The Black Album (Jay-Z album)

The Black Album is the eighth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, released November 14, 2003, on Roc-A-Fella Records. It was promoted as his final studio album, which serves as a recurring theme,^[1] although Jay-Z returned to solo recording with Kingdom Come in 2006.

The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 463,000 copies in its first week. It produced three singles that attained Billboard chart success, including Hot 100 top-ten hits "Change Clothes" and "Dirt Off Your Shoulder". Upon its release, The Black Album received general acclaim from most music critics. The Black Album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 47th Grammy Awards,^[2] ultimately losing to Kanye West's The College Dropout.^[3]

Release and promotion

Jay-Z said the album would have a different producer for each track, and early magazine advertisements listed a series of numbers (representing tracks) and a producer for each number. The final album did feature a variety of producers, although Roc-A-Fella producers Kanye West and Just Blaze produced two tracks each, in addition to the two produced by frequent Jay-Z collaborators The Neptunes. Some of the albums CD pressings come in a transparent black jewel case.

Remixes

An acappella version of the album was released to provide material for remixes and mashups. Such albums included Kev Brown's, The Brown Album, and Kno vs. HOV by Kno of CunninLynguists, These were followed by Danger Mouse's The Grey Album.^[4] The latter gained attention due to unauthorized use of samples of songs by The Beatles. Subsequent remixes have mashed-up the acapellas with Prince (The Purple Album) and Dr. Dre (The Black Chronic). Further mashups have been created using the music of alternative bands Pavement ("The Slack Album") and Weezer ("The Black and Blue Album").

The only officially released remix album is Collision Course, Jay-Z's collaboration with Linkin Park. It was produced by Mike Shinoda and included a DVD featuring the two acts performing together.

Lines from the album have been sampled by other artists into entirely new songs.

• The chorus to T.I.'s "Bring Em Out" was based on a line from "What More Can I Say", which Jay-Z in turn got from Audio Two's "Top Billin'".
• Joe Budden's "Stuntin'" based on a line from "What More Can I Say".
• Cassidy's "I'm a Hustla" and Juvenile's "Way I Be Leanin'" were based on lines from "Dirt Off Your Shoulder".
• Clipse's "Number One Supplier" was based on a line from "Public Service Announcement".
• Clipse's "Where You Been" was based on a line from "Threat".
• Beanie Sigel's "All the Above" uses a line from "Public Service Announcement (Interlude)".
• The chorus to Freeway's "It's Over" was based on a line in "Encore".
• RZA's "Straight Up the Block" chorus was based on a line in "Dirt Off Your Shoulder"
• Jedi Mind Tricks' "Put 'em In The Grave" chorus samples "Threat."
• Bobby Creekwater's "Hello World" samples "December 4th."^[5]
• Vakill's "Farewell to the Game" samples "December 4th."

Reception

The album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 463,000 copies in its first week. It received general acclaim from most music critics, based on an aggregate score of 84/100 from Metacritic.^[15] According to The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), The Black Album is "old-school and utterly modern", as it showed Jay-Z "at the top of his game, able to reinvent himself as a rap classicist at the right time, as if to cement his place in hip-hop's legacy for generations to come".^[16] Steve 'Flash' Juon at Rap Reviews.com gave the album a nine out of 10 rating and stated, "Whether this release will settle the debate about his rank in hip-hop or just fuel the discussion further is ultimately not as important as whether or not this is a good album. It's not a good album - it's a GREAT album." ^[17]

Steve Jones of USA Today gave the album four out of four stars and stated, "He enlisted beats from an all-star cast of producers, who come through with top-shelf work. But it's Jigga's trademark lyrical dexterity and diversified deliveries that put him on a level all his own."^[18] In a retrospective review, Robert Christgau gave the album an A rating in his consumer guide for MSN Music.^[7] Christgau noted varied producers on each track, writing that "each one sounds different, each one means different, and each one kills", and stated, "[Jay-Z]'s got a right to celebrate his autobiography in rhyme because he's on track to become a personage who dwarfs any mere rapper, and not only can he hire the best help dark green can buy, he can make it sing."^[7]

Pitchfork Media ranked The Black Album at number 90 on its list of the top 200 albums of the 2000s,^[19] and Slant Magazine ranked it number 7 on its list of the Top 100 Albums of the 2000s.^[20] According to Billboard, the album is Jay-Z's top selling album of the 2000s and the 136th highest selling album of the decade in the United States.^[21]

Track listing

Chart history

Chart positions

Chart procession and succession

Personnel

See also

• Kev Brown – The Brown Album (2004)
• Danger Mouse – The Grey Album (2004)
• List of number-one albums of 2003 (U.S.)
• List of number-one R&B albums of 2003 (U.S.)

References

External links

• The Black Album at Discogs
• The Black Album at Metacritic
• In Brief: Jay-Z at New York
• Jay-Z Raps On the Fly Like a Man Set to Die at New York Times