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Jay-Z - American GangsterAlbum Review by:
John Burnett
Sunday, October 28, 2007
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What drives Sean Carter to continue to record album after album? After Forbes estimated that Jay-Z banked in the uppers of $34 million in 2006, one would have to surmise that it’s not about the money anymore. And with 6 Grammy award wins in his career, it’s safe to assume it’s no longer about the accolades either. When you’ve achieved everything there is to achieve (the money, power and respect), what more is there? All that remains is the allure of the game; the rush you receive when they’ve assumed you can’t do it any better and you suit up one more time to hit the final fade-away. It’s only fitting that Jay’s latest effort is named American Gangster; there couldn’t be a career that’s more comparable to the life of a hustler. And like the hustlers Jay-Z often alludes to in his rhymes (De Niro and Pachino), he too feels compelled to pull off just one more heist.
American Gangster is a complete cinematic experience that begins with “Pray,” the beginning of Jay’s “tale of lost innocence.” Jay narrates the listener through an anecdote where Jay witnesses a hustler bribing the cops with dirty money, which eventually blurs the lines of right and wrong for a then young, impressionable Jay. He fades out the verse with “anywhere there’s oppression, the drug profession/…flourishes like beverages (soda can opens), refreshing (ahhh…)/sweet taste of sin/everything I seen, made me everything I am/bad drug dealer or a victim I beg?/what came first, moving chickens or the egg?” The final question acts as a segway into “American Dream.” The Hitmen (Sean C & LV), Mario Winans and Diddy work the boards chopping up a Marvin Gaye sample to provide the muse for Jay’s early visions of doubling up [his financials]. Jay paints the canvass with “this the shit you dream about with the homies steaming out (inhales)/back, back, backin’ the Beamers out/seems as our plans to get a grant to go off to college didn’t pan or even out/we need it now, we need a town/we need a place to pitch, we need a mound…/for now I’m just a lazy boy, daydreaming in my La-Z-Boy.” By the end of the track, Jay’s gone from daydreaming about moving the “snow” to being consigned weight from his connect.
Jay takes respite from the plot to admire Brooklyn on “Hello Brooklyn” and to air out old partner, Dehaven on “No Hooks.” Although there’s much fuss made about Lil Wayne’s feature on “Hello Brooklyn,” the N.O. native spits less than 16 bars and is mainly used to croak the chorus while Jay raps to the city as if it’s a love interest of his. Like with most controversy, Jay-Z doesn’t waste much time addressing Dehaven on “No Hooks” stating “so fuck Dehaven for caving/that’s why we don’t speak/made men ain’t supposed to make statements” and ends his brief foray into his personal life with those two bars. The plot picks up with “Roc Boys,” a dope boys celebratory anthem; a “we made it” track where material possessions are boasted nonstop and coupled with punchlines, metaphor and double entendre galore. Jay cleverly uses his first verse like an award acceptance speech thanking his connect, the brown paper bag, enemies with bad aim and closes thanking the customer. “Sweet” shows an unapologetic dope dealer still wallowing in material possessions whereas “Roc Boys” is where Jay has made it, “Sweet” is the Jay at the top of the hustler game. On “Success,” Jay’s bitter because for all the work and stress he’s put in he’s not able to enjoy the spoils of the dope game. On the track it’s lyrical onslaught and a game of lyrical one-upmanship with Nas. Jay rhymes “I’m way too important to be talkin’ bout extortin’/asking me for a portion is like asking for a coffin/broad day light, I’ll off your on switch/you not too bright, good night…long kiss/bye, bye, my reply bla, bla (gun shots sound effect)/blast burner and past burner to Ta Ta/finish my breakfast, why/I got an appetite for destruction and you’re a small fry” instantly dismissing any notions of the man not having it anymore. Nas drops some jewels but Jay strangles the beat. The tale concludes with the fall of the hustler on “Fallin’.” Jay wraps this masterpiece up with the hustler being bagged by the Feds and sullenly regretting his decision from a jail cell.
American Gangster is everything that the fans wanted Kingdom Come to be. It’s the greatest rapper of our generation doing what he built his career upon and what he does best; brilliantly allowing us, the listeners, to live the life of a hustler through his rhymes. The beats lend a lot to the experience on this particular effort. The production is top-notch with the Hitmen and Diddy’s dramatic soundscapes providing apt backgrounds of each of Jay’s vivid memoirs. It’s hard to believe that at this point in his career and skill level that Jay could get any better than he is, but on this album he does raise the ceiling higher than ever before. He’s already the best but the skill he displays in knitting his words together which is displayed on American Gangster is nothing less than astonishing. American Gangster is an incredible listening experience; hands down a classic; and another reason why it’s difficult and nearly impossible to dispute who the king of Hip Hop is.
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