The Black Album
by Jay-Z
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Jay-Z bestography
The Black Album is ranked 3rd best out of 17 albums by Jay-Z on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Jay-Z is The Blueprint which is ranked number 517 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 3,351.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to The Black Album on YouTube
The Black Album track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 82 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
The Black Album rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 4 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Whataguy | Top 30 Greatest Music Albums | 19/30 | 39 |
| 2026 | Mrump | Top 23 Music Albums of 2003 | 23/23 | 0 |
| 2026 | Jakor | Top 60 Music Albums of 2003 | 5/60 | 5 |
| 2026 | juanr1096 | Top 100 Music Albums of 2003 | 18/100 | 4 |
| 2026 | javicho07 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | 91/100 | 2 |
| 2026 |  sszwalbenest | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | 96/100 | 1 |
| 2026 | jdizzle123456 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | 87/100 | 3 |
| 2026 |  Hayden | Top 60 Music Albums of 2003 | 11/60 | 4 |
| 2026 |  RockyRaccoon | Top 43 Music Albums of 2003 | 3/43 | 5 |
| 2026 | daCritic | Top 35 Music Albums of 2003 | 1/35 | 5 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 339 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 1,859 | |||
The Black Album collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 173 members
The Black Album ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 476 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 4 days ago | araidernomore | 497 | 69/100 |
| ! | 09/14/2026 20:23 | Foxforce5 | 485 | 75/100 |
| ! | 06/10/2026 16:09 | Whataguy | 30 | 79/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.2/100, a mean average of 74.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 19.2.
The Black Album favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 51 members
The Black Album forum mentions
pedro1976 10/04/2026 08:13 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)
MadhattanJack 09/10/2025 09:08 in The same album title but a different artist
BestEverAlbums 08/20/2025 20:00 in Album of the day (#5358): The Black Album by Jay-ZThe Black Album comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
I can hardly believe this album is in only one chart! Plenty of great songs on here.
mayonaise93 10/12/2010 19:18 | #15661 | TOP COMMENT
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unfortunately people won't realize how much of a legend Jay Z is until another twenty years. If people actually sat down and listened to a full Jay Z album from start to finish they will truly understand how much of a timeless genius this man really is. He doesn't belong in any era.
MCOTho 07/10/2013 03:09 | #80874 | TOP COMMENT
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My favorite Jay-Z album. This album doesn't have great lyrical content (it's good though) but it's not great just because of Jay-Z. There were over 10 producers who collaborated to make this masterpiece. Names like; Kanye, Just Blaze, Rick Rubin, Timbaland, and more.
souplipton 06/10/2016 04:56 | #168362 | TOP COMMENT
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The Black Album represents Jay-Z's career peak in my opinion. Supposed to be his final album, it would have made for an incredible farewell for one of rap's biggest stars. Production is consistently amazing, with beats by Kanye West, Just Blaze, Timbaland, The Neptunes, and others, and they are complimented by incredible verses. "December 4th", "99 Problems", and particularly "Public Service Announcement" are highlights on an album filled with gems. A classic from Jay-Z at the top of his game.
HyperBully 02/11/2011 01:38 | #18295 | TOP COMMENT
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This one, along with The Blueprint and Reasonable Doubt, prove that Jay-Z is the greatest rapper of all-time. He might never have made one quite as good as "Illmatic," but he is certainly a lot more consistent than Nas or any other rapper.
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