mcheadcase's Full Review: The Black Album [PA] by Jay-Z
We can argue whether or not he is the best emcee of all time for days, but to say that Jay-Z hasn't made a big impact on the Hip-Hop world is a straight-up boldface lie. From 1996 to 2003, he had released seven albums, all of them being notable in the eyes of Hip-Hop fans. Unfortunately, only two of those albums lived up to the hype and are actually pretty damn good: His '96 debut "Reasonable Doubt", a gripping record that takes a cinematic twist on his past, and 2001's "The Blueprint", a return to the introspection from RD's days, which I dubbed his 'blue period'. All his other albums range from above average ("In My Lifetime") to complete and utter garbage ("Life and Times"). In 2003, it was announced that he was going to release his eighth album, but this time there was a twist: it was going to be his last. Yes, believe it or not, Jay had said that after the release of "The Black Album" he was going to back out of the Hip-Hop game and stay out for good. Jay had contemplated retiring many times before in his career but he always reined on his promise, popularizing his line "Can't leave rap alone, the game needs me". However, this time he seriously meant it, and for his swan song, he decided he was going to go all out. He made many promises about the album's content and production: In early interviews, he said he'd be ditching the commercialism and returning to his RD sound; he also said that the album would be for the streets and would have no radio singles. However, the commercialism was still there, and was prominent in the album's two radio singles. He had also said the album would contain twelve tracks, produced by twelve different producers. In the end, we got 14 tracks with 10 producers, Roc-a-Fella mainstays Just Blaze and Kanye West, as well as longtime Jay collaborators The Neptunes, getting top priority; two legendary producers, DJ Premier and Dr. Dre, were promised to do production on the album but they were left on the cutting room floor. Nevertheless, even though Jay-Z would go back on his word more than once, "The Black Album" still turned out to be an appropriate goodbye for the Jigga Man.
The album opens with off the bat with "December 4th", named after Jay's birthday (on another note, Jigga turns 37 today; happy birthday, Jigga). Jay's mother, Gloria Carter, appears in between Jay's verses, telling us stories from his childhood. Over Just Blaze's triumphant trumpet-laced production, we find Jay storytelling about his life, from his childhood to his days as a drug dealer to the release of "Reasonable Doubt" in '96. In all honesty, in terms of subject matter, it's nothing new for Jay. But even so, he gives us an excellent opening track, ending it with a beautifully articulated summarization of his career: "I pray I'm forgiven for every bad decision I made / every sister I played, cause I'm still paranoid to this day / and it's nobody fault, I made the decisions I've made / this is the life I chose, or rather the life that chose me / if you can't respect that, your whole perspective is whack / maybe you'll love me when I fade to black...". I don't care who you are, you can't front on this shit right here. The other major track that talks about his life is the standout "Moment of Clarity", produced by Eminem. Now we all know Em modeled his production style after his mentor Dr. Dre, and his Dre carbon copy beats are either hit or miss. Thankfully, this time it's a hit, as he provides an ominous backdrop for Jay to spill his guts over. The first verse is obviously the most personal, as he speaks on his reconciliation with his estranged father. Before the album was released, Jay was able to get in contact with his father and make amends with him, but shortly afterwards, he passed away. The beginning of the verse has him describing his father's funeral and how he wasn't able to be emotional about it cause he "didn't know him that well" ("Couldn't work, so a smirk was all on my face / like 'damn, this man's face is just like MY face!'") and then publicly forgiving him ("So pop, I forgive you for all the shit that I been through / it wasn't all your fault homey, you got caught"). The second verse finds Jay talking about the rap game, where he admits his selling out in the now infamous lines "I dumbed down for my audience to double my dollars / they criticize me for it, yet they all yell 'Holla!'". People will either admire Jay's decision to admit it while others have said it's simply a cop-out for his fans to forgive him. I normally would agree with the latter, but one thing a lot of people overlook is a couple of lines from towards the end of the verse, which attribute to WHY he sold out in the first place: "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". As you can see, the track is just as the title describes, a moment of clarity for Jay as well as his fans, as he speaks his heart over the three verses, making the track one of the album's major standouts.
Of course, Jay doesn't let up with his ego, as the braggadocio is in full effect throughout the album, the most on the outstanding "What More Can I Say?". The blistering production is handled by newcomers The Buchannans, and they provide an excellent beat that sounds perfect for Jay to rock over. The track has Jay once again bragging about his accomplishments, but this time adding that he can't say anything that someone else hasn't already said about him (or anything that he hasn't already said about himself). One thing this track is especially known for is the addressing of the 'biter' claims. Over the years, Jay has borrowed lines from the deceased rapper and close friend Notorious B.I.G., which has led to fans saying that he outright bites from his close friend and doesn't give him credit. On this track, Jay finally addresses these claims: "I'm not a biter, I'm a writer for myself and others / I say a B.I.G. verse, I'm only bigging up my brother / bigging up my borough, I'm big enough to do it / I'm that thorough, plus I know my own flow is foolish". I understand that and that's totally fine, but that still doesn't explain why he bites from everyone else; even on this track, we find him borrowing from his at-the-time rival Nas ("S. Dot's on my feets makes my cipher complete", ripped from Nas' song "The World is Yours"). As I mentioned earlier, some of the braggadocio is materialistic and commercial and for once, it's not always a bad thing. The album's first single "Change Clothes and Go" was another materialistic braggadocio track, but in all honesty, this one was actually pretty good. The Neptunes provided Jay with a light but head-nodding beat, and Jay manages to keep the track listenable, even if he IS bragging about materialistic things. Unfortunately, the same can not be said for the album's second single, the Timbaland-produced "Dirt Off Your Shoulder". He's outright bragging again but sounds extremely bored, not to mention Timbo's beat is fuckin' HORRID, with an annoying squeaky synthesizer just scarring your eardrums. He doesn't really drive the 'thug' image as much as he used to, but he does spend some time establishing that image once again. "Threats" is the major example, as Jay recruits underground producer 9th Wonder to provide a menacing background for Jay to lay down the gangsta braggadocio. This track got 9th some critical acclaim, thereby bringing LB to light and as well as their home state (YEAH! North Carolina stand up!). Nowadays, the gangsta mannerisms may not seem believable from Jay (cause of his constant braggadocio about material shit) but the track is still dope. The thug image doesn't work as well on "Justify My Thug", where Jay relays weak braggadocio over DJ Quik's wack attempt at recreating Madonna's "Justify My Love".
