#Jay z the black album cover full

My one issue with this album is all the lines about retiring. It's got two of my favorite Jay tracks (Encore and Allure) and Dirt Off Your Shoulder, 99 Problems, What More Can I Say, etc all hold up well. ItвЂ™s a magnificent way to leave hip-hop, quitting while youвЂ™re ahead for a new life as an author, actor and trainer magnate.This isnt my favorite Jay album but it would be the best release in most rapper's careers.

By the end, on the wonderful blues of вЂMy First SongвЂ™, his voice is breaking a little as he sings, вЂњItвЂ™s my lifeвЂќ, and says his protracted farewells. What emerges is a man deeply proud of his gifts and his experiences, but one whoвЂ™s also a lot more self-aware and reflective than his flashy image might suggest. His lyrical skills have been in such demand that, rumour persists, heвЂ™s ghostwritten rhymes for many of his contemporaries вЂ“ a story he seems to confirm in вЂWhat More Can I SayвЂ™ when he notes, вЂњIвЂ™m not a biter IвЂ™m a writer, for myself and others.вЂќ This isnвЂ™t quite an apology: a вЂњdumbed-downвЂќ Jay-Z is still immeasurably smarter than most of the competition (вЂњNo, I didnвЂ™t get shot up a whole bunch of times,вЂќ he snipes at 50 Cent). On вЂMoment Of ClarityвЂ™ heвЂ™s even franker, admitting, вЂњI dumbed down for my audience to double my dollars.вЂќ вЂњSon it ainвЂ™t even fun no more, IвЂ™m jaded,вЂќ he claims on вЂAllureвЂ™. Constantly, he compares leaving the rap game to leaving the streets, and deals with both with an unusually vulnerable ambiguity. Apart from a couple of choruses sung by Pharrell and a few reminiscences from JayвЂ™s mum on вЂDecember 4вЂ™, вЂThe Black AlbumвЂ™ is a strictly solo show. As the cowbell rattles and the cops interrogate our hero, itвЂ™s hard to imagine a more explosive song has been released in 2003.ДЇor the most part, though, Jay-ZвЂ™s battalion of producers stick with the rich, warm вЂ™70s soul sound that dominated вЂThe BlueprintвЂ™, and let him do the rest. The most striking track, вЂ™99 ProblemsвЂ™, rides the same вЂBig BeatвЂ™ rhythm as Dizzee RascalвЂ™s вЂFix Up Look SharpвЂ™, being thumping old-school rap-rock in the vein of early Run DMC and LL Cool J (and produced by that soundвЂ™s original architect, Rick Rubin). As an indicator of the quality, the tunes produced by The Neptunes and Eminem are probably the weakest ones here, with the former on silky autopilot and Em reheating the overly-pompous вЂLose YourselfвЂ™ sound for вЂMoment Of ClarityвЂ™. вЂThe Black AlbumвЂ™ is Jay-Z in the optimum form of 2001вЂ™s вЂThe BlueprintвЂ™, just as he has been all year on his guest verses for Beyonce, Outkast, Pharrell and Panjabi MCs. How good is this album? Well, a lot better than the bloated вЂBlueprint 2вЂ™, for a start.

That he does all this alongside some utterly fucking fabulous music only hammers the point home harder: I am King, and youвЂ™ll miss me when IвЂ™m gone. He works the audience so hard that by the end of it, even the most cynical listener will feel far more thrilled and moved than exploited. вЂThe Black AlbumвЂ™ is a 55-minute curtain call, during which J-Hova shamelessly reflects on his hustling past and his playboy present, вЂњFrom grammes to GrammysвЂќ. So the first line he utters on вЂThe Black AlbumвЂ™ is вЂњThey say they never really miss you вЂ™til youвЂ™re dead or youвЂ™re gone,вЂќ and from then on he pulls out every arrogant, manipulative, sentiment-drenched trick in the very old book to wind up his fans. And Jay-Z, like Sinatra, understands that few moves create more publicity and pathos than the big farewell. Sinatra, of course, retired so many times that it became a long-running showbusiness joke. Jay-ZвЂ™s nonchalant flow, his dazzling wordplay, his cultivation of the finest beatmasters, the artful little twists he puts on both the thug life and its uptown sequel вЂ“ all this puts Shawn Carter on another level to virtually anyone else in hip-hop history.Д«ut is this really his last record? Jay-Z is something of a Frank Sinatra fan, going so far as to cover вЂMy WayвЂ™ (quite badly) on last yearвЂ™s вЂThe Blueprint 2вЂ™, and comparing himself and his вЂњRat Pack niggasвЂќ to the man on вЂThreatвЂ™ here.

#Jay z the black album cover full

вЂњPound for pound IвЂ™m the best that ever come around,вЂќ he claims on вЂWhat More Can I Say?вЂ™ And, while the rap world is necessarily full of egomaniacs and hyperbole, itвЂ™s hard to argue. вЂThe Black AlbumвЂ™ is Jay-ZвЂ™s ninth album in seven years and, if weвЂ™re to believe this elegant hip-hop institution, the last one heвЂ™ll ever make.