Album Review: Jay-Z- American Gangster
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In setting out to record his latest offering, American Gangster, the goal for Jay-Z was to produce a loose concept album, influenced by scenes, as well as overall themes from the highly-anticipated film of the same name. However, the finished project is impacted by the gangster-flick not only lyrically, but almost more importantly, in the way in which it is constructed. Cinematic production, a dramatic intro and outro, the display of reoccurring themes, both vivid and clear, and well-written story-telling, all play an important part in making American Gangster a film-like experience in the form of an LP. American Gangster provides a throwback feel in more ways than one, as the album not only maintains a correlation with the 70’s backdrop of the film musically, but also has Jay returning to his lyrical roots, dropping clever gems reminiscent of his immaculate debut set Reasonable Doubt. “Pray” immediately sets a dark, suspenseful tone for the start of the album, as Jigga details the effects of illegal activity on it’s immediate surroundings, leading way for the Marvin Gaye-sample-drenched “American Dreamin’”.
But like all good albums, and movies for that matter, American Gangster is not without it’s flaws, and “Hello Brooklyn 2.0″ is a glaring one- the Jay-Z/Lil Wayne collaboration feels completely out of place- the two rappers fail to generate any type of vocal chemistry, and the production effort stands in direct contrast to the slick, smooth production that surrounds it. The middle portion of the album, however, is good, but not great, as the college band-sounding number “Roc Boys” and the laid back Neptunes contribution “I Know” lighten the mood effectively.
The closing stretch on American Gangster is what the LP truly builds towards, as the album bows out in fine fashion. The revamped “Ignorant Shit” is undeniable, as Jay is at his most confident cutting into the Just Blaze-produced track with witty quips such as, “They’re all actors, lookin’ at themselves in the mirror, backwards, can’t even face themselves, don’t fear no rappers…So don’t believe everything your earlobe captures, it’s mostly backwards, unless it happens to be as accurate as me.” “Say Hello” and “Fallin” have producers DJ Toomp and Jermaine Dupri flipping their usual script, as they drop moody, sweeping soul instrumentals to compliment the introspection of Jay-Z the hustler (although the rapper adds his two cents to the mix, “When Jena 6 don’t exist, that’s when I’ll stop saying bitch, bitchh“. Elsewhere, Jay-Z and Nas make good on collaboration number two with “Success,” another hard-hitting track on which the two legendary emcees let loose lyrically. The lead-single “Blue Magic” could have probably been put into the thick of the album, but it’s relegated to the bonus-track section, alongside the overly-familiar sounding title track.
Overall, the album plays out like a good movie, overly slick at times, but generally, a riveting experience. Diddy and the Hitmen more than hold down the album’s production, as their substantial involvement in crafting the soundscape for the LP pays off in a big way. As for the star of the show, Jay-Z plays off the gangster persona with relative ease, and although the hugely successful side of Jigga does seep into the album in certain stretches, the vibe of the album both lyrically and sonically is consistent and solid for most of the album. At this rate, a sequel might be in order. (rtny)
MP3 | Jay-Z feat. Pharrell Williams - I Know [via] [audio=http://www.filefreak.com/pfiles/38123/08-i%20know%20explicit.mp3]
MP3 | Jay-Z - Say Hello (prod. by DJ Toomp) [via] [audio=http://www.filefreak.com/pfiles/38123/09-jay-z-say_hello.mp3]
MP3 | Jay-Z feat. Nas - Success [via] [audio=http://www.filefreak.com/pfiles/38123/10-jay-z-success_ft._nas.mp3]
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the movie is good as the album…
AG- one of the top albums this year. its similar to Reasonable Doubt but with a modern touch thanks to Diddy & JD. if you hate this cd remember that Jay is fucking Beyonce and Nas is forced to fuck that ugly beast Kelis
The new album is awesome. I skip only three songs there (Blue Magic, Hello Brooklyn, Party Life).
Pretty damn good… much much much better than KC.
American Gangster is definitely one of the best of the year.
wow, wasn’t expecting this to be my favourite album of the year when i heard about it, especiallyt after Kingdom Come
Lil’ Wayne KILLED Hello Brooklyn! <3
Feelin this cd..Not that good tho!! 3.5 outta 5 IMO..!!
Best Jay album since The Blueprint. Jay needs to stick with the soulful shit like this.
Yall are smokin that Pipe! This CD is damn near Perfect!
At first, I wasn’t all that impressed or excited by American Gangster, but I just gave it a couple listens and it grew on me.