Jay has been known for tackling creative concepts before in his rhymes and this album is no different. The album's best track, "99 Problems", is rock/rap concept track which borrows its refrain from the Ice-T song of the same name: "I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one". In the original, Ice-T said that particular phrase, and then went into detail about the kind of women he's been with. For this track, however, Jay flips the script and instead of talking about women, he discusses the other 99 problems he has. The first verse has him lashing out at his critics who said he sold out; the first verse is someone reminiscent of "Renegade" but instead of accusing listeners of skimming through his lyrics, he takes a different approach: "Rap critics that say he's 'Money, Cash, Hoes' / I'm from the hood stupid! What type of facts are those? / If you grew up with holes in your zapatos / you'd celebrate the MINUTE you was having dough! / I'm like 'Fuck critics!' You can kiss my whole asshole / if you don't like my lyrics, you can press fast forward" The second verse finds him describing a run in he had with a racist police officer back in '94. It's nothing new to talk about the police, but Jay spins a nicely done story here. Only thing that bugs me about the verse is the reason WHY the cop pulled him over: "You was doing 55 in the 54". When the hell did they start having 54 MPH speed limits? Ehh, either way, its still dope. And in the third verse, he talks about the punks who front like they're gangstas but are only talkin' shit ("You know the type, loud as a motorbike / but wouldn't bust a grape in a fruit fight"). The entire track is brought together by the bombastic rock/rap beat, produced by Def Jam co-founded Rick Rubin; taking samples from Mountain and Billy Squier, Rubin provides Jay with a headbangin beat that Hip-Hop fans can feel.
Being that this is Jay's retirement album, the theme of leaving the rap game and saying goodbye is prominent. A lot of the songs, whether they be introspective or braggadocio, serve as final farewells to his fans. Previously mentioned examples include "December 4th" and "What More Can I Say", and another example would be the Kanye West-laced "Encore", which didn't become as popular until it was remixed by Linkin Park a year later. This track finds Jay bragging once again, but also hyping up everybody for his retirement, calling this track his "victory lap" and saying this in the hook: "After me there shall be no more / so for one last time nigga, make some noise!". A lot of people have talked shit about "Allure" cause of the Neptunes beat, but the somber piano-laced beat compliments the subject matter. The track basically has Jay going over all the things he's done in his life and questions why he does all the things he does. The reason why is because the allure of his lifestyle is so intoxicating that he can't help but do what he do. In the hook he notes that he's attempted to retire and step away from the game, but says that living life in the fast lane was too addicting: "And every time I thought 'that was that' / it called me right back". It's an excellent song that would've been PERFECT to end the album on, though I'm sad to say that he drops the ball with the real closing song, "My First Song". Based on the philosophy that you must treat whatever you do like it's your first time, Jay runs down his career, but in all honesty, he really doesn't say anything more than he's already said elsewhere on the album. Jay only gives us two short verses, then spends two and a half minutes basically giving shoutouts to everybody that's helped him out over the years. It's the same thing we've heard all throughout the album and quite frankly it's boring. A disappointing ending to an otherwise excellent album.
As a whole, "The Black Album" is one complex piece of work. It certainly isn't as good as "Reasonable Doubt", but at the same time, it's not wack. In fact, I would go as far as to say this is Hov's third best album (behind "The Blueprint" and RD). Jay does a nice job of mixing introspection with braggadocio as well as creativity, giving us a well-rounded album that's not boring to listen to. What's sad is that Jigga hasn't really been this good throughout his career, though he could've been. If "Life and Times" (and "Hard Knock Life" as well, for that matter) were more like this, maybe he COULD stand amongst the greats and be considered one of the greatest emcees of all time. Even so, this album stands as a testament to how good of an emcee Shawn Carter can be. To summarize, "The Black Album" is an excellent swan song that'll leave you with good memories for years to come. Now, let's picture the cheering crowd chanting the name "HO-VA! HO-VA!", throwing roses at Jigga's feet while the plush red curtain closes in front of him, thereby signifying his departure forever...
Of course, we all knew this whole 'retirement' was bullshit and that Jay wouldn't go anywhere. And he didn't. But even so, it's still a nice little visual, right?
FINAL RATING: 4 Stars
Track Listing:
1. Intro (NOT RATED)
2. December 4th (5 Stars)
3. What More Can I Say? (5 Stars)
4. Encore (4 Stars)
5. Change Clothes and Go (3 1/2 Stars)
6. Dirt Off Your Shoulder (1 Star)
7. Threat (4 Stars)
8. Moment of Clarity (5 Stars)
9. 99 Problems (5 Stars)
10. Public Service Announcement (4 Stars)
11. Justify my Thug (2 Stars)
12. Lucifer (4 1/2 Stars)
13. Allure (5 Stars)
14. My 1st Song (3 Stars)
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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