My Gut Reaction: Jay-Z - American Gangster (November 6, 2007)

Since Shawn Carter seems to be dead-set against me actually finishing his goddamn discography, I present to you American Gangster. While not meant to function as the actual companion to the Ridley Scott film (although Def Jam is also releasing the real soundtrack the same day as this disc, and it doesn't contain "Heart Of The City"! What the hell?), the pretense of this project is that Jay watched the film, loved it, and started writing a concept album inspired by both his own past and the exploits of the main character of the film, the titular American gangster Frank Lucas. Which, in blog world, means that Jay-Z was promising to return to his Reasonable Doubt roots, since that entire disc was actually about selling drugs, in case you had caught his MTV reality special about bringing water to Africa and completely forgotten that Roc-A-Fella Records started as a way to get Shawn away from slinging coke.

As to whether he succeeds or not, only time will tell. I tried my best to not hear any tracks off of this disc before its release, which was easy, since the radio stations in my area seem to feel that Jay-Z's pinnacle was "Can I Get A...". Of course, I heard the teaser "Blue Magic" online, and I find myself in the minority when I say I kind of liked it, while every other hip hop blogger on the planet has gone on record as saying that it sucks balls. I found it pretty entertaining, and sometimes, that's all music is supposed to do, entertain the listener. I know that's strange to read, coming from a guy who joyfully trashed Curtis Jackson's first and second mainstream albums and took great pride in trashing U-God's debut album, but the counterpoint to that argument is that there wasn't really anything entertaining about any of those three CDs, so get off my back already.

Anyway, before this writing I had only heard the first single, the "Roc Boys" track, and I sought out the remake of "Ignorant Shit", but this is the first time I'm hearing anything else, including the collaboration with his former sworn enemy Nasir Jones.

This better not suck.

1. INTRO
This was co-produced by that guy who starred in Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls? That may explain why this sounds like a bad movie trailer instead of the usual rap album intro that Shawn is known for. This is pretty godawful.

2. PRAY (FEAT BEYONCE)
Of course Beyonce would appear on this disc somewhere! Thankfully, this song is actually pretty damn good, so you can rush those nightmares of "Hollywood" out of your mind.

3. AMERICAN DREAMIN'
Apparently Puff Daddy had his hand in producing six songs on American Gangster (including this one), and Jermaine Dupri arrived with two. It seems like Jay is trying to evoke memories, not of Reasonable Doubt, but of the bag of doucheknuckles better known as In My Lifetime Volume 1. And why would Shawn reference Depeche Mode? Pretty sure they weren't running shit with Frank Lucas, but I can't confirm that: I'll be sure to ask Martin Gore next time I see him.

4. HELLO BROOKLYN 2.0 (FEAT LIL WAYNE)
My wife may appreciate the Beastie Boys sample, but I question the sanity of the heads at Def Jam/Roc-A-Fella, who approved the Most Overrated Rapper In The Game Lil Wayne (that's his birth name) to appear on two of their projects this year (the other being Kanye West's Graduation). I don't have to hear this one again, at least until I'm forced to finish the true write-up appears. And what the fuck does this have to do with American Gangster?

5. NO HOOK
The beat is ass, but Jay actually sounds very hungry here. The following is a short list of producers that Jay should have used to evoke Reasonable Doubt: DJ Premier. Ski. Clark Kent. Jaz-O. Ski. Ski. Ski, dammit!

6. ROC BOYS (AND THE WINNER IS...) (FEAT KANYE WEST)
Okay, Puffy, this beat is actually pretty hot. Feel free to tell those two cats that actually made these beats for you that they did good. Kanye is a complete nonfactor here, for anyone who gives a fuck about Kanye.

7. SWEET
This is pretty boring. However, it sounds like it was left off of The Blueprint; probably could have taken the place of "Jigga That N---a" seamlessly.

8. I KNOW (FEAT PHARRELL WILLIAMS)
So Chad Hugo is still missing, huh? I'm shocked to report that Pharrell is actually capable of providing interesting beats without the help of his much more talented counterpart. This isn't bad.

9. PARTY LIFE
Meh.

10. IGNORANT SHIT (FEAT BEANIE SIGEL)
I was always a fan of the original track (even though it was produced by Just Blaze), which leaked to mixtapes after it was left off of The Black Album, since I always liked the part in the Isley Brothers song "Between The Sheets" where the beat switches completely, and it was about fucking time somebody sampled that. That said, this song is good, but I prefer the original, where Jay uses the final verse to praise Beyonce instead of denouncing his critics, and the goofy original chorus of "Excuse me miss, fuck your name/ Can you come (and) give me some brain?" is much better than the one that appears here, a random string of curse words that sounds like Shawn impersonating Slim Shady on Tourette's. I'm also nonplussed by Sigel: Freeway may have sounded better over this beat. And what the fuck does this have to do with American Gangster?

11. SAY HELLO
Good thing Jay-Z marketed this as a "concept album", since that term can be used as a way to deflect criticisms like this one: this song sounds fucking terrible.

12. SUCCESS (FEAT NAS)
Has Jay graduated to co-opting Marshall Mathers lyrics? Nasir robs Shawn at pearl-handled gunpoint of the instrumental, and pistol-whips him for good measure. But as a total package, I prefer their collabo on Nas's last album more.

13. FALLIN' (FEAT BILAL)
I've never heard Bilal be so annoying before. Jermaine Dupri's two tracks, including this banger right here (yeah, I know, I'm shocked too), were co-produced with Chicago stalwart No I.D., whom I'm just glad is getting high-profile work. This song is meant to portray the end of the film, so for everyone that didn't run out opening weekend, congratulations. You just saved nine bucks.

The following two songs are listed as "bonus tracks", which is a ridiculous concept, considering track 14 was the first single from American Gangster, but whatever.

14. BLUE MAGIC (FEAT PHARRELL WILLIAMS)
I'm pretty sure that Pharrell didn't have to jack the chorus from En Vogue's "Hold On" for this track, but maybe I'm wrong: maybe he lost a bet. Don't mind me: I like the old En Vogue songs, and only hope that they were well compensated for the jacking. Putting aside all of that shit, I still like this song, and fully appreciate how Jigga sneaks in an anti-George Bush sentiment into a song that is supposed to invoke the 1980's.

15. AMERICAN GANGSTER
The other Just Blaze track, which has much more bounce than anything else on this damn album. It sounds alright, but once again: Ski! What the fuck, Shawn?

THE LAST WORD: While I did my best to avoid listening to the disc before today, I couldn't help but read other reviews, and I'm a little shocked at the consensus that this album is great. It really isn't. That said, it's still decent, and the great songs (notice the use of plural?) are better than the entirety of Kingdom Come, so I'll be spinning American Gangster for the rest of the year, at least. And for full disclosure's sake, I have to admit that, while finishing up the ending paragraph and rewriting the intro, I've been listening to "Fallin'" on repeat.

-Max