New album is not great, not good either. Don’t get too excited people…it’s the same old recycled stuff from the sounds of it. Minus a couple exceptions, the album is weak.
this ignorant shit is slightly updated and it has beanie on it, kinda weird yeah but i dont care, i love it =)
his flow is so sick, new album exceeded my expectations by far
Back like he never left. I understand that he lost the “younger set” with the last CD but that was where his head was then. The movie bought back the “old Jay” which is who all of the young bols are imitating now. Good to see him showing how it is done. @ this “I hustle, I get money, I am a street ni##a” attitude that everyone is on right now.
“No Hook” is the best song i’ve heard in a really really long time. So dope… On the other hand, Hello Brooklyn, way to kill a Beasties classic Lil Wayne!- not too happy about that.
Bia’ches!!i have listened to it,and it is hot ,jay spits some serious sh*t there.it is way better then kingdom come,but still it is even close to the sh*t he did back in he day like reasonoble doubt vol 1,vol2 ,when u listened to those joints u could still feel the hunger and the pain in him,but now….he aint in the street no more as he said,and that is all to it….
I think this album along with his last three have all been subpar. If you all see this as classic you are too young to know. Compare the lyrics and production quality to reasonable doubt and blue print and you’ll find no similarities. This sucks. Step your hip hop up!!!!
Great review. Too soon to call an album a classic, only time will tell. However it after the first listen i am amazed that jay-z’s skills on the mic are as sharp as ever.
It’s ok, not even great! “classic” hell no! jay-z really just needs to stop rapping! four straight average to bad albums! it’s over, he’s damn near 40!
Age aint got sh*t to do with rapping…this album is classic…haters get the F*ck outta here…finally a deserving review… This album showcases why jay-z is on top. Now thats end of story
Im loving this album… But its far from reasonable doubt. So just enjoy it for what it is, one of the best albums to be released in long time.
This album is the character in reasonable doubt put in a time machine. Jay-z creates a new genre wuth this album, and though he might face criticism at first for what he is doing, he will be praised in the future. This album is a van gogh painting; its a full cinematic experience for our imagination. In “pray”, he tells us to close our eyes. This is true for every song on the album. Jay-z is the ball player who does not know when to quit, but is not in a position to quit. He shows us that age brings wisdom and however we condemn him, he loves us. This is not rap music, this is cinema. This is not jay-z, this is scorcese.
i already most of the album it’s a classic
Is it safe to talk about the album yet? Oh but overall it was a great album and it does sound like some reasonable doubt shit. Its funny how Jay can throw a great album together in less than a month. While others cant make n album in 2 years.(not a shot at Wayne)
2.5/5 at best…..this shouldve been a mixtape, def some of the worst material jay has ever put out
I like the album its up their but no where near Reasonable Doubt, Blueprint or Black Album. He shouldn’t have made those comparisons cause its going to automatically raise niggas (like me at least) expectations.
Its cool, Hov in cruise control is better than 90% of these niggas out right now. I’m a support it but no rush to go cop the first day or anything.
I Blame Little Louweezy for fuckin up the vibe on what could’ve been a 5 out of 5 album. Wayne fucked up Graduation too. I think he did that shit on purpose.
Don’t hate on Weezy
Track is straight fire
The American Gangster album is NOTHING like Reasonable Doubt from what ive heard of it already. I dont think there will ever another album like Reasonable Doubt from Jay-Z…or anybody else for that matter. The 2 albums Jay put out before this one may be a tad bit better…ill know for sure next tuesday ; )
his first 2 singles were weak like roc boys? c’mon man that some wack shit but i heard the album is hot he should have put that dead presidents 3 joint on the album
I am SOOOOO x 1,000,000 tired of people saying shit on every website like “Jay-Z is better than 90% of the rappers out today” like that counts for ANY-FUCKIN-THING!!!
First of all, anyone that WAS EVER a threat to Jay-Z at ANYTIME in his career are DEAD or have COMPLETELY changed their approach like NAS so that makes it QUITE A BIT easier. It’s EASY to say who the best is when no one else is even TRYING!!! Beside the fact that he is 38 and his life experiences surpass anyone out right now period. He has been there and done that TWICE already lol.
And no one, besides 50 and Eminem have made anything remotely CLOSE to a “classic” in the past 10 years and he made sure to make friends with them and do projects with them. He got on Em when he first came out with Renegade and as SOON as 50 came out they did that whole Sprite campaign. He just never expected either of them to be so sucessful financially.
And I can’t help but believe that after all these years (almost 12) Reasonable Doubt is only a classic because HE said so and got most people to believe the hype because that is what he is EXCELLENT at. His gift to gab has gotten him into high places so MORE POWER to ya Jay. Get that money from them white boys.!!!! I ain’t NEVER been mad at that!!!
But in all honesty, I like Blueprint better and so did the critics.
