1 / 33

The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse: Where Are They Now? - The best blueprints create buildings that last. And Jay-Z's The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse is definitely lasting. The 2002 album is sometimes overlooked, but it was filled with big songs and big moments. And it all happened thanks to the big names behind it—the numerous rappers, singers, producers and more that helped Jay put it all together. Today (Nov. 12), 10 years after The Blueprint 2 dropped, we're taking a look back at the album's all-star team. Diamonds are forever, indeed. —Alex Gale (Photo: Def Jam Records)

2 / 33

Notorious B.I.G. - Jay-Z sets off The Blueprint 2 with "Dream," which features Notorious B.I.G.'s unforgettable opening verse from "Juicy." A few years later, some of Big's old verse were repurposed for new songs on the posthumous album Duets: The Final Chapter, but none reached sounded as dope and natural as "Dream." Still, in 2012, Biggie's legacy remains as strong as ever. (Photo: Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage)

3 / 33

Faith Evans - Jay-Z reached out to Faith Evans to make "A Dream," his dramatic collabo with Big from beyond the grave, even more official, and she sings beautifully on the hook. This year, Faith stayed in the spotlight with by executive producing and starring in the TVOne reality show R&B Divas. She also headlined an album of the same title, comprised of unreleased songs from her and the show's cast, which also features Nicci Gilbert, Monifah, Syleena Johnson, and KeKe Wyatt. (Photo: Mark Davis/Getty Images For BET)

4 / 33

Just Blaze - Just Blaze and Jay considered their amazing early 2000s hit streak on The Blueprint 2. Just produced the majority of the record, including highlights "Hovi Baby," "Show You How" and "Some How Some Way." He and Hov haven't worked together in years, but Just is still crafting standouts, including Kendrick Lamar and Dr. Dre's "Compton," Maybach Music Group's "Self Made," Drake and Rick Ross' "Lord Knows."  (Photo: WENN.com)

5 / 33

Rakim - Rakim—who was signed to Dre's Aftermath at the time—followed up on his sick verse on "Addictive," the Dr. Dre–produced 2002 hit single by Truth Hurts, by collaborating with them again on "The Watcher 2." Unfortunately, Rakim's resurrected career stalled under Dre's watch, and the two parted ways soon after. In the years since, Rakim's toured globally and released a handful of albums independently. In 2012, after releasing a 25-year anniversary edition of his classic debut with Eric B, Paid in Full, he's working on a new album, which will reportedly include production from Pharrell Williams.  (Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Images for BET)

6 / 33

Dr. Dre - It's kind of strange that Jay-Z included a sequel/remix to a three-year-old Dr. Dre song here, as "The Watcher 2." Even stranger: It's one of the few cases where the sequel's better than the original. Dre and Scott Storch flip the beat nicely, and Dre deftly delivers his verse, no doubt written by Hov. Dre's been a bit reclusive in the years since, locking himself away to work on his long-delayed, winged-unicorn of an album, Detox. But he's still had a huge impact over the year or so, headlining at Coachella, making a killing when he sold his Beats By Dre headphone company, and most recently, executive-producing and rhyming on Kendrick Lamar's acclaimed debut album, which dropped on his Aftermath imprint. (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

7 / 33

Scott Storch - Scott Storch, Dre's production partner-in-crime on "The Watcher 2," became one of the industry's top producers around the same time this song dropped, working on hits for Terror Squad ("Lean Back"), Beyoncé, 50 Cent, Justin Timberlake and his ex-girl Lil Kim. But nowadays Storch is more known for his drug issues, and the financial ruin they caused. Earlier this year, Storch was arrested in Las Vegas for possession of cocaine, and last month he narrowly avoided arrest in Florida by paying $20,000 in back child support. (Photo: Alexander Tamargo/Wire Image)

8 / 33

Truth Hurts - Truth Hurts had a breakthrough year in 2002, appearing on "The Watcher 2" after her own Top 10 debut single "Addictive." Truth Hurts bounced from Dre's Aftermath label soon after, releasing an album under Raphael Saadiq, before going M.I.A. Nowadays, she's gearing up for a return, posing semi-nude in Penthouse and recording with former Red Hot Chilli Peppers guitarist John Frusciante. (Photo: Earl Gibson III/Getty Images)

9 / 33

Beyoncé - Bey's collaboration with Jay here, "'03 Bonnie & Clyde," is kinda like a big deal. It was their first collaboration, and Beyonce's first Top 10 as a solo artist. And it was a semi-sorta confirmation of their relationship, which was just a rumor back then. Overall, it's a prescient sign of things to come in terms of where she is now: a huge solo superstar, and still at Jay-Z's side—but now as his wife. (Photo: Alo Ceballos/FilmMagic)

10 / 33

Sean Paul - Sean Paul capped off a massive 2002, which found him breaking through stateside with hits like "Gimme the Light," by rocking the hook on the bouncy, Timbaland-produced "What Ya Gonna Do." Though he's nowhere near the global superstar he was last decade, Sean Paul did release an album earlier this year, Tomahawk Technique, which found some success overseas. (Photo: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

