In the midst of the American gangster hype, Jay Z released his self concept album entitled just that, American Gangster. My only question is....will it live up to the hype?
Let's start from the beginning. Jay Z was the shit. That was pre-Kingdom Come (which I thought wasn't Jay's full potential, it was more, i've already owned the game, here's some bullshit that didn't make the Black Album, for obvious reasons). It was Beyonce influenced. 'That shit is garbage, what you tryna kick knowledge?' I can say, prior to that album, every single release was notable enough to be considered an instant classic. From the time you picked up the album, it would be a good couple weeks before you could put it down. And they were always classic tracks that no matter how many years went by, the tracks stayed fresh. Let's face it, the man knew how to make music.
Fast forward to the Black Album. Arguably one of my favorite of all his albums, or hip hop albums for that matter. Anthems like Encore, 99 Problems, Allure were Jay Z at his prime. Then he put out Kingdom Come, which in all honesty was a joke, and didn't even get a week of play before I got bored of it. There wasn't any one significant track that stood out, not any significant tracks in general.
With that said, I'm currently sampling American Gangster, and it's yet to catch my attention. Maybe i'm being biased, a little upset that the jiggaman tricked us into thinking the Black Album was truly his graceful bow out. Maybe it's cause he tried to come back like MJ and failed just like he did. Or maybe by the end of the album I'll change my mind, and Jay Z can once again top my charts.
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