roheblius's Full Review: The Black Album [PA] by Jay-Z
You talk to Jay-Z fans and while they like much of his stuff, they always talk about Reasonable Doubt. When is he going to make another record like that? It's his most classic record. It's street. It's gangster. It's his best. But it didn't really sell a whole lot of albums. It didn't crossover at all. It may not have been Illmatic but for a debut it was still damn good. But as Jay-Z says on Moment Of Clarity, he had to make a choice if he wanted to make money.
Since I know what I'm up against
We as rappers must decide what's most important
And I can't help the poor if I'm one of them
So I got rich and gave back
To me that's the win win
The Black Album is his supposed swan song. He says it's his last album and the one he wants to go out with. Early on, the blueprint to the album was slightly different than how it turned out.
He said:
"It's gonna be 12 songs with 12 of the producers I respect. One from Timbaland, one from [Dr.] Dre, one from the Neptunes, one from Eminem."
The actual album is 14 songs and he strayed from one producer for a different song theme. He did use several producers though so the album's sound differs throughout. But the signature sound is there, with Kanye West and Just Blaze producing the best work on the album. The Neptunes seem uninspired, as Change Clothes, the first single, is the least adventurous of the songs on the album. They do provide the beat for Allure which is the only love song on The Black Album. It's not about Beyonce, or his mom, and he's not making the song cry. It's about his love for the game and how hard it is to leave it.
"I wanna make it a prequel to Reasonable Doubt, I want it to feel like that,"
"I'm bringing y'all back before '96, [the year of] my first album."
That is fine and dandy, but it didn't exactly work that way. There are songs here that do sound like they could've been made in 1996, but they're way too clean and snazzy. And where's the "Okay, I'm reloaded" guy? Is it Reasonable Doubt part two? No, but it doesn't need to be. It's pretty good the way it turned out.
Threat produced by 9th Wonder sort of brings it back as he samples R. Kelly's Woman's Threat. It's a song where Jay just goes at his detractors.
I will kill you, commit suicide
And kill you again
Lucifer, save for the soul sample from the Kanye West production also sort of takes you back to his first album.
Man I got to get my soul right
I got to get these devils out my life
These cowards gonna make a ni**a right
They won't be happy till somebody dies
There are several joints you'll be putting on your Best Of Jay-Z burned CD. The song that opens the album is an autobiographical song called December 4th which signifies his date of birth. His mother is on the track, but she's not rapping, just talking where the chorus would regularly be. The song goes through his birth and how he's forgiven his absent father, then learning about rapping and also drug dealing. He hasn't been this forthcoming about his start in the game since early in his career. The production is stellar as it is on most of the album. It's one of the cleanest sounding albums out there. What More Can I Say builds off December 4th and might be the best song on the album. He finishes the song acapella and at the end gives you the feeling that he's frustrated with the game. Encore is a great concept. Basically, the song simulates a live performance. After his first verse, someone playing the live MC asks the crowd to start calling for Jay-Z so he will give them an encore. After they scream his name, he comes back to finish the song. 99 Problems is a throw back produced by Rick Rubin and it's fun. Jay-Z simplifies his rhyme patterns in the song to match the production. My 1st Song wraps the album up nicely and he shouts out friends at the end. It's a nice way to finish the album and I'm glad there weren't any new tracks added at the end as it would take away the feeling and purpose of My 1st Song.
Big time fans were wondering what happened to Primo and Dr. Dre. They are both noticeably absent from this album. Even when the album was in the beginning stages, Primo thought he would be on it.
"He wants me to do two joints. He wants me to do the intro to the album and another song. He says he wants to explain it to me, but he wants to do it face-to-face."
Obviously, it never happened and I wonder why. The album is tight already, but Justify My Thug could've been left off. The DJ Quick produced song simulates Madonna's Justify My Love and it simply sounds out of place. And Dirt Off Your Shoulder would've sounded tight about 4 years ago. Here it slightly sounds dated even and it doesn't make it a bad song, just sort of a "been there, done that" track.
The album is fine album if this is the end for Jay-Z. Is this the end?
Ask New Edition.
Mama told me one day it was gonna happen
But she never told me when.
She told me it would happen when I was much older
Wish it would've happened then
*All quotes from MTV.com
Great Music to Play While: Having No Reasonable Doubt
The Black Album, Jay-Z s tenth and final solo disc, features tracks by Pharrell and Dr. Dre. Cross promotional tie-ins to the disc include the simulta...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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