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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk
Conceived as an unofficial soundtrack to the Ridley Scott movie of the same name, American Gangster sees us getting reacquainted with a quite different Jay-Z to the mainstream-courting comeback kid that hooked up with Beyonce and Coldplay’s Chris Martin on 2006’s Kingdom Come. This, Jay-Z’s second post-retirement album, is hip-hop to the bone: a record steeped in the sounds, iconography and soul of the New York underworld, with the lion’s share of production handled by P Diddy’s in-house team The Hitmen and guest spots from Beanie Sigel ("Ignorant Shit"), Lil Wayne (the crunk-like, Beastie Boys-sampling "Hello Brooklyn") and long-time rival Nas. The Nas track, "Success", is a particular winner, the pair burying the hatchet over a gorgonzola-scented organ break, rejecting the trappings of success with a truly lordly arrogance: "How many times can I go to Mr Chow’s/Tao’s, Nobu – hold up!/Let me move my bowels". Other highlights come with the Neptunes-produced "Blue Magic" and slick dealer’s anthem "Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)", and while you feel American Gangster is something of a stasis for Jay-Z, an album that sees him revisiting those well-worn themes of hustling and shotting, it remains a treat to hear him on the mic. –-Louis Pattison
Product Description
1. Intro2. Pray 3. American Dreamin' 4. Hello Brooklyn 2.0 Feat. Lil Wayne 5. No Hook 6. Roc Boys (and the Winner is)... 7. Sweet 8. I Know 9. Party Life 10. Ignorant Sh*t Feat. Beanie Sigel11. Say Hello 12. Success Feat. Nas 13. Fallin' 14. Blue Magic (Bonus Track) 15. American Gangster (Bonus Track)
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This album has been better received than Kingdom Come, but personally I feel that the quality is about the same when things are going well. What helps American Gangster is that, unlike it's predecessor, there are no real abominations to be found (see "Hollywood" and "Anything" from KC).
What we have here is a loose 'concept album', inspired by the Denzel Washington film of the same name based on the life of Harlem drug-lord Frank Lucas. This concept allows Jay to return to the subjects he came into the game spitting; hustling... the street life. But Jay's content is deeper than many give him credit for. He deals with issues in his own typically emotive way, one minute glorifying the highest highs ("Roc Boys" and "Party Life") and the next, sounding a warning on the downsides of the business ("Success" and "Fallin'").
The lyrics, as ever with Jay, are excellent throughout (see "I Know" for an incredible extended Heroin metaphor), and for the most part the music is too. There are a few missteps that don't quite fit, notably the Dirty South sounds of "Hello Brooklyn 2.0" featuring, oddly, New Orleans native Lil' Wayne on the hook, the Neptunes-helmed elctronic sound of "I Know" seems out of place, and some of the 70's soul-infused beats, provided by Puffy's 'Hitmen' production team, although evocative of a certain era, forget to be ear catching at times ("Pray"). Though much fanfare greeted Puff's involvement in this project, tellingly, the two best beats on the album are provided by Kanye's mentor NO I.D. and former in-house Roc-a-Fella producer Just Blaze.
The album closes out with two excellent bonus tracks; the Rakim/80's homage "Blue Magic" in which Jay adopts the simplistic flow of that era without compromising his incredible wordplay (check the "Iran Contra/ I ran contraband" line for proof), and the celebratory Just Blaze-assisted title track, packed with urgent horns and the catchy soul that some of the other beats here were short of at times.
In summary, the lyrics are as incredible as ever, the beats only falter in places, and Jay has maintained his postion as the one to follow in terms of mainstream, marquee Hip Hop.
What we have here is a loose 'concept album', inspired by the Denzel Washington film of the same name based on the life of Harlem drug-lord Frank Lucas. This concept allows Jay to return to the subjects he came into the game spitting; hustling... the street life. But Jay's content is deeper than many give him credit for. He deals with issues in his own typically emotive way, one minute glorifying the highest highs ("Roc Boys" and "Party Life") and the next, sounding a warning on the downsides of the business ("Success" and "Fallin'").
The lyrics, as ever with Jay, are excellent throughout (see "I Know" for an incredible extended Heroin metaphor), and for the most part the music is too. There are a few missteps that don't quite fit, notably the Dirty South sounds of "Hello Brooklyn 2.0" featuring, oddly, New Orleans native Lil' Wayne on the hook, the Neptunes-helmed elctronic sound of "I Know" seems out of place, and some of the 70's soul-infused beats, provided by Puffy's 'Hitmen' production team, although evocative of a certain era, forget to be ear catching at times ("Pray"). Though much fanfare greeted Puff's involvement in this project, tellingly, the two best beats on the album are provided by Kanye's mentor NO I.D. and former in-house Roc-a-Fella producer Just Blaze.
The album closes out with two excellent bonus tracks; the Rakim/80's homage "Blue Magic" in which Jay adopts the simplistic flow of that era without compromising his incredible wordplay (check the "Iran Contra/ I ran contraband" line for proof), and the celebratory Just Blaze-assisted title track, packed with urgent horns and the catchy soul that some of the other beats here were short of at times.
In summary, the lyrics are as incredible as ever, the beats only falter in places, and Jay has maintained his postion as the one to follow in terms of mainstream, marquee Hip Hop.
Format:Audio CD
About a year ago I bought this album and thought it was ok. I wasn't into rap at the time and was suprised that it was better than I though it would be as I didn't like rap at all. I listened a few times and moved on.
In the last twelve months or so I have gone on a bit of a mini rap odessey trawling back catalogues and disovering rap artists like Eminem, wu tang, gravediggas, gang starr, mobb deep etc. and have developed a love for the energy, mood and culture of this music.
The other day I picked up American Gangster again and found myself wanting to skip tracks, frustrated with what was on offer.
