Jay-Z - The Black Album
Reviewed By: NOTORIOUS
Album Rate: 4.75 out of 5 Stars
Jay-Z returns with his last album, the much
anticipated "Black Album." While his legacy is
already cemented in the eyes of hip hop fans
worldwide, Jay-Z wants to go against all norms
by having no guest appearances. Will this indeed
be his last album? Hip hop fans hope not.
1. Interlude - Basic introduction with production
by Just Blaze. This one sets it all up for this
historic album.
2. December 4 - This track features a guest
appearance by Jay-Z's mom. Once again, Just Blaze
laces the joint. This track is nothing but
lyricism and shows why Jay-Z is one of the most
respected emcees . . . ever.
3. What More Can I Say - One thing I can say about
this track is - whoa. This is one tight ass track.
Rookie producers, The Buchanans, kill the beat.
Too lazy to make up shit/They crazy/They don't
paint pictures/They just trace me . . . spits Jay
taking all the biters. This is one tight ass song.
I hope this becomes a single.
4. Encore - Pretty tight song with a beat that you
would kinda expect Outkast to flow over. Very
lounge act-sounding. Nonetheless, the song fits
pretty well after "What More Can I Say."
5. Change Clothes - Let's see . . . the Neptunes
produced it so . . . uh, let's make it the first
single. The Neptunes sound is starting to sound a
little stale to me so I'm just not feeling this one
but you do have to put a single out there for the
masses to cop the album.
6. Dirt Off Your Shoulder - First off, Timbaland
produced this. I know he is as saturated as the
Neptunes but this track is finely crafted for the
Jay-Z flow. Another club and street banger under
Jay-Z's belt. This song is straight fire. I
already know this beat is gonna get jacked and put
on mixtapes coast to coast. Once again . . .
straight fire.
7. Threat - This track contains a sample of R.
Kelly's "A Woman's Threat." This track also is
tight as hell. You've just to hear the track.
It's very good. 9th Wonder of North Carolina's up-and-coming rap group Little Brother produced it, and he
should be praised.
8. A Moment Of Clarity - This track was produced by
Eminem. First off, Em shows some growth on this
beat. He perfectly molded this one for Hova. If
skills sold/Truth be told/I'd probably be -
lyrically - Talib Kweli/Truthfully, I want to rhyme
like Common Sense/But I did 5 mil/And I haven't
been rappin' like Common since . . . - I'm gonna
say that's one of the greatest bars I've ever
heard. This song is just tight. Great effort from
Jay and Em.
9. 99 Problems - This track was produced by Def Jam
co-founder Rick Rubin. The beat has a rock type
feel to it which is what Rubin has mostly been
involved with in his career. With that being said,
the song is pretty cool. 99 problems but a bitch
ain't one . . . - Hell of a hook. Pretty good
track.
10. Public Service Announcement (Interlude) - Jay
lets people know his history for those who already
didn't know. All the struggles, the hustling,
everything. If you didn't know his biographical
info already, listen to this track. Pretty tight
song.
11. Justify My Thug - This song samples Madonna's
"Justify My Love" and Jay actually was gonna have
her sing the vocals for this track but time
conflicts prevented that. Producer and left coast
emcee DJ Quik laced this joint. I'm not a big fan
of samples like this one so I'm not feeling it too
much. Lyrics - tight. Beat - tight. Hook - not
so much . . .
12. Lucifer - If you've heard any Kanye West beats,
you will immediately know that he produced this
one. Some peeps may be tired of his beats and the
way he uses samples on his beats but I am feeling
this one. Not too much to say about this one except
Jay is flowing as you'd expect.
13. Allure - Neptunes make their second and
thankfully last appearance on The Black Album.
Even by Neptunes standards, this beat is wack.
Hova can't even save this one. Needless to say,
not feeling it at all.
14. My 1st Song - Hova's flowing like he's got
Twista on the track too and he's trying to hold his
own with the Tung Twista. There are, of course, no
guest appearances so the flow is bringing back to,
as the title says - his first song. Some may be
surprised that when Jay was coming up, he did
tongue twist in the same style made famous by
Twista, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, and Do Or Die.
Pretty tight ass song in my opinion. Nice way to
wrap up another classic.
If this is indeed Jay-Z's final album, he did it
right. Great idea to not have guest appearances on
it. In the day and age when all rap albums have
numerous guest appearances, it is refreshing to see
a big time hip hop star to have none. By not having any guest appearances, Jay shows his true
prowess on the mic because when it's all said and
done - success or failure - it's all on his back.
Something tells me he wouldn't have had it any
other way. This one will go down as a classic,
peoples . . . a CLASSIC but I cannot give it my
highest rating because of those two Neptunes
produced tracks. They've worked for Hova in the
past, but on this album, they did not. All things
considered, it was still a super super effort by
all those involved. Needless to say, I recommend
this to all true hip hop fans.
Jay-Z - The Black Album