Whether Timbaland or his camp got their email jacked, cuz it was only his songs… The whole thing is going to leak pretty soon. [Tim Kash interrupts: Actually it happened, as the press conference was going on.] …I’ve learned to look at it as a great thing.

via MTV:

It was only a matter of time. Last week a number of tracks from Jay-Z’s upcoming The Blueprint 3 leaked online, including his collaboration with Rookie of the Year Drake on “Off That.” Now, Hov has to deal with his entire album being on the Web: The Blueprint 3 popped up on blogs this morning around the time Jay-Z appeared at a press conference announcing his 9/11 tribute concert.

“I may be the most bootlegged artist in history,” he told MTV News shortly after his album leaked. “It’s a preview. I’m excited for people to hear the album. I’m very proud of the work I’ve done, so enjoy it.”

Jay kept it cool despite his material leaking out 10 days before the official release day. The iconic MC, though, had reason to relax: He has his own indicator to let him know whether reactions to his music are good or bad.

“My pager is actually ringing right now, so people are probably calling me and telling me they pretty much like it,” he explained. “I can tell by the way my pager rings if a song is good or not. It’s really going crazy right now.”

Previously: Video: Jay-Z Recreates His Album Covers For Rhapsody Ad

Green was feeling extra generous today and decided to let these circa 2006 soundboard recordings go on his twitter.

Jay-Z & Nas – Dead Presidents (feat. Chris Martin of Coldplay on the piano)

Jay-Z & Nas Live In London [14min]

Jay-Z feat. Chris Martin – Heart Of The City (Live In London)

Jay-Z feat. Dante Hawkins – Heart Of The City (Live In Dublin, Ireland)

Previously: Jay-Z feat. Lil Wayne – Run This Town (Green Lantern Mix)

Joe Budden – No Competition (prod. J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League)

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Young Chris feat. Curren$y – Sail On [NoDJ]

Props to BoBO.

Freestyle above, interview after the jump.

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Here’s a promo/commercial for Ali’s upcoming 50 stop Fresh Air Tour with Evidenec, Toki Wright & DJ BK-One.

Previously: Brother Ali Vlog: Downloading vs. Buying

The Man-phibian Chali 2NA talks about his main goals in crafting his solo album and how his son has inspired his music.

Previously: Chali 2na ft. Talib Kweli – Lock Shit Down

Hipster Bey looks weirder to me than Hipster Hov to tell you the truth.

Attention, all you hand-wringing hipsters out there, Jay-Z doesn’t understand why you were so shocked to see him at the Grizzly Bear show on Sunday. After all, if his back catalog is proof of anything, it’s that Jigga’s taste in music isn’t strictly limited to hip-hop.

“I don’t understand why people are always surprised to see me at shows!” Jay told MTV News on Monday (August 31). “I’ve always said that I believe in good music and bad music, so I’m always at those type of events. I like music. The second Blueprint, the reason it was so all over the place was because I love music so much, so there’s records on there with Lenny Kravitz and Sean Paul and Dr. Dre. I’ve done records with Chris Martin. I’m all over the place because of my taste in music.”

“They’re an incredible band,” he said. “The thing I want to say to everyone — I hope this happens because it will push rap, it will push hip-hop to go even further — what the indie-rock movement is doing right now is very inspiring. It felt like us in the beginning. These concerts, they’re not on the radio, no one hears about them, and there’s 12,000 people in attendance. And the music that they’re making and the connection they’re making to people is really inspiring. So, I hope that they have a run where they push hip-hop back a little bit, so it will force hip-hop to fight to make better music, because it can happen, because that’s what rap did to rock.”
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New joint Donnis recorded over the weekend. Shouts to Dan Solomito.

Donnis – I’m Goin In Freestyle