MTV Unplugged(Jay-Z album)

Jay-Z: Unplugged
Jay-Z: Unplugged
Live albumby Jay-ZwithThe Roots
Released	December 18, 2001
Recorded	November 18, 2001
Venue	MTV Studios,New York City
Genre	Hip hop
Length	58:15
Label	Roc-A-Fella; Def Jam;
Producer	Questlove; The Roots; Ski;
Jay-Zchronology
The Rootschronology

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Billboard	(favorable)^[2]
Robert Christgau	^[3]
Entertainment Weekly	(A)^[4]
HipHopDX	^[5]
NME	(7/10)^[6]
RapReviews	(8.0/10)^[7]
Rolling Stone	^[8]
Village Voice	(favorable)^[9]

Jay-Z: Unpluggedis rapperJay-Z's 2001 live album that contains some of his past songs with live instruments performed by the hip-hop bandthe Roots.The album, which sold more than 600,000 copies, was recorded during the taping of anMTV Unplugged 2.0episode on November 18, 2001.

Track listing

All songs were produced byQuestlove,The Roots;"People Talking" produced bySki.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Izzo (H.O.V.A.)"	Shawn Carter Kanye West Berry Gordy Alfonso Mizell Freddie Perren Deke Richards	5:08
2.	"Takeover"	Carter West Lawrence Parker Eric Burdon Alan Lomax Bryan Chandler Rodney Lemay Jim Morrison John Densmore Robby Krieger Ray Manzarek	4:57
3.	"Girls, Girls, Girls"	Carter Justin Smith Tom Brock Robert Reif	4:41
4.	"Jigga What, Jigga Who"	Carter Jonathan Burks Timothy Mosley	2:34
5.	"Big Pimpin'"	Carter Mosley Kyambo Joshua Chad Butler Bernard Freeman	4:11
6.	"Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)"	Carter West Michael Price Dan Walsh	4:05
7.	"Can I Get A..."	Carter Irving Lorenzo Jeffrey Atkins Robert Mays	1:42
8.	"Hard Knock Life (The Ghetto Anthem)"	Carter Mark James Charles Strouse Martin Charnin	1:31
9.	"Ain't No Nigga"	Carter Burks Dennis Lambert Brian Potter August Moon Tyrone Thomas	1:02
10.	"Can't Knock the Hustle/Family Affair"(featuringMary J. Blige)	Carter Marcus Miller Meli'sa Morgan Lesette Wilson / Mary J. Blige Bruce Miller Andre Young Camara Kambon Asiah Lewis Luchana Lodge Mike Elizondo	6:06
11.	"Song Cry"	Carter Smith Douglas Gibbs Ralph Johnson	7:04
12.	"I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)"(featuringPharrell)	Carter Pharrell Williams Chad Hugo James Johnson Christopher Wallace Deric Angelettie Sean Combs Kit Walker Todd Shaw	6:58
13.	"Jigga That Nigga/ People Talking "	Carter Jean-Claude Olivier Samuel Barnes Larry Gates	8:22

Sample credits

"Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" contains an interpolation of "I Want You Back",written byBerry Gordy, Alfonso Mizell, Freddie Perren, and Deke Richards.
"Takeover" contains interpolations of:
- "Sound of da Police",written byLawrence Parker,Eric Burdon,Alan Lomax,Bryan Chandler,andRodney Lemay.
- "Five to One",written byJim Morrison, John Densmore, Robby Krieger, and Ray Manzarek.
"Girls, Girls, Girl" contains an interpolation of "I Love You More and More Every Time", written byTom Brock (singer)andRobert Reif.
"Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)" contains an interpolation of "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City",written by Michael Price and Dan Walsh.
"Hard Knock Life (The Ghetto Anthem)" contains an interpolation of "It's the Hard Knock Life",written byCharles StrouseandMartin Charnin.
"Ain't No Nigga" contains interpolations of:
- "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)",written byDennis LambertandBrian Potter.
- "Seven Minutes of Funk", written by August Moon and Tyrone Thomas.
"Can't Knock the Hustle" contains interpolations of:
- "Much Too Much", written byMarcus Miller.
- "Fool's Paradise", written byMeli'sa Morganand Lesette Wilson.
"Song Cry" contain an interpolation of "Sounds Like a Love Song", written by Douglas Gibbs andRalph Johnson.
"I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)" contains interpolations of:
- "Give It to Me Baby",written byJames Johnson.
- "The World is Filled...", written byChristopher Wallace,Deric Angelettie,Sean Combs,Kit Walker, andTodd Shaw.

