Jay-Z’s highly anticipated album, The Blueprint 3, has shown up on several blog sites and social networks two weeks before its scheduled release. To commemorate the anniversary of The Blueprint eight years after its release, Jay-Z scheduled the release of The Blueprint 3 on Sept. 11. In order to beat the bootleggers at their game, Jay-Z decided to hand deliver The Blueprint 3 to record distributors.
But Jay’s plans went wrong as songs like “Off That,” “Hate,” and “Venus vs. Mars” had already been leaked during the month of August. Jay-Z’s childhood friend and one-time protégé, Memphis Bleek, blamed producer Timbaland for the leak.
“Man, you know where that’s coming from,” said Bleek. “That’s Timbo’s camp. Somebody is playin’ dirty. It’s cool, though. I like to see the people’s opinions. I’ve been reading the comments on Jay’s records saying that the beats don’t sound like this or that. I think they just set the bar too high for my guy.”
In spite of the online leak, Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 3 is expected to still be one of the top-selling albums in 2009. –a.r.