11 / 33

LaToiya Williams - Singer LaToiya Williams, who was signed to Snoop Dogg's Doggy Style label at the time, killed it with the raspy, soulful hook to "All Around the World." Though she headlined the slept-on single "Fallen Star" for a Doggy Style compilation album that same year, her career never really took off. Still, she's continued to amass impressive credits as a backup vocalist and songwriter, often thanks to her old boss Snoop, who collaborated with her most recently on his song "Cold Game" last year. Latoiya released a Nottz Raw–produced single, "This Love Is Sweet," in August.   (Photo: Doggy Style Records)

12 / 33

Big Boi - Outkast's Big Boi killed it on "Poppin' Tags," easily one of the album's best songs. He was joined by Dungeon Family homies Sleepy Brown and Killer Mike, but Andre 3000 was nowhere to be found, perhaps an early sign of the discord that manifested itself the following year on Outkast's Love Below/Speakerboxxx, which was really just two solo albums. Years later Outkast is still on hiatus, but Big Boi has stayed active with solo music and collabos with artists including Janelle Monae and Modest Mouse. He's gearing up to release his second true solo album, Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors, later this year.    (Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

Photo By Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup

13 / 33

Killer Mike - Killer Mike spits on "Poppin' Tags" alongside Big Boi, who signed Mike to his Purple Ribbon All-Stars label. Mike left the label bitterly a few years later, but he's stayed buzzing with a series of acclaimed albums. In 2011 he released PL3DGE through T.I.'s Grand Hustle label, and this year he dropped R.A.P. Music, a critical darling produced by indie-rap favorite El-P and released in affiliation with the Cartoon Network.   (Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Images)

14 / 33

Sleepy Brown - Sleepy—who played a key role as singer, songwriter and producer on releases from Outkast and their Dungeon Family affilliates—graced "Poppin' Tags" with his signature falsetto on the hook. Three years later, he released his major-label debut, Mr. Brown, via Big Boi's Purple Ribbon label but it never went anywhere, and neither did Brown's solo career. But Big Boi has kept their working relationship alive, tapping Sleepy for both of his solo albums, incuding the forthcoming Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors. (Photos by Adrian Sidney/PictureGroup)

15 / 33

Twista - Twista murders his blindingly multisylabbic verse on the Kanye West-produced “Poppin’ Tags,” an early preview of their hit collabos “Slow Jamz” and “Overnight Celebrity” two years later. Unfortunately, Twista never reached that level of success again, though he’s still a rap legend in Chicago. He kept releasing music though, and is presently working on The Dark Horse, the follow-up to his 2010 album The Perfect Storm.  (Photo: Bennett Raglin/Getty Images)

16 / 33

The Neptunes - The Neptunes were one of pop music's most in-demand production teams when they laced Jay with four tracks for The Blueprint 2, including the hit single "Excuse Me Miss." They aren't dominating things the way they were back then, but the pair is still landing big credits in 2012, producing for Kendrick Lamar, Rick Ross, Stalley and Usher—though most of these were credited to either Pharrell or Chad Hugo individually, not as The Neptunes. Hmm.   (Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

17 / 33

No I.D. - No I.D., who mentored Common and Kanye West in their early years, produced "All Around the World." After years of being overlooked, it was a sign of big things to come for the late-blooming Chicago vet. Since 2011, he's produced the bulk of acclaimed albums by Nas, Big Sean and Common, and was named executive VP of Def Jam last August. (Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Moet Rose)

18 / 33

Lenny Kravitz - Lenny Kravitz sings the hook on the rocked-out, Heavy D-produced banger "Guns & Roses." He remains a huge star and paparazzi favorite despite his sometimes sporadic musical output. In 2011, he released a funk album, Black & White America, and added acting to his portfolio with a surprisingly good supporting role in the blockbuster film The Hunger Games this year. (Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images for NAACP Image Awards)

19 / 33

Heavy D - Legendary rapper Heavy D jacked alt-rock band Cake for "Guns and Roses," the definite standout among his few production credits. Hev launched a comeback last year, releasing a new album, Love Opus, and performing at the BET Hip Hop Awards in October. But it was tragically short-lived—Heavy died of a pulmonary embolism just nine days later, at the age of 44.  (Photo: Chris McKay/Getty Images)

20 / 33

Beanie Sigel - Beanie Sigel was one of the most promising artists signed to Roc-A-Fella when he spit a touching verse with Scarface and Jay on "Some How Some Way," a sequel of sorts to the amazing "This Can't Be Life" from Jay's 2000 LP The Dynasty: Roc La Familia. But his career has been derailed again and again by legal issues, and that's still the case in 2012: Though he put an album, This Time, out in August, Beans is currently serving time for tax evasion, and is awaiting sentencing on weapons and drug possession charges.  (Photo: AP Photo/Joseph Kaczmarek)

21 / 33

Scarface - Scarface, Beans and Jay should've formed a group. All three of their collaborations—"Guess Who's Back?," "This Can't Be Life" and here, "Some How Some Way"—are amazing. The Houston legend kept releasing albums througout the last decade (despite retiring for a spell), but hit a hitch when he was jailed for a year for failure child support. Since his release in August of last year, he's been working on a new solo album.   (Photo: John Ricard / BET).

