Life > November 8, 2007

By Liza Greenspun | News editor

Inspired by the movie of the same name, Jay-Z’s American Gangster, which dropped Nov. 6, is a sure hit as he uses the album’s 13 tracks to tell the story of one man, one American Gangster.

When Jay-Z viewed an early-release version of the film American Gangster, featuring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, he was inspired not just by the storyline of the film, but also by the emotional development of the characters as the story unfolded.

So much so, that he decided to record an album based on the movie and on his own days as a street hustler with just weeks before the movie release date.

Despite the lack of time to prepare the album, Jay-Z has done it again.

Skeptical fans who were disappointed by HOVA’s Kingdom Come, released last year after a three-year retirement, can rest assured that Jay-Z has not lost his touch.

With the help of producers Pharrell, Diddy and his Bad Boy production team The Hitmen, Jay-Z’s songs have the beats he needs to display the emotion he feels while telling his story.

The story opens with the song “Pray”, featuring Beyoncé’s voice for dramatic effect. With lyrics like “turned crack rock into a chain of 40/40’s,” we learn that Jay-Z is in fact telling his own life story before making it as a rapper, and also the story of Frank Lucas, the real-life 1970s gangster played by Denzel Washington in American Gangster.

The protagonist of Jay-Z’s story hits a high point in track six with “Roc Boys (And the winner is …),” an upbeat track about reaching success and money, and not being afraid to flaunt it.

The final track on the CD, before the two bonus tracks, is called “Fallin’,” which recounts the fall of the of the gangster when he has become too involved in what he is doing. In this song, featuring Bilal and produced by Jermaine Dupri, Jay-Z says, “Life is a deck of cards, now ya tumbling it’s humbling, ya fallin’, ya mumbling…”

Other songs on the album feature artists such as Lil’ Wayne in “Hello Brooklyn 2.0,” Jay-Z’s former enemy Nas in “Success” and Beanie Sigel in “Ignorant S—t,” a song that discusses the recent controversy surrounding hip-hop lyrics.

“I missed that part where it stopped being about Imus. What do my lyrics got to do with this s—t?” Jay raps, proving that what he says is only a song, not reality, the chorus of the song being so full of explicit lyrics that the song, which could potentially be a hit, will never be played on the radio. “It’s only entertainment,” he says at the close of the song.

“Blue Magic” and “Roc Boys (And the winner is …)” are the album’s first two radio singles – good choices as they show the depth of the album and the lyrical power Jay-Z still has despite the disappointment of his last album and the goal of the album in telling the story of Frank Lucas, and Jay-Z himself.

While “Blue Magic,” featuring Pharrell, deals directly with the movie, including a 1970s-like beat, “Roc Boys”, featuring Kanye West, may provide a beat more welcoming to today’s radio audience.

Another sure radio hit on the album will be “Hello Brooklyn 2.0,” with the ever-popular Lil’ Wayne.

Overall, American Gangster will be a success, proving that Jay-Z has not lost his talent as a rapper after his three-year hiatus, and that he will continue to entertain and be a leader of the hip-hop genre.