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Jay-Z - American Gangster
- In the midst of being Def Jam president, Rocafella CEO and boyfriend of Beyonce, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter found time to be inspired by the new Denzel Washington film American Gangster. With this inspiration, the 38-year-old rapper -– who claimed to retire in 2003 -– recorded 14 new tracks and added a more commercial appearance to a previously recorded mixtape hit, with a chorus and Beanie Sigel on the hook.
In his 2006 album "Kingdom Come," Jay left behind the street-smart, Marcy-raised kid persona that he had taken on in 1996 when his first album "Reasonable Doubt" debuted. Claiming that “30 is the new 20,” Hov embarked on a new role that was “all grown up.” But like he said on “A Week Ago” (from Hard Knock Life, Vol. 2), “it’s funny what seven days can change.” Thus on his latest release "American Gangster," Jay brings back the persona he carried on "Reasonable Doubt."
Looking at the recent works of his discography, each album has a producer that has worked on the majority of the songs. On 2001’s "Blueprint," Kanye West and Just Blaze shared the production."Kingdom Come" had major work from super-producer Dr. Dre. "American Gangster" is soaked with music by Bad Boy CEO, Diddy. The Diddy tracks are “Pray,” “American Dreamin,’” “No Hook,” “Roc Boys (And the Winner Is…),” “Sweet” and “Party Life.” Other songs like “I Know” and “Blue Magic” are produced by the Neptunes’ Pharrell Williams and So So Def’s Jermaine Dupri produced “Fallin.’”
The album is opened up with lines from Denzel Washington in the movie and actor Idris Elba (The Wire, Daddy’s Little Girls) defining what a real gangster is. “Pray” is another Jay and B. collaboration with Beyonce reciting prayers throughout it. “American Dreamin’” starts off with a Marvin Gaye “Soon I’ll Be Loving You Again” sample that works its way into the entire song; “Dreamed of you this mornin’, then came the dawnin’. I thought you’d be here with me…” “Party Life” has a sample from Little Beaver in its chorus and is recognizable by those who know “Feelin’ It” ("Reasonable Doubt") lyrics. “Just once in the blue when there’s nothin’ to do, when the tension gets too thick for my sober mind to cut through – I get to zonin’.” Part of the line can now be heard in a soulful way.
Mixtape hit made for the media, “Ignorant Sh**” was made up for an album-friendly appearance. From three contradictive verses, a hook and a Beanie Sigel verse were added. Jay raps “Actually believe half of what you see, none of what you hear even if it’s spat by me. And with that said, I will kill ni***s dead.” Beanie steps towards censorship with “See if I care, if this get aired, even if you mute it/ the curse is still there.” The same attitude is heard in “Say Hello” towards people who bash Hip-Hop for its parental advised content. “Tell him [Al Sharpton] I’ll remove the curses if he can tell me our schools gon’ be perfect/ when the Jena Six don’t exist tell him/ that’s when I’ll stop sayin’ bi**h.”
Jay hasn’t forgotten about current events such as the Jena Six or the Imus scandal, and he brings back the matured rapper that was heard on “Minority Report” ("Kingdom Come") when he spoke on Hurricane Katrina. Even though the gangster persona is well-shown on this album, the adult side of Hov still exists.
Reviewer: Tiffani Cage
new
Reviewer's Rating: 8.5
Reader's Rating: 9.00
Reader's Votes: 5
Added: 7-Nov-2007
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