The Blueprint 3 is the eleventh studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, released September 8, 2009, on Roc Nation, through distribution from Asylum Records and Atlantic Records. It is the third album in the Blueprint series, preceded by The Blueprint (2001) and The Blueprint²: The Gift & The Curse (2002). Production for the album took place during 2008 to 2009 at several recording studios and was handled by Kanye West, No I.D., The Neptunes, Jeff Bhasker, Al Shux, Jerome “J-Roc” Harmon, The Inkredibles, Swizz Beatz, and Timbaland. The album also features guest appearances by Kanye West, Rihanna, Drake, Kid Cudi, Young Jeezy, J. Cole and Alicia Keys among others.

The Blueprint 3 produced six singles: “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)“, “Run This Town“, ” “Empire State of Mind“, “On to the Next One“, “Young Forever” and “A Star Is Born“. All singles achieved chart success excluding the latter. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics and was a commercial success. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 476,000 copies in its first week.^[1] It became Jay-Z’s ninth US number-one album, breaking the record he had previously shared with Elvis Presley.^[1] The album received a nomination for Best Rap Album, while four of its singles “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)”, “Run This Town”, “On to the Next One”, and “Empire State of Mind” won a combined number of six Grammys at both the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards and 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.