Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 has inspired a great deal of inspired retrospectives about the rap legend's career (including MTV News' own "The J to Z of Jay-Z"), but a new ad for music service Rhapsody's pre-release stream of the album might just be the best one yet. In the sixty second spot, Jigga re-creates every one of his previous ten album covers, moving from his Reasonable Doubt pose all the way through American Gangster's "early morning at the club" scene all while his newest single "Run This Town" plays in the background. In between, there are some impressive effects used in order to nail the scenes just right: The blue and red tints dropped in for The Blueprint and Kingdom Come, the piece of distressed glass brought in for The Dynasty: Roc La Familia, the color corrections added for The Black Album and In My Lifetime, Vol. 1.
Ironically, The Blueprint 3 is not included in the re-creations, mostly because Jay doesn't actually appear on that album's cover. It's the first time in his long career he has an album that doesn't feature the man himself on the CD sleeve. It makes sense, though, as the abstract cover reflects the fact that the songs contained within The Blueprint 3 are some of the most adventurous of the rapper's career. The Blueprint 3 officially hits the streets on September 11, the same day that Hova hosts a charity concert at New York's Madison Square Garden.