Personnel

Musicians

Kyle "Scratch" Jones– vocal percussion, backing vocals
Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson– drums
James "Kamal" Gray– keyboards
Leonard "Hub" Hubbard– acoustic bass
Larry Gold – strings
Ben Kenney– acoustic guitar
Omar Edwards – keyboards
Frank Walker– percussion
Aaron "Gushie" Dramper – percussion
Fiona Murray – strings
Alexandra Leem – strings
Ghislaine Fleischmann – strings
Jaguar Wright– vocals
Damon Bennett – flute

Technical personnel

Ahmir Thompson– producer, mixing
The Roots– producer
Russel Elevado – mixing
Kenyatta Saunders – mixing
Rich Nichols – mixing
Alex Coletti – producer for MTV
Jan Benson – co-producer
Milton Lage – director
Adam Blackburn – audio engineer
Shawn Carter– executive producer
Damon Dash– executive producer
Kareem "Biggs" Burke– executive producer
Tony Dawsey– mastering
Jason Noto – art direction and design
Scott Gries – front cover photo
Walik Goshorn - interior photos

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2002)	Peak position
USBillboard200^[10]	31
USTop R&B/Hip-Hop Albums(Billboard)^[11]	18

Year-end charts

Chart (2002)	Position
Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)^[12]	99
Canadian Rap Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)^[13]	54
USBillboard200^[14]	162
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[15]	56

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)^[16]	Silver	60,000^‡
United States (RIAA)^[17]	Gold	500,000^‡
^‡Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

^MTV UnpluggedatAllMusic
^[1]^{[dead link]}
^"CG: jay-z".Robert Christgau.Retrieved2013-06-29.
^David Browne (2002-01-11)."Unplugged Review".EW.com. Archived fromthe originalon January 27, 2011.Retrieved2013-06-29.
^"Jay-Z – MTV Unplugged | Read Hip Hop Reviews, Rap Reviews & Hip Hop Album Reviews".HipHop DX. 2002-01-29. Archived fromthe originalon 2009-02-19.Retrieved2013-06-29.
^"NME Album Reviews – Jay-Z: Unplugged".Nme.Com. 2002-01-15.Retrieved2013-06-29.
^"Jay-Z:: Unplugged:: Roc-A-Fella Records".Rapreviews.com. 2001-12-21.Retrieved2013-06-29.
^[2]ArchivedJanuary 10, 2007, at theWayback Machine
^Selwyn Seyfu Hinds (2002-01-15)."Kings of New York – Page 2 – Music – New York".Village Voice. Archived fromthe originalon 2013-10-13.Retrieved2013-06-29.
^"Jay-Z Chart History (Billboard200) ".Billboard.Retrieved June 25, 2017.
^"Jay-Z Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)".Billboard.Retrieved June 25, 2017.
^"Canada's Top 200 R&B; albums of 2002".Jam!.Archived fromthe originalon October 12, 2003.RetrievedMarch 27,2022.
^"Top 100 rap albums of 2002 in Canada".Jam!.Archived fromthe originalon October 12, 2003.RetrievedMarch 27,2022.
^"Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2002".Billboard.RetrievedAugust 8,2020.
^"Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2002".Billboard.RetrievedAugust 8,2020.
^"British album certifications – Jay-Z – Unplugged".British Phonographic Industry.RetrievedDecember 4,2023.
^"American album certifications – Jay-Z – Jay-Z Unplugged".Recording Industry Association of America.RetrievedJuly 5,2017.

External links

Jay-Z: UnpluggedatDiscogs

[1] MTV UnpluggedatAllMusic

[2] [1]^{[dead link]}

[3] "CG: jay-z".Robert Christgau.Retrieved2013-06-29.

[4] David Browne (2002-01-11)."Unplugged Review".EW.com. Archived fromthe originalon January 27, 2011.Retrieved2013-06-29.

[5] "Jay-Z – MTV Unplugged | Read Hip Hop Reviews, Rap Reviews & Hip Hop Album Reviews".HipHop DX. 2002-01-29. Archived fromthe originalon 2009-02-19.Retrieved2013-06-29.

[6] "NME Album Reviews – Jay-Z: Unplugged".Nme.Com. 2002-01-15.Retrieved2013-06-29.

