Jay-Z, as photographed for the cover of his seventh studio album The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse by Albert Watson in New York City in September 2002. This was the only of Hov’s first nine studio albums that Jonathan Mannion didn’t shoot the album package for; however a few of his ‘01 concert shots would make it into the final booklet. Mannion wasn’t hired for the second part of the rapper’s second trilogy because he had agreed to shoot Jay’s then-rival Nas for his sixth studio album God’s Son. Mannion received the call that he was being passed over for BP2 while shooting the Queensbridge rapper on film on a beach in Miami. When Roc-A-Fella Records began looking for an alternative photographer, Jay referenced to the team his appreciation for the output of Watson, specifically the work he had done with his favorite artist Sade, his close friend Aaliyah, and fellow rap legend Tupac Shakur. #JAYZ #Blueprint2