In this second episode, we look at The Blueprint’s creation, the marketing strategy ahead of its release, Jay-Z declaring war with Nas and Prodigy on the big stage and revisit an urban legend that refuses to rest.   Guest appearances by Andrew Barber, Just Blaze, Young Guru, Pain In Da Ass, Yemi Abiade, Akaash Sharma, Bianca Gracie, Nicolas Tyrell-Scott, Lily Mercer, Miki Hellerbach, Carl Lamarre, Lily Mercer, Shawn Setaro, Carl Lamarre, Bink, Shawn Setaro, Thandie Sibanda and J’na Jefferson   1:00 - Andrew Barber on Eminem and Nelly’s success and the emergence of Ja Rule 1:53 - Just Blaze on Jay-Z recording The Blueprint in a quick fashion 3:06 - Young Guru on Kanye West setting off the recording process for The Blueprint 3:40 - Pain In Da Ass on the success of The Dynasty inspiring Jay-Z to create even more 4:34 - Andrew Barber on Kanye not knowing about Izzo premiering at the BET Awards 6:52 - Yemi Abiade on the significance of Jay-Z mentioning the Cold Crush Brothers on Izzo 7:23 - Akaash Sharma on Jay-Z speaking from experience on Izzo and the album overall 7:51 - Bianca Gracie on Kanye West’s production encouraging Jay-Z to be more creative 8:24 - Nicolas Tyrell-Scott on the power of the Jackson 5 sample 8:55 - Lily Mercer on Izzo being her introduction to Kanye West and his music 9:24 - Andrew Barber on the lead up to Summer Jam 2001 and The Blueprint rollout 9:38 - Sumit on Jay-Z Summer Jam performance and performing Takeover for the first time 11:27 - Young Guru on not knowing what Jay-Z had planned for Summer Jam 12:01 - Andrew Barber on Nas responding with his Stillmatic Freestyle 13:48 - Miki Hellerbach on Jay-Z relaxed delivery on Takeover 14:24 - Yemi Abiade on Takeover’s genius song structure 15:32 - Carl Lamarre on Jay-Z making his issues with Nas and Prodigy so public 16:51 - J’na Jefferson on Kanye West using a Rock sample on Takeover 17:32 - Lily Mercer on Jay-Z being so spiteful in his Takeover verses 18:51 - Young Guru on Jay-Z’s Super Ugly being the response to Ether by Nas 20:08 - Shawn Setaro on the months it took for the Jay-Z and Nas conflict to come to light 21:15 - Carl Lamarre on The Ruler’s Back being the perfect introduction for the album 22:09 - Yemi Abiade on The Ruler’s Back setting the tone for the listening experience 22:45 - Bink on stitching different parts of a record together to make The Ruler’s Back 23:46 - Shawn Setaro on The Ruler’s Back being a response to Nas’ Stillmatic Freestyle 25:03 - Just Blaze on making the beat for Girls, Girls, Girls, with Ghostface Killah in mind 26:33 - Just Blaze on Jay-Z filing the video for Girls, Girls, Girls on September 11th 2001 26:33 - Thandie Sibanda on Girls, Girls, Girls’ not being received well if it were released now 27:27 - Chris on the making of Jigga That Nigga and the beat first being for MC Lyte 28:27 - Miki Hellerbach on U Don’t Know being his favourite Just Blaze beat ever 29:24 - Just Blaze on Jay-Z recording U Don’t Know in parts and building the song over time 30:19 - Yemi Abiade on U Don’t Know transporting him to a different place in time 31:31 - Nicolas Tyrell-Scott on how economic inequality inspired the lyrics on U Don’t Know 31:54 - J’na Jefferson on Jay-Z dedicating himself to consistent wins on U Don’t Know 33:01 - Shawn Setaro on Hola’ Hovito being his favourite song from The Blueprint 33:59 - Yemi Abiade on the rhyme scheme of the third verse of Hola’ Hovito   Follow Sumit