Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint” will be preserved for future generations in the nation’s capital.
The Library of Congress announced Wednesday that Hov's 2001 album is among the 25 recordings inducted into the National Recording Registry.
"The National Recording Registry honors the music that enriches our souls, the voices that tell our stories and the sounds that mirror our lives" Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement. "The influence of recorded sound over its nearly 160-year history has been profound and technology has increased its reach and significance exponentially. The Library of Congress and its many collaborators are working to preserve these sounds and moments in time, which reflect our past, present and future."
Credit: Gustavo Caballero
Credit: Gustavo Caballero
“The Blueprint” has sold more than 2 million records and was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart for three weeks. It’s the newest recording on this year’s list of inductees.
Other recordings being added to the registry include the original 1968 musical “Hair,” Neil Diamond’s 1969 single “Sweet Caroline;” Ritchie Valens’ 1958 hit, “La Bamba;” disco singer Sylvester’s 1978 single, “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real);” Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September;” Cyndi Lauper’s 1983 debut solo album,“She’s So Unusual;” Curtis Mayfield’s 1972 “Super Fly” soundtrack;” and educational children’s program “Schoolhouse Rock!”
The registry doesn't only include music. Robert F. Kennedy's April 4, 1968 speech on the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is also on the list. The recording includes anguished cries from those listening to the announcement, which was made during a presidential campaign speech in Indianapolis.
The full list of inductees are below:
- Yiddish cylinders from the Standard Phonograph Company of New York and the Thomas Lambert Company (c. 1901-1905)
- "Memphis Blues" (single), Victor Military Band (1914)
- Melville Jacobs Collection of Native Americans of the American Northwest (1929-1939)
- "Minnie the Moocher" (single), Cab Calloway (1931)
- "Bach Six Cello Suites" (album), Pablo Casals (c. 1939)
- "They Look Like Men of War" (single), Deep River Boys (1941)
- "Gunsmoke" — Episode: "The Cabin" (Dec. 27, 1952)
- Ruth Draper: Complete recorded monologues, Ruth Draper (1954-1956)
- "La Bamba" (single), Ritchie Valens (1958)
- "Long Black Veil" (single), Lefty Frizzell (1959)
- "Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America, Vol. 1: The Early Years" (album), Stan Freberg (1961)
- "GO" (album), Dexter Gordon (1962)
- "War Requiem" (album), Benjamin Britten (1963)
- "Mississippi Goddam" (single), Nina Simone (1964)
- "Soul Man" (single), Sam & Dave (1967)
- "Hair" (original Broadway cast recording) (1968)
- Speech on the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert F. Kennedy (April 4, 1968)
- "Sweet Caroline" (single), Neil Diamond (1969)
- "Superfly" (album), Curtis Mayfield (1972)
- "Ola Belle Reed" (album), Ola Belle Reed (1973)
- "September" (single), Earth, Wind & Fire (1978)
- "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" (single), Sylvester (1978)
- "She's So Unusual" (album), Cyndi Lauper (1983)
- "Schoolhouse Rock!: The Box Set" (1996)
- "The Blueprint" (album), Jay-Z (2001)
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