MTV Unplugged (Jay-Z album)

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.

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]

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"	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" 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.