project. “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”, he said, referring to the return to hip hop’s values. “To go back to making classic albums like the ones we grew up listening to”, he added.
Jay’s homecoming to classic hip hop certainly paid off. The Blueprint 3 sold 476,000 copies in the first week of release, and later went platinum.
Some people have made comparisons between The Blueprint 3 and Secret Machine’s Now Here is Nowhere, which also features white instruments. Jay-Z has never confirmed a connection, though, and we can only assume that any similarity is a coincidence.
What is clear is that the choice of artwork for The Blueprint 3 was Jay rejecting of selling out in hip hop. His stripped-back design conveyed that he wasn’t investing in the flashy imagery and fakery that was starting to define hip hop. His art, much like the album itself, was a declaration to stay true to hip hop’s history and power.