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Album
Review
Jay-Z - American Gangster Corporate Regression. by: Malik Sinsear, for Entertainment
What else would you call going from the board room on Kingdom Come back to the block? And that’s not to say American Gangster is terrible, because it’s not, but--- Wait, let’s just be honest, Jay could put just about anything out and a few punch lines and concepts later, you’d have people eating it up, because many have grown comfortable in accepting him do what he’s done so well for so many years. But, there honestly isn’t very much that’s inspiring about this album. We’ve heard Jay say all of this before, save a quick commentary on Imus and Al Pacino’s influence as Scarface. We’ve seen the interviews and read the explanations as to why he made the album and how it relates to the movie, but I want you to do something; take your favorite drug dealer album and attempt to apply it to that movie. It may not match perfectly, but I guarantee you’ll be able to take a handful of records that represent the rise and fall of Frank Lucas or any other glorified drug dealer within the set. You’ll have said rapper’s life before he got money, after he started to get money, how he ignorantly flashed the money, the mounting murders he had to commit to keep it, how he kinda got bored (but, not really) with the doe and his regrets as the inevitable end of the money run nears. Shit, speaking of Regrets, Reasonable Doubt could have been the soundtrack to American Gangster with Regrets as a much more effective sobering conclusion than Fallin’. Volume III with Dope Man, There’s Been A Murder and NYMP is also just as good a representation, if we’re being honest. Again, that doesn’t make Gangster a monstrosity because there are some great songs present. Surprisingly, with toned down production not including KanYe, Timbaland, or new Just Blaze, the silky smooth Marvin Gaye influenced American Dreamin’ and Party Life set the mood. The adrenaline pumping Sweet should have featured Sigel more so than the slightly updated Ignorant Shit. It just feels like one of early Sigel beats that got away. A lyrical sparing session, Success, featuring Nas, gives the “homies” a 3-0 record against the track, trading verses with only a breathing organ to separate them (yes, the organ is the bitch, catch up niggas). Where those records succeed, failed celebration anthems like I Know despite its underlying drug reference and Roc Boys just leave something to be desired when compared to the Big Pimpin’s and Give It To Me’s of ROC albums past. Say Hello might as well star Sally Struthers when they shoot the video, because she’s the only actress that can embody the level of melodrama present on the track. And if Hello Brooklyn 2.0 featuring Lil’ Wayne is really an upgrade, the first version probably contains the failed Y2K virus. It’s white noise. As you’ve probably concluded, by now, I’m a tad disappointed Jay didn’t continue to build on his newfound role as Corporate Carter. It was a progression. This is regression. It’s almost as if he got scared of acting his age, so he “had to take it back.” C’mon Jay, we know the drug dealer’s story like the back of next Tuesday’s new Rap CD. Hearing more about the hustler that hopped off the block and landed on nearly half a billy is much more refreshing and gangster, for that matter.
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Big Earl: GET OUT THE WAY! |
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I promised myself I would go see American Gangster at a theater before I reviewed Jay-Z’s newest album, by the same name. After viewing the film and giving the record a number of runs, my overwhelming conclusion is that Jay-Z has regressed. 