The Return
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Track:Ignorant Sh*t (ft. Beanie Sigel)
"...the album's great by the way, it's nice to have the real Hov back..." - cashier at the Newbury Comics I bought American Gangster at.The relative bust that was Jay-Z's first "post-retirement" album Kingdom Come to me was more of a major disappointment than an absolutely horrible album. Sometimes being one of the best artists in your trade hurts your ability to put out a product that constantly amazes and even redefines. Admittedly, I was a major Jay-Z hater for a while. I thought he was too commercial (and probably still is), and I tend to jump off of bandwagons before they get too packed, it's a side effect of being a music snob, always wanting to discover new sounds/artists, etc. Much like the rest of the MOG-O-Sphere. I loved Reasonable Doubt from the second I heard it, I didn't mind In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 nearly as much as I should have, but I was living in my college dorm when Vol. 2 came out and "Hard Knock Life" was the hot single that was blasted through EVERY FRIGGIN OPEN WINDOW IN A 3-MILE RADIUS. I'm not kidding, multiple crappy car alarms were set off by samples from a play featuring a little red-headed girl. I said no mas to Jay-Z right then and there. I had had too much. After that I was consistently hot & cold with Sean Carter. I despised Vol. 3 (and still do, though I want to make a "Big Pimpin'" video of my own one day), I liked The Dynasty, mainly because of a couple beats provided from a then-mostly-unknown Kanye West ("This Can't Be Life"), I was pro-NaS during The Blueprint days, but now I'll admit that album is pretty damn good... unlike Blueprint 2. Then Jigga dropped The Black Album, which, ironically was only one of 3 Jay-Z albums I've ever paid for (Reasonable Doubt & American Gangster being the others). This album was, as most of us probably know, worth every penny. The only track I didn't love was "Justify My Thug," and that was mainly because I was petrified of Madonna's "Justify My Love" video when I was a young buck, the borderline-dominatrix gangsta shit going down in that little ditty was too much, too soon for this guy. I digress... The Black Album won me over for Jay-Z for good, but was it too little too late? Was Jay-Z retiring? I think we all knew he'd be back, and back soon, but the anticipation of the follow-up to T.B.A. was at the level of waiting for an album 10 years in the making, so because of this, and because of the route Jay-Z took it, for the most part, there was some backlash. Jay-Z maintains that the album was too smart for the mainstream, but I don't think that was it. I just think that it was a mediocre effort, at best, and if you were going to come back "from retirement," your comeback better be at least as good as your last pre-retirement album... and he left "at an all-time high." But now with American Gangster, Jay-Z has returned to the greatness that his name is synonomous with. I have listened to this album probably about 15 times since I bought it on this past Tuesday, and one thing I can guarantee, is that one of the future most-overused samples/most over repeated lines will probably be "...and I don't need no hook for this shiiiiiiiiit!" I know that I'm waiting for the right time to say that line myself, so I'm sure Jay-Z's fellow hip-hoppers are doing the same. Anyway... the album is solid from top to bottom in my opinion. Jay-Z gives us a lot of different flavors that all work together in one melting pot, similar to how The Black Album was, where it featured so many different producers. This album is mainly produced by Diddy, with The Neptunes making a couple appearances, and... the most shocking thing I think about the album, Dunkin Donuts' own Jermaine Dupri co-producing a song [whaaat?!]. My favorites on the album include the song posted below ("Ignorant Sh*t"), "Fallin'", and the aforementioned "No Hook.""...are you saying that what I'm spittin' is worse than all these celebutantes showin' they kitten, you kiddin?" That line, in combination of Jay-Z's mockery of those that put too much focus on loving or hating the reasons for Parental Advisory Stickers makes this track a classic piece of social commentary. Jay-Z is all growns up as he tried to display on Kingdom Come, but where he may have failed on that effort, there is no doubt that American Gangster will not suffer the same fate.... and I don't need no hook for this shiiiiiiit!
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