[7] "Jay-Z:: Unplugged:: Roc-A-Fella Records".Rapreviews.com. 2001-12-21.Retrieved2013-06-29.

[8] [2]ArchivedJanuary 10, 2007, at theWayback Machine

[9] Selwyn Seyfu Hinds (2002-01-15)."Kings of New York – Page 2 – Music – New York".Village Voice. Archived fromthe originalon 2013-10-13.Retrieved2013-06-29.

[ac_Billboard200_Jay-Z-10] "Jay-Z Chart History (Billboard200) ".Billboard.Retrieved June 25, 2017.

[ac_BillboardRandBHipHop_Jay-Z-11] "Jay-Z Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)".Billboard.Retrieved June 25, 2017.

[12] "Canada's Top 200 R&B; albums of 2002".Jam!.Archived fromthe originalon October 12, 2003.RetrievedMarch 27,2022.

[13] "Top 100 rap albums of 2002 in Canada".Jam!.Archived fromthe originalon October 12, 2003.RetrievedMarch 27,2022.

[14] "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2002".Billboard.RetrievedAugust 8,2020.

[15] "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2002".Billboard.RetrievedAugust 8,2020.

[United_KingdomJay-ZUnpluggedalbumCertRef-16] "British album certifications – Jay-Z – Unplugged".British Phonographic Industry.RetrievedDecember 4,2023.

[United_StatesJay-ZJay-Z_UnpluggedalbumCertRef-17] "American album certifications – Jay-Z – Jay-Z Unplugged".Recording Industry Association of America.RetrievedJuly 5,2017.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

v t e MTV series albums
Amp	Amp Amp 2
The Grind	MTV Grind 1
Party to Go	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Platinum Mix '98 '99 2000 Remixed
MTV Unplugged	10,000 Maniacs A-ha Bryan Adams Alice in Chains Arrested Development Aterciopelados Babyface Tony Bennett Biffy Clyro Björk(audio) Café Tacuba Mariah Carey Charlie Brown Jr. Eric Clapton The Corrs Dashboard Confessional Bob Dylan Cássia Eller Florence and the Machine Liam Gallagher Gang of Youths Lauryn Hill Jay-Z Juanes Alicia Keys Kiss Korn La Ley Legião Urbana Maná Mando Diao Ricky Martin Maxwell Paul McCartney Shawn Mendes Alanis Morissette Nirvana Jimmy Page & Robert Plant Os Paralamas do Sucesso Pearl Jam Katy Perry O Rappa R.E.M.(video) Alejandro Sanz Shakira Soda Stereo Bruce Springsteen Staind Rod Stewart Thirty Seconds to Mars Los Tigres del Norte Titãs Diego Torres Los Tres El Tri Julieta Venegas Hitomi Yaida(audio) Neil Young Zoé
MTV ao Vivo	Daniela Mercury Nando Reis e Os Infernais Skank Titãs

v t e Jay-Z
Albums Singles Videos Songs Films Awards and nominations
Studio albums	Reasonable Doubt In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter The Dynasty: Roc La Familia The Blueprint The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse The Black Album Kingdom Come American Gangster The Blueprint 3 Magna Carta Holy Grail 4:44
Collaborative albums	The Best of Both Worlds(withR. Kelly) Unfinished Business(with R. Kelly) Collision Course(withLinkin Park) Watch the Throne(withKanye West) Everything Is Love(withBeyoncéasThe Carters)
Live albums	MTV Unplugged Live in Brooklyn
Compilation albums	The Hits Collection, Volume One
Concert tours	Heart of the City Tour Projekt Revolution 2008 Europe Jay-Z & Ciara Live Jay-Z Fall Tour The Home & Home Tour U2 360° Tour Watch the Throne Tour Legends of the Summer Stadium Tour Magna Carter World Tour On the Run Tour 4:44 Tour On the Run II Tour
Related articles	Roc-A-Fella Records Rocawear Roc Nation StarRoc Takeover Roc Nation 40/40 Club Beyoncé(wife) Blue Ivy(daughter) A Written Testimony Streets Is Watching(film) soundtrack The Grey Album Jaydiohead Fade to Black Live Nation Entertainment NBA 2K13 Brooklyn Nets Made in America Festival Made in America Murder Inc. Project Panther Bidco S. Carter Records Empire State of Mind(book)
Category