Album Review: "American Gangster"- Jay-Z

Of course everyone's heard about this new Jay record which is kinda sorta based of the new Denzel movie of the same title. The whole thing about Jay-Z making a gangster oriented album is cool because basically all of his best songs have that sort of theme. Then again, Jay-Z is more than able to put out a flop then a classic in succession, so which one will it be?

1. Intro

Some clips from the movie and a guy talking about gangsters. Kind of dissapointing only because Jay-Z has come with some great intros in the past.

2. Pray

Puffy comes with a dope, over-the-top beat as Jay-Z, who I think is rhyming in character as Frank Lucas aka Denzel in the movie, raps about his roots in the crack game. Definitely a good opening track.

3. American Dreamin'

This one is about dreams of becoming a rich drug dealer. The beat, and the song in general, sounds like a throwaway from The Blueprint, which isn't exactly a bad thing.

4. Hello Brooklyn 2.0 (feat. Lil' Wayne)

So the story here is that Lil' Wayne made a terrible song with a stupid concept and then Jay-Z added to it and put it on his album as opposed to, I dunno, DEAD FUCKING PRESIDENTS 3 . Jay-Z actually comes with some wordplay at the end but Weezy's verse and singing on the hook is unbearable.

5. No Hook

A pretty dope track about hustlin' and shit but here he references Frank Lucas so this concept thing is sort of lost on me at this point. I have to say that I'm impressed so far with Diddy and his weed carriers.

6. Roc Boys

The song which I guess marks the pinnacle of Jay-Z's drug dealing. I've heard this track a few times now and still can't warm up to this beat. The trumpets just don't sound great in a rap song, not a good one at least. Jay doesn't bring much lyrically either.

7. Sweet

This is another decent beat but Jay-Z's delivery is so irritating it's not easy to enjoy this one.

8. I Know

The requisite female track with a pretty smooth Pharell beat. Jay-Z's flow is questionable at times on this track and has been a weakness so far this album. This is aight overall.

9. Party Life

Another smooth beat but Jay's flow is embarassingly bad.

10. Ignorant Shit (feat. Beanie Sigel)

The title pretty much sums up the content; and the beat, much to my liking, sounds like something you'd hear in Rocky. Apparently this is old but I'd never heard it so that didn't spoil it for me.

11. Say Hello

The beat by Toomp just sounds like a Kanye beat with southern drums and Jay-Z's rapping is so pathetic on this track I sort of question if he's even trying anymore.

12. Success (feat. Nas)

I can't say I expected a messy organ beat from the guy who did much of Resurrection, but the content (for a change) actually kinda makes up for it. Jigga and Nas, who at one point didn't like eachother very much, rap about how getting rich isn't all that it's cracked up to be. (Pun intended).

13. Fallin'

A great track about the fall from the top. Jermaine Dupri (who knew?) drops a gem and Jay-Z actually flows over it too.

14. American Gangster

Now that the story has ended, I guess this is just a normal song and its not very good. I'm usually a Just Blaze fan but this is a complete mess and Hov just raps about himself.

15. Blue Magic

Well I don't have to review this because everyone's heard it but this track is really growing on me. Not that I love it now but its not nearly as offensive as it was the first time I heard it.

Overall:

The production on this album was very solid which alone makes it better than 90% of rap albums today, but it's increasingly clear that Jay-Z just isn't the MC he was in '96 or even 2003 for that matter. I kind of liked how he weaved the rise and fall story in there without forcing it too much but that doesn't make up for alot of bad rapping. Fortunately for Jigga, beats do.

Best Tracks:

"Pray", "Ignorant Shit", "Fallin'"