22 / 33

Charlemagne - Charlemagne produced the album's title track, a belated diss track aimed at Nas that samples the iconic score from the film The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. The veteran Bronx-based beatmaker has continued to land random credits over the years, producing for Cam'Ron and Shyne. His most notable recent placement is "The Corner," from Talib Kweli's Attack the Block mixtape released earlier this year.  (Photo: Charlemange/Twitter)

23 / 33

Memphis Bleek - Memphis Bleek rhymed on the middling Roc-A-Fella posse cut "As One" with State Property and Rell. Though he never ascended beyond his status as Hov's righthand man/hypeman, he's had a big 2012, dropping three mixtapes and performing on the second night of Jay-Z's epic eight-show run to open Brooklyn's Barclays Center.  (Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

24 / 33

Peedi Peedi  - State Prop standout Peedi Peedi killed it, as usual, on "As One." But the stars weren't aligned for Peedi, derailed by label and legal issues. He had a bitter fallout with Jay-Z, who told Hot 97 in 2008, "I don't speak to Peedi at all 'cause he's a psycho." But Peedi may finally be getting it together after getting out of prison in 2010. Last month he released "This the S--t," a new single with Redman and producer Jahlil Beats, to lead the way for a new mixtape, CF5: The Cocaine Edition. (Photo: Scott Gries/Getty Images)

25 / 33

Omillio Sparks - Omillio Sparks, sometimes known as just Sparks, also raps with the rest of the State Property crew on "As One." He was once half of duo Oschino & Sparks, but he never managed to release much music until he went solo with two indie albums in 2007, The Payback and The Inauguration. In the past few years, he's been linking back up with his State Prop brethren, guesting on Freeway's The Stimulus Package album in 2010, and linking up with Beans, Freeway, Young Chris and Peedi for the aptly titled posse cut "The Reunion," from Beanie's new album This Time. (Photo: Thos Robinson/Getty Images)

26 / 33

Rell - Rell, Roc-A-Fella's in-house R&B crooner, rounded out "As One" by interpolating Earth Wind & Fire's "Fantasy" on the hook. He's no longer working with Jay and the Roc, but he's managed to keep building an impressive discography as a guest vocalist through collabos with Jim Jones, Styles P and others. In 2008, he wrote the title track to Usher's Here I Stand. The following year, he formed classic-soul group The Revelations with Tre Williams, touring frequently and releasing two critically acclaimed albums. Rell is on his own again now, working on a solo album tentatively titled From a Man's Perspective. (Photo: Rell/Facebook).

27 / 33

Jimi Kendrix - Queens producer Jimi Kendrix collaborated with Big Chuck on the Paul Anka–sampling "My Way." He later produced for Ja Rule and Ashanti, and released his own mixtape, Sitting in a Tuxeda on Top of the Mountain, earlier this year.   (Photo: J, 50 Centohn Ricard / BET)

28 / 33

Charles "Big Chuck" Stanton - Veteran music exec Charles "Big Chuck" Stanton co-produced "My Way" with Jimi Kendrix and "Diamond Is Forever" with Ron Feemster, his nephew, who he still manages and collaborates with. (Photo: Deep 3rd Entertainment)

29 / 33

Darrell "Digga" Branch - After producing much of Cam'ron's early material, Darrell "Digga" Branch crafted the sequel to "What They Gonna Do." A few years later he had a much bigger triumph, co-producing 50 Cent's masterful "Many Men." In 2008, he founded Producer's Skill Inc., a company focused on educating aspiring producers. (Photo: Six Figga Entertainment)

30 / 33

Ron Feemster - Theron Feemster has had a long, fruitful career as a mostly behind-the-scenes producer and musician since co-producing "Diamond Is Forever" with his uncle and manager, Charles "Big Chuck" Stanton. In the past few years, he's worked with Mario, Nelly, Keyshia Cole and Michael Jackson shortly before his death. (Photo: WikiCommons)

31 / 33

Young Guru - Gimel "Young Guru" Keaton mixed and recorded The Blueprint 2, which is no surprise: He's done the same on all of Jay's albums except for his debut, Reasonable Doubt. He mixed the third installment of The Blueprint in 2009 and worked on Young Jeezy's TM103: Hustlaz Ambition and Rick Ross' Teflon Don in the years to follow. In 2010, he became Jay-Z's official tour DJ as well.  (Photo: RocNation)

32 / 33

Kanye West - Blueprint 2 was a big breakthrough for Kanye West. Yes, he produced four cuts, including "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" and "Poppin' Tags," but more importantly, he made his debut as an MC with a mediocre verse on "The Bounce." 10 years later, Kanye has far outshined that shaky start, and he's still making hits with Jay as one half of The Throne.  (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

33 / 33

Jay-Z - If you really have to ask where Jay-Z is now, a better question is: Where have you been?  (Photo: Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images)