On the news the other day they were talking about how American Gangster was Jay-Z’s 10th #1 album tying him with Elvis and second only to the Beatles nineteen chart toppers. This fact reinforced in my mind the almost larger than life status of the east coast icon. Jay-Z’s latest effort is the soundtrack to the Ridley Scott film American Gangster. What’s unique about the sound on the album is the unlikely cocktail of Marvin Gaye style ‘70s R&B with Jay-Z’s signature clip.
I had an interesting revelation the first time through American Gangster. You know how hip-hop records jack up your iPod and iTunes listings because every song title is featuring or presenting somebody. My first time through the disc was on the treadmill at the health club. I was excited to bring Jay-Z to the human gerbil wheel as I figured it would give me some scratch. When I searched Jay-Z on the iPod I found American Gangster listed—but what I ended up listening to were just the songs where Jay-Z is solo as the collaborative tracks were under different headings. The surprise was that the solo tracks are some of the weakest on the record.
I guess that makes sense, as hip-hop is the musical equivalents of leapfrog as one after one people bring each other up to the top. You get your shot when someone features or presents you and the understood arrangement is when you make it big you bring someone else up and out. But only a few in hip-hop ever make it to icon status: Dre, Jay-Z, Kanye is knocking on the door. The icons get to work with riches every album and Jay-Z has that here with guest appearances from Beyonce, Kanye West, Pharrell, Nas, and Lil Wayne to name a few.
American Gangster starts with an intro track with lots of movie dialogue clarifying for a gangster it’s what’s on the inside that counts. It’s your genes not your jeans. It’s about being outside the law and making your own rules, and it’s American at its core.
After the movie clip intro the album really starts to kick with hot track “Pray” featuring Jay-Z’s lady Beyonce and some pretty low-fi Knight Rider style sound effects. At his best Jay-Z sounds like patent leather, like looking out of a plane window as you land in Manhattan at night. “Pray” has that with the fight the power style retro sample and the classic Jay-Z rap. “Pray” is basically the song that tells you where you are. “Pray” firmly establishes the setting in Gotham, but waits to reveal the album’s sound.
“American Dreamin” is the first we hear of the signature sound of the American Gangster album taking a killer ‘70s groove and layering it with the staccato Jay-Z clip. The result satisfies like a Snicker with the R&B groove providing the caramel and Jay-Z bringing the nut.
That’s the biggest compliment to the record as a whole. Somehow Jay-Z has managed to deliver groovy rap—something I wouldn’t have thought possible. American Gangster delivers street licks mixed with SNL’s Ladies Man Leon Phelps. It’s got the rap cred but it’s wearing a maroon turtleneck and the sideburns are long enough to curl.
I guess what brings it all together is the pimp factor. The music is rich. It sounds like something a dude with a bearskin rug and some Courvoisier would put on. At its best American Gangster is Scarface, mixed with Teddy Pendergrass, Al Green, and Marvin Gaye
But just when you think Jay-Z is going to stick to that sound you get an interesting song like “Hello Brooklyn 2.0” with Lil Wayne bringing crunk to our ‘70s theme party. Kanye brings the horns and the optimism on “Roc Boys (and the winner is)” extending our membership to the mile high club and doing his best Urkel impression, “We in the house!”
A song like “Sweet” with Jay-Z going solo has the Starsky and Hutch factor, but we’re missing the velvet groove.
Like “American Dreamin’”, “Party Life” has both groove and street. Jay-Z is solo on this one rappin’ “gangster effortlessly” and that’s exactly how it sounds with a wicked sample underneath. The lyrics are also classic Jay-Z, “She’s my little quarterback because I’m all that in the sack” as well some funny Jackson 5 stuff all pulled through with the silky ‘70s sample.
Jay-Z deserves credit for pushing things forward on tracks like “Success” and “Hello Brooklyn 2.0.” He doesn’t need to do this, but he keeps pushing. While the result doesn’t hit quite like the cocktail on “American Dreamin” and “Party Life” it’s clear Jay-Z’s creative spirit is alive and well as he rhymes about Google Earth, Jacob the Jeweler, De Niro and Pacino. The last song “American Gangster” is equally epic even finishing with a string section as Jay-Z marries funk with upbeat mid-90s glam rap.
Hip-hop records are some of the toughest to review because there is so much layer and diversity to the sound that the great records take some time to reveal themselves to you. For instance, the Kanye West record is something I’ve kept in heavy rotation in my car since I gave him a very average review many weeks ago.
Overall American Gangster is at its best when Jay-Z takes a smooth ‘70s track and adds his snap crackle pop over the top. That’s when 1+1=3. Trouble is this combination happens on less than half of the 15 tracks leaving several air pockets in the hour-long album. But Jay-Z remains an iconic and his willingness to push the envelope is the reason his albums continue to debut at #1.
At least that’s what I think this week, but you might want to check back in a month.
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