Brooklyn Gangster - Jay Z & Tapemasters Inc

American Gangster: Jay-Z remembers where he came from

Advantages: A worthy conceptual reprise; Potent and focused Jay-Z rhymes
Disadvantages: A half hearted and inconsistent attempt at a "concept" album

"concept album". Of all of the celebratory songs, "Success" is probably the one that sticks out the most in my mind because it features Jay's turn of the century rival Nas. Whenever Jay and Nas do a song together, I get giddy, but this song is slightly above average at best. The gospel production couped with Nas and Jay's uninspired rhymes doesn't make me rush for the rewind button like it "Black Republicans" did. Most of the material on American Gangster is good stuff, but there are some songs on here that are complete trash and others that are some of Jigga's best work. "Hello Brooklyn" is probably Jay's most obnoxious piece since the crap on Blueprint 2: The Gift and the Curse. The song is unfitting with the supposed "concept" (see "22 Twos"), but it comes off like Jay-Z decided to put Wayne on a song just because. I'm certainly not a Wayne ...

bigdiship-hop 12.10.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of American Gangster (Parental Advisory) [PA] - Jay-Z

Vague memories of an American Gangster

Advantages: Some excellent lyrics, wit, some good production, nice concept
Disadvantages: Most of the production is very average, the new delivery

Still to this day the debate rages over Jay-Z he has brought both notoriety, controversy and talent to rap music. At his finest, he is the hallmark of fantastic depth, wit and verbal dexterity and at his worst, it almost feels like a cynical exercise in that he raps within himself. For those who have listened to his supposed farewell album The Black Album, he even admitted to this criticism in the song Moment Of Clarity "I dumbed down for my audience, to triple my dollars, they criticise me for it but they all yell holla". With that line he is right, despite the frustration felt, he remains a captivating artist. The title of this album of course, coincides with the release of the movie American Gangster. This promised to be the fuel in Jay-Z's fire which would would see him recapturing the time where he was was on the wrong side ...

grandchamp 05.09.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of American Gangster (Parental Advisory) [PA] - Jay-Z

He ain't no Gangster

Advantages: Some big tunes
Disadvantages: It's more geered to a more adutl audience

"American Gangster" is the tenth studio album from Jay-Z. Contrary to early belief, this isn't a soundtrack to the film of the same name, which was released a week before this album. This is a concept album, taking inspiration fom the movie it has been said that each track takes influence from an individual scene from the film. 1. Intro This starts with a few lines about what it means to be a "Gangster". You hear a male and a female voice talking about the definition of it, initially I thought that they were lines from the film, but once I heard Jay-Z's name mentioned, I knew this wasn't the case. Slowly we move into music which is slowly taking over, adding more and more instruments, gradually introducing them unitl it comes to an anti-climax and move to the next track. 2. "Pray" **Two Stars** All the momentum built up ...

XICripZ 07.11.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of American Gangster (Parental Advisory) [PA] - Jay-Z