He had to damn near campaign on EVERY ALBUM after Reasonable Doubt that Reasonable Doubt was a classic and guess,what,happened……..EVERYONE BELIEVES IT NOW. I believe,although R.D. was a GREAT debut album…. Jay just couldn’t STAND the fact that another Brooklyn nigga made it bigger than him EVEN IF that was his “best friend” just like he can’t stand to see anyone shine harder than him NOW. I believe he is a egomaniacal, self absorbed control freak and THAT is why he is where he is as well which I can’t on a BUSINESS level. But not if he really treats people that way. To me, he acts like a spoiled little boy when the spot light is off of him and that is why he has to keep making these albums because it’s loney in the dark. I don’t expect ANYONE on this site to agree with anything I just stated. Only a grown woman/man could see what I am talkin’ bout. His little temper tantrums…..Bey may find “cute” or take it as strong ambition, but I DON’T!!!! He is TOO DAMN OLD!!!!
All I’m saying is Jay and others make a career out of KNOWING that the masses are stupid and that they control what they believe. I ain’t mad, it is what it is. I just don’t ever want to be in that position on jugement day.
With all that said, I will probably find someone that still listens to Jay-Z to burn a copy for me just for some diverstity in my CD changer, but after Kindom Come (I hate that title), he gets not even a CRUMB from me. I’m sure he doesn’t care either.
Hugs and Kisses.
most people may say that ‘American Gangster’ is a classic, cuz it plays like a movie but it not, n this will not be his most succesful album, but it could be cuz of the movie ‘American Gangster’ but to me it not n i ain’t saying it like the album is bad or somthing but it not his best, ‘kingdom Come’ was a better album i would of rated it a 8 lyrically n ‘American Gangster’ a 7 lyrically, protuction wise i would of rated ‘Kingdom Come’ album a 6 n American Gangster a 5…..American Gangster is a step down but it still a good album, more album more money more success…………frank lucas must be a proud motherfucka.
Let’s look at the word “classic” in Hip Hop that means complete from 1 - whatever….and he achieved that here. When I say complete..I don’t mean that there aren’t a mediocre cut or two in between, but I truly can listen to this whole album without a skip and I am not crazy about a couple of the joints.
To sum this up..this is not an MTV album…hot first single nice video then fall back and let the buzz sell it. This thing will sell itself by word of mouth!!!
THE ALBUM IS COOL,IN MY OPINION= 3.5/5,ITS A GOOD LISTEN BUT IS NOT A CLASSIC
all ya hating ass niggas who keep saying that jay-z is old must be some new-skool niggas, i mean it dosen’t matter if jay-z is 40 or 50 or whatever, it not about that that shit ain’t important, it about the music the lyric n hiphop n that is what made jay-z a lengend, plus dude has been in the hiphop game for a long time give jay-z some respect…n so what if hov’ is about to be 40 years old, cuz if so then he is n will be one of the most succesful 40 year old hiphop artist, who is basically the best hiphop legend alive period…..it all about the old-skool.
yeah i have it, its good id give it a 5/5
go get it!
Why do you write? You seem to believe the possessive “its” takes an apostrophe, & your completely underwhelming prose has nothing to distinguish it from a million other would-be critics. Give it up please.
Best album since the Blueprint from Hova. Not as good as RD, but not many albums are too be honest. If you like Jay-Z you will love this album, if you like modern-day hip-hop you will love this album, if you grew up with RD and Illmatic you will be pleasnatly suprised.
4*/5. Believe the hype on this one, far greater than the black album, kingdom come and Blueprint 2 combined.
Dumb ass Motherf#@kers, most of you don’t know skills when you hear it. Listen to “Say Hello” his lyrics on that joint is better then 92% of the songs that came out in the past three years. “Let that Bitch…
4.3/5
Who said Kelis is ugly? Damn. Listen, to me there is no finer woman then Beyonce. But Kelis is hot.
I’d like to see what you hittin’- maybe you’d rather be lookin’ at Pharell & Kanye?
This album is Reasonable Doubt and the Black Album mixed together. Ten times better than Kingdom Come
I think people are expecting too much from Jay-Z, cos there are no rappers on form at the minute, producing a rounded album. However, on first listen of AG I too rejected it. But play it a couple of times, and it grows on you, much better then Kingdom Come. Everything flows together and its an easy listen. Perfect timing for the winter months.
Hov is untouchable! Party Life is nice n smooth track, witty as hell too! Drink my wine listen to that joint….
first of all, there’s a reason why jay is number 1 and thats his one of a kind wordplay combined with perfect timing to release an album i.e american gangster.I’m a businessman and I bought this, the blueprint and the reasonable doubt not to open them, not to sell them when they gain value,but to keep them along with its preserved/collected value..