MTV Unplugged (Jay-Z album)

2001 live album by Jay-Z with The Roots

Jay-Z: Unplugged

Live album by

Jay-Z with The 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-Z chronology

The Blueprint
(2001)

Jay-Z: Unplugged
(2001)

The Best of Both Worlds
(2002)

The Roots chronology

Things Fall Apart
(1999)

Jay-Z: Unplugged
(2001)

Phrenology
(2002)

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

Track listing

All songs were produced by Questlove, The Roots; "People Talking" produced by Ski.

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" (featuring Mary 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)" (featuring Pharrell)	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 by Berry Gordy, Alfonso Mizell, Freddie Perren, and Deke Richards.
"Takeover" contains interpolations of:
- "Sound of da Police", written by Lawrence Parker, Eric Burdon, Alan Lomax, Bryan Chandler, and Rodney Lemay.
- "Five to One", written by Jim Morrison, John Densmore, Robby Krieger, and Ray Manzarek.
"Girls, Girls, Girl" contains an interpolation of "I Love You More and More Every Time", written by Tom Brock (singer) and Robert 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 by Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin.
"Ain't No Nigga" contains interpolations of:
- "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)", written by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter.
- "Seven Minutes of Funk", written by August Moon and Tyrone Thomas.
"Can't Knock the Hustle" contains interpolations of:
- "Much Too Much", written by Marcus Miller.
- "Fool's Paradise", written by Meli'sa Morgan and Lesette Wilson.
"Song Cry" contain an interpolation of "Sounds Like a Love Song", written by Douglas Gibbs and Ralph Johnson.
"I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)" contains interpolations of:
- "Give It to Me Baby", written by James Johnson.
- "The World is Filled...", written by Christopher Wallace, Deric Angelettie, Sean Combs, Kit Walker, and Todd 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
US Billboard 200^[10]	31
US Top 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
US Billboard 200^[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 Unplugged at AllMusic
^ [1]^{[dead link]}
^ "CG: jay-z". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
^ David Browne (2002-01-11). "Unplugged Review | Music Reviews and News". EW.com. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
^ "Jay-Z – MTV Unplugged | Read Hip Hop Reviews, Rap Reviews & Hip Hop Album Reviews". HipHop DX. 2002-01-29. Archived from the original on 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
^ "NME Album Reviews – Jay-Z : Unplugged". Nme.Com. 2002-01-15. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
^ "Jay-Z :: Unplugged :: Roc-A-Fella Records". Rapreviews.com. 2001-12-21. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
^ [2] Archived January 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
^ Selwyn Seyfu Hinds (2002-01-15). "Kings of New York – Page 2 – Music – New York". Village Voice. Archived from the original on 2013-10-13. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
^ "Jay-Z Chart History (Billboard 200)". 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 from the original on October 12, 2003. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
^ "Top 100 rap albums of 2002 in Canada". Jam!. Archived from the original on October 12, 2003. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2002". Billboard. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2002". Billboard. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
^ "British album certifications – Jay-Z – Unplugged". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
^ "American album certifications – Jay-Z – Jay-Z Unplugged". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 5, 2017.

External links

Jay-Z: Unplugged at Discogs

MTV series albums

Amp

Amp
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The Grind

MTV Grind 1

Party to Go

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Platinum Mix
'98
'99
2000
Remixed

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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 (with R. Kelly) Unfinished Business (with R. Kelly) Collision Course (with Linkin Park) Watch the Throne (with Kanye West) Everything Is Love (with Beyoncé as The 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
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