I like the atmosphere of this album, the recurrent theme idea is something I have always enjoyed in an album. My favourite track is success with Nas. I love the keyboards and the lyrics and they seem to enjoy the colaboration. Hello Brooklyn is one I like as well, again lyricaly and the beat is good. Falling is very nice too.
Unfortunately thats where my enjoyment ends. I find a lot of the rest flat and lacking in the energy of other artists.
I'm not sure I hear what other people hear when I listen to this album.
In the last twelve months or so I have gone on a bit of a mini rap odessey trawling back catalogues and disovering rap artists like Eminem, wu tang, gravediggas, gang starr, mobb deep etc. and have developed a love for the energy, mood and culture of this music.
The other day I picked up American Gangster again and found myself wanting to skip tracks, frustrated with what was on offer.
I like the atmosphere of this album, the recurrent theme idea is something I have always enjoyed in an album. My favourite track is success with Nas. I love the keyboards and the lyrics and they seem to enjoy the colaboration. Hello Brooklyn is one I like as well, again lyricaly and the beat is good. Falling is very nice too.
Unfortunately thats where my enjoyment ends. I find a lot of the rest flat and lacking in the energy of other artists.
I'm not sure I hear what other people hear when I listen to this album.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By E. Chukweze
Format:Audio CD
First, this is not for Souljah Boy or Lil' Boosie fans - this is a serious hip-hop offering even if you like Blueprint, Dynasty etc... you might find this hard going.
As always Jay's biggest strength is his amazing ability to tell a story in songs better than most people can do in plain English.
So this concept album was always going to give him a strong platform to tap into this ability. This is exactly what he does.
The album starts with some great beats in "I Pray" and "American Dreamin" it then slowly becomes about the flow and story before picking up again with "Ignorant S***" (recycled verse), thereafter taking you right back to the "Reasonable Doubt" album with the last few tracks.
Many people criticise the production on this album but I personally I think the beats were chosen carefully and compliment Jay's flow well. "American Dreamin" is an excellent example - beat, flow and content. "Hello Brooklyn 2.0" was weak - not because of Weezy - rather, it didn't feel natural and felt forced, in the context of the album it really doesn't have a place.
Fantastic offering, Jay's one of the greatest writers (if he wrote) of the 21st century - high praise indeed!
I gave this a 5 because it's the best thing out there at the moment.
As always Jay's biggest strength is his amazing ability to tell a story in songs better than most people can do in plain English.
So this concept album was always going to give him a strong platform to tap into this ability. This is exactly what he does.
The album starts with some great beats in "I Pray" and "American Dreamin" it then slowly becomes about the flow and story before picking up again with "Ignorant S***" (recycled verse), thereafter taking you right back to the "Reasonable Doubt" album with the last few tracks.
Many people criticise the production on this album but I personally I think the beats were chosen carefully and compliment Jay's flow well. "American Dreamin" is an excellent example - beat, flow and content. "Hello Brooklyn 2.0" was weak - not because of Weezy - rather, it didn't feel natural and felt forced, in the context of the album it really doesn't have a place.
Fantastic offering, Jay's one of the greatest writers (if he wrote) of the 21st century - high praise indeed!
I gave this a 5 because it's the best thing out there at the moment.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
His Best?.. Quite Possibly
After the pretty disapointing Kingdom Come album 1 or 2 people questioned whether Jay still had the hunger to make classic albums and whether now it was just about collecting a... Read more
Published on 19 Nov 2008 by XVI
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic
Absolute classic. Jay's second best album in my opinion. Lyrically flawless, very good concepts and ideas and a near perfect selection of beats. A must have CD
Published on 10 July 2008 by Mr. B. Oconnor
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hova's best since The Blueprint
I haven't heard Jay-Z on fire from start to finish since The Blueprint. Each tune is a story in its own, with thought provoking bars backed with jazz/old-schoolesque beats. Read more
Published on 15 Feb 2008 by Mr. B. Lalsing
5.0 out of 5 stars
Deep, Jay-Z delivers again
Warning, if you like brainless joints like Young Jeezy and 50 Cent then please don't waste your money. Read more
Published on 19 Jan 2008 by Gregory Thomas
5.0 out of 5 stars
The (Imaginary) Carter Chronicles
This is an amazing album. Its on the level of Jay's best works, which in my opinion are; Reasonable Doubt & Black Album. Read more
Published on 15 Jan 2008 by Mr. P. J. Linkin
1.0 out of 5 stars
Poor
After 2 listens through I couldn't find anything worth coming back for here. The 70's inspired production just sounds awful and detracts from what is a well written album. Read more
Published on 6 Jan 2008 by HWNDarkside
1.0 out of 5 stars
Cash-In-Cop-Out!!!!!!!!!!!!
What Jay Z needed was an Album Produced by Dr. Dre but instead he got P-Diddy. So what we have here is an album that will soon be forgotten in the Annals of hip-hop history and for... Read more
Published on 15 Dec 2007 by nmollo
1.0 out of 5 stars
Pure Garbage
What is wrong with the other reviewers here? Jay-Z's latest effort has not a single hit on it to speak of. The album, as far as I can tell, is all filler, no killer. Read more
Published on 3 Dec 2007 by G. J. Shanks
5.0 out of 5 stars
RUNNIN GAME ON THE UNSANE
Fully agree With D. Ayeni's comments. Great LP and "Say Hello" has some of the sharpest comment since "La Femme Fetal" by Digable Planets or "Hand of the Dead Body" by Scarface... Read more
Published on 2 Dec 2007 by S. O'Donnell
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Ruler's Back... for real this time
Last year's "Kingdom Come" is remembered more because of it marking Jay-Z's return than being a quality album in its own right. Read more
Published on 21 Nov 2007 by S. Porter
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