Album of the day (#3660): The Black Album by Jay-Z - Music

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Today's album of the day

The Black Album by Jay-Z (View album | Buy this album)

Year: 2003.
Country:

Overall rank: 895
Average rating: 78/100 (from 405 votes).

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Tracks:
1. Interlude
2. December 4th
3. What More Can I Say
4. Encore
5. Change Clothes
6. Dirt Off Your Shoulder
7. Threat
8. Moment Of Clarity
9. 99 Problems
10. Public Service Announcement (Interlude)
11. Justify My Thug
12. Lucifer
13. Allure
14. My 1st Song

About album of the day: The BestEverAlbums.com album of the day is the album appearing most prominently in member charts in the previous 24 hours. If an album, or artist, has previously been selected within a x day period, the next highest album is picked instead (and so on) to ensure a bit of variety. A full history of album of the day can be viewed here.

DommeDamian

Imperfect, sensitive Aspie with a melody addiction

Gender: Male

Age: 24

Location: where the flowers grow.

Features two of his greatest songs in DOYS and MoC.
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DommeDamian

Imperfect, sensitive Aspie with a melody addiction

Gender: Male

Age: 24

Location: where the flowers grow.

Features three of his greatest songs in CC, DOYS and MoC.
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Skinny

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Tries to balance the larger-than-life, gleaming pop rap street anthems of Vol. 3 with the soulful introspection The Blueprint, but ends up significantly inferior to both (which there's no shame in, given that those two records are arguably his best). It might be the last great Jay-Z album (though I do have a soft spot for American Gangster), and I'd say it's largely the end of Jay-Z as a great rapper - this is where we first start to hear the cringeworthy wordplay and clumsy, often audibly forced flows that mar all of his later work. Prior to this, his rapping always sounded nearly effortless, and he was able to bend almost any beat to his will, but there are moments here where he sounds human as opposed to superhuman. This album is also let down by a few other things: its content has aged terribly, given how it's an album often focused on retirement and legacy-cementing, since undermined by, well, everything he's done since; it is all over the place sonically, and much less coherent than his lesser regarded pre-Blueprint albums; the whole album feels very safe, as though he's retreading old ground, knowing what has worked before, so that even with all the differing types of beat there aren't really any risks being taken. That said, this album also feels like a good greatest hits collection at times, and it succeeds far more often than not. As I said, it's probably his last great album. It also happens to be worse than almost everything that came before it. Still, Jay-Z in third gear is still a special rapper, and this remains one of his more charismatic displays. Maybe his sixth best.
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Repo

BeA Sunflower

Location: Forest Park

Skinny wrote:

Tries to balance the larger-than-life, gleaming pop rap street anthems of Vol. 3 with the soulful introspection The Blueprint, but ends up significantly inferior to both (which there's no shame in, given that those two records are arguably his best). It might be the last great Jay-Z album (though I do have a soft spot for American Gangster), and I'd say it's largely the end of Jay-Z as a great rapper - this is where we first start to hear the cringeworthy wordplay and clumsy, often audibly forced flows that mar all of his later work. Prior to this, his rapping always sounded nearly effortless, and he was able to bend almost any beat to his will, but there are moments here where he sounds human as opposed to superhuman. This album is also let down by a few other things: its content has aged terribly, given how it's an album often focused on retirement and legacy-cementing, since undermined by, well, everything he's done since; it is all over the place sonically, and much less coherent than his lesser regarded pre-Blueprint albums; the whole album feels very safe, as though he's retreading old ground, knowing what has worked before, so that even with all the differing types of beat there aren't really any risks being taken. That said, this album also feels like a good greatest hits collection at times, and it succeeds far more often than not. As I said, it's probably his last great album. It also happens to be worse than almost everything that came before it. Still, Jay-Z in third gear is still a special rapper, and this remains one of his more charismatic displays. Maybe his sixth best.

Great review! I've never been able to get into him. Which of his albums would be the best one to start with?

Skinny

birdman_handrub.gif

Repo wrote:

Great review! I've never been able to get into him. Which of his albums would be the best one to start with?

I tend to think Reasonable Doubt is his best on most days, and maybe the best starting point, even if it's not really representative of his career as a whole. It features his most technical rapping, and it is more sonically, lyrically, and aesthetically consistent than anything else in his discography. It's also the album that features the best balance of classicist, almost underground sensibilities with accessible pop gloss, at least until The Dynasty, though I'd probably argue that the latter's adherence to a very particular brand of era-specific, hardnosed NYC street shit means it might be a little more impenetrable for new listeners.

The Blueprint is the other Jay-Z album that is pretty much universally regarded as a classic: it has a more soulful approach sonically, and features his most open-hearted rapping, plus it's relatively compact and every song is memorable. It's the album that got me into Jay, so it's probably another great starting point.

Rounding out my top three would be Vol. 3, which is generally considered weaker by most, but which features the most forward-thinking beats of his career, plus performances that are sneering, charismatic, arrogant in the way that maybe best exemplifies what Jay-Z's on record persona was/is all about. It's where he perfected that whole larger-than-life, King of New York schtick, and it just exudes the confidence that he is bigger and better than everyone else. Maybe one to check out later.

If I had to rank, I'd go:

1. Reasonable Doubt
2. The Blueprint
3. Vol. 3
4. Vol. 1
5. The Dynasty
6. The Black Album
7. American Gangster
8. Vol. 2

I'd argue that everything else ranges from flawed and inessential to absolute garbage, but those eight are all very good in their respective ways.
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baystateoftheart

Neil Young as a butternut squash

Age: 30

Location: Massachusetts

Agreed that Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint are his two best records. I love The Black Album too (and The Grey Album).

My unpopular opinion is that Watch The Throne is a top five Jay-Z album.
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