The album, which was released alongside the movie of the same name, is not supposed to be a soundtrack. Basically, Jay-Z saw an early release of the movie and was inspired by it, saying, "It connected with me on an emotional level. It was so similar to the neighborhoods that I came up in, and things that happened there." So instead, American Gangster serves as a concept album of his early life as a drug dealer.
As a concept, I think it's a great idea. The album has a retro feel to it and when Jay-Z explains it, you can sort of see his vision of how the tracks act as scenes to a movie. I appreciate the artsy-ness of his attempt, but I don't think it worked fully. I mean, only after hearing Jay-Z explain that the album is supposed to tell an overlying story did I kind of see a silhouette of his idea. The concept gets an A for effort, but a C for execution.
The beats and lyrics are all decent. I don't feel like there's a single song that I can't bear to listen to, which is pretty good for any album. The problem is that I also don't feel like there's a single song that I can't stop listening to. There is no single that grabbed my ears at first listen.
His singles, "Blue Magic" and "Roc Boys (And the Winner is).." are both solid (the latter more so than the former), but again, I feel like listeners who aren't Jay-Z fans just won't feel it.
Overall, the album is not bad. The idea of a concept album is intriguing and shows that Jay-Z isn't just trying to make money. The beats are retro but still bump (who knew trumpets would make a good beat?). The lyrics are still Jay-Z powerful. But the problem is that these three points don't converge on any single song, making the album lack a strong single. For Jay-Z fans, that won't matter so much, but casual listeners won't be so impressed.
Recommended Tracks: Roc Boys (And the Winner is).., No Hook, Blue Magic
Grade: B
Extras:
Roc Boys (And the Winner is).. Music Video
Blue Music Video
Jay-Z on David Letterman
0 comments:
Post a Comment