MTV Unplugged (Jay-Z album) explained

Jay-Z: Unplugged
Type:	live
Artist:	Jay-Z with The Roots
Cover:	jay-z-mtv-unplugged.jpg
Released:	December 18, 2001
Recorded:	November 18, 2001
Venue:	MTV Studios, New York City
Genre:	Hip hop
Length:	58:15

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.

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

Year-end charts

Chart (2002)	Position
Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)^[1]	99
Canadian Rap Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)^[2]	54
US Billboard 200^[3]	162
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[4]	56

External links

• Jay-Z: Unplugged at Discogs

Notes and References

1. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20031012032620/http://www.jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2002_r&b.html. October 12, 2003. Canada's Top 200 R&B; albums of 2002. Jam!. March 27, 2022.
2. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20031012032336/http://www.jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2002_rap.html. October 12, 2003. Top 100 rap albums of 2002 in Canada. Jam!. March 27, 2022.
3. Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2002. Billboard. August 8, 2020.
4. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2002. Billboard. August 8, 2020.