Nastiest American Gangster

Listen, I was about as harsh as anyone on Jay-Z for his efforts in Kingdom Comes. and a year later, I realize I was more than a little hypocritical on him for his efforts. The more I listened to the album, the more I loved a few of the hooks, the more I wanted to dissect his lyrics verse by verse and the more I wanted to smoke a blunt to most of the tracks. I realize I never wrote a retraction to my original diagnosis, but I felt it held up as an original piece of work and a noteworthy first impression of an artist that was allegedly going to blow me away with his newest album in three years.

Before even listening to American Gangster, I can tell you that my expectations were lowered than they were a year ago. I knew that Jay-Z threw this album together in just three short weeks after seeing a private screening of Denzel's newest work. I didn't expect a whole lot, other than a piece of work thrown together to release on the same date as a Hollywood motion picture made solely to reap the profits of yet another Aftrican-American's struggle to survive in a period that our nation shouldn't be proud of. Anyway, this isn't a discourse on our nation's history, but on one rapper's interpretation of that period.

I've got to say, this album is fantastic front to back, track to track, and high to high. Each work is filled with the tunes to get you through, and not a single one lets you down. You can tell that each track is made for Jay-Z's pleasure and not because some corporate exec said that he had to pump out an album within a certain time frame. The entire thing ebbs and flows with his life's story and lets the listener follow along like he's living the dream.

Not only that, but the guest appearances are fit in sublimely within the context of the album. Pharrel and Nas don't stand out as guest appearances on this album, but rather, they seem to fit Jay-Z's discourse to how an entire album should fit together. Did I mention that this year's hottest artist, Lil Wayne, makes an appearance?? He also fits into the background and takes his place below the KING of hip-hop. He doesn't stand out, and really, when held side-by-side to the Jigga Man, falls far short of this century's most prolific artist.

Kingdom Comes, Goes Nowhere

As an avid fan of Jigga Man, I must say I'm a little embarrassed that I just picked up a copy of his latest CD. Ok, I admit, I got a copy burnt from someone else who made a donation to Jay-Z's grandkids, but that's besides the point. Seeing as I had actually purchased every other album within a week of it's release date, my behavior struck even myself as odd. After waiting two years for an encore to the Black Album, I had been anticipating this since the CEO announced his retirement. That's right, I thought the Black Album was one of Jay's better works.

For those of you that don't know, I hold the Black Album on the same level as Reasonable Doubt and just a notch above The Blueprint. I realize my views aren't widely accepted, and it's true that the Black Album was a commercial disappointment when compared to the other two, but it's just as good an album. You've got to go with me on this. From front to back, the Black Album was the best, most consistent album, including beats and lyrics, that Jay-Z had put out. He did a little bit of everything and nothing exactly the same. But this isn't about the Black Album. Naturally, I was ecstatic to hear another was in the works. A Jay-Z comeback was just as inevitable as MJ giving it a go with the Wizards. Unfortunately, as the release date grew nearer, I became more and more apprehensive. Maybe it was because the only single I heard that had been released, Show Me What You Got, absolutely blows. Not a good sign of things to come. Don't even get me started about the video. Backed by NASCAR drivers, really Jay?? So right off the bat I absolutely hated the first single and suddenly I pretended like the album wasn't even going to drop. Finally, however, I gave in earlier in the week and asked a co-worker to burn me a copy.

After the first listen, I was underwhelmed and more than a bit dissapointed. Realizing that it takes me 3 full hearings before being able to get a grasp on any given piece of music, I gave it another shot. Same results. Snoop is the master at the laidback, too stoned to move beats and has the voice to rap over it. Jay-Z, not so much. Despite what he claims 'Young H.O." couldn't put it together in this one. No matter who is producing a given track, it sounds eerily like the previous one, and similar to the beats that follow. To top it all off, he raps about absolutely nothing. Well not nothing, but the exact same shit he rapped about the past in the Gift and the Curse. Now I'd expect that from Chingy or Bow Wow et al. but not the self-proclaimed savior of hip-hop. The bar was simply set to high by the Black Album. He went out with a bang, his best lyrics, best live performances, there was no where else to go but down.

It seems that there is one positive from this whole album, you know besides Jay-Z getting richer. The one and only redeeming track, Minority Report, actually talks about Katrina and how little was really done. You can tell this was a track he actually gave a shit about. Now one track doesn't make up for the rest of the album, but at least there is one positive out of all of this. Of course, it's unlikely that the particular song will ever see play on the airwaves, so all anyone will hear are the played out beats and droning on about how rich, famous, etc Young Hova still is. One bad album won't ruin his illustrious career, but this latest entry hasn't advanced it beyond where it was pre-retirement. Like MJ coming back for the Wiz, maybe he should have just stayed away.