When I sing along with the music, I usually get the lyrics wrong.

But somehow, even though I have no idea what they mean, I know these words, from this song:

H to the izz-O, V to the izz-A! That's the anthem, get your damn hands up!

If you check the lyrics, there's actually a basketball reference in there, but mostly it seems to be about dealing drugs. Anyway, that's one hell of a song right there. Of course, it's from Jay-Z's Blueprint album, which is a legend of its kind and one of the best-reviewed and top-selling albums of all time.

In any case, that Blueprint name, some of the feel of the album cover, and a big ol' photo of Jay-Z himself are being deployed in a new way, right now: In rebranding ... the New Jersey Nets.

Check out the New York Post's website right now! Is this a news site, or is this groundbreaking 2001 hip hop?

You will never be able to convince me that somewhere in Ohio the Nets are not showing LeBron James this site today. And this team site, showing that the team is "all new."

And here's the funniest part of the whole deal. Of course, in this NBA version of "the Blueprint," Jay-Z has a partner. No, it's not Kanye West, who produced that "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" song. It's a rich, tall Russian guy, Mikhail Prokhorov! (And by the way, notice how they made the Jay-Z and the 6-8 Prokhorov look about the same height? The designers did the rapper a big favor there.) Back in 2001, when the original Blueprint was being recorded, and Prokhorov was restructuring Norilsk Nickel, what were the chances those two would one day be sharing the stage on a sequel of sorts?