The Message
Twenty years of "The Blueprint"
by Sanni Brown and Sean McPherson
September 08, 2021
It was 20 years ago this month that Jay-Z dropped his album, The Blueprint. Many consider this the high-water mark for Jay-Z and for Kanye West as a producer, and for a production style known as "Chipmunk Soul." Chipmunk Soul is a term for the production style done by Just Blaze, Swizz Beats, Kanye and others, where they would take soul samples and speed them up so the voices sound like chipmunks. We're going to hit you with a couple essential Chipmunk Soul beats to mark the 20-year anniversary of The Blueprint.