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American Gangster [Explicit Lyrics]

~ Jay-Z

4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)

Price:	�4.98 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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This item: American Gangster ~ Jay-Z
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Product details

Audio CD (5 Nov 2007)
Number of Discs: 1
Format: Explicit Lyrics
Label: Mercury Records Ltd (London)
ASIN: B000WCDI6O
Other Editions: Audio CD | MP3 Download

Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 7,434 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)
Popular in these categories:
#48 in Music > Hip-Hop & Rap > East Coast
#65 in Music > Hip-Hop & Rap > Gangsta & Hardcore

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Samples

Song Title Time Price

1. Intro [Explicit] 2:00 Album Only

2. Pray [Explicit] 4:24 Album Only

3. American Dreamin' [Explicit] 4:47 Album Only

4. Hello Brooklyn 2.0 [Explicit] 3:56 Album Only

5. No Hook [Explicit] 3:14 Album Only

6. Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)... [Explicit] 4:12 Album Only

7. Sweet [Explicit] 3:26 Album Only

8. I Know [Explicit] 3:42 Album Only

9. Party Life [Explicit] 4:29 Album Only

10. Ignorant Sh*t [Explicit] 3:41 Album Only

11. Say Hello [Explicit] 5:26 Album Only

12. Success [Explicit] 3:30 Album Only

13. Fallin' [Explicit] 4:00 Album Only

14. Blue Magic [Explicit] 4:08 Album Only

15. American Gangster [Explicit] 3:41 Album Only

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

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

CD Description

'American Gangster' is Jay-Z's tenth studio album. A semi-concept album inspired by Ridley Scott's film of the same name, it sees Jay-Z chronicle his time as a street hustler. It is a return to a grittier street sound than his predecessor 'Kingdom Come'. Lyrics are nostalgically woven with tales ofclandestine activities in a ruthless nineties New York . Comparisons are being made to his debut album 'Reasonable Doubt' and with good reason. Features the single 'Roc Boys' withP Diddy.

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Customer Reviews

18 Reviews

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

Average Customer Review

4.1 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jay at a stroll > everybody else, 21 Nov 2007

By	EternalBroadcaster "eternalbroadcaster.blogsp... (South London) - See all my reviews

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.

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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid offering from Jay, 26 Nov 2007

By	E. Chukweze "Blue Magic" (London, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Ruler's Back... for real this time, 21 Nov 2007

By	S. Porter (Manchester, England) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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. This latest release ties in nicely with the American Gangster movie and is much closer to his earlier work in terms of lyrical content and sampling. This is something that will please most of his fans, as Reasonable Doubt and the Blueprint are widely acknowledged as his best 2 albums, and both used the same types of samples.

The songs on this CD are probably less radio-friendly than on some of his recent CDs and as a result the commercial success probably won't be as great but at this point in his career, Jay-Z can concentrate more on making the sort of music his fans want to hear than on making the top of the charts. (Listen to the first few lines of "Ignorant ****" on the album to see what I mean.)

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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 11 months ago 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 16 months ago by Mr. B. Oconnor

4.0 out of 5 stars AMERICAN GANGSTER
Since 1996, when he released his debut CD Reasonable Doubt, Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, has been putting it down pretty much every year. Read more

Published 16 months ago by stuart

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 21 months ago by Mr. B. Lalsing

3.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't live up to expectations.
Handful of really good tracks - Pray, No Hook, Roc Boys....,
I was going to list all the 'ok ones' - then realised all the rest
are okay. Read more

Published 21 months ago by P. Roden

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 22 months ago 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 22 months ago 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 22 months ago 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... Read more

Published 23 months ago 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. Read more

Published 23 months ago by G. J. Shanks

› See all 18 customer reviews...

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	50% buy the item featured on this page: American Gangster 4.1 out of 5 stars (18) �4.98
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