since jay-z's impromptu decision to record a concept album based off his favorite movie since scarface the internet has been ablaze with every bit of new info available leading up to the albums release. while the album doesn't officially come out until next tuesday, the things been leaked so damn much already that it might as well be out by now. the concept holds together in theory, what with the heavy handed intro and the random (yet tasteful) placement of dialog form the movie throughout, but if we didn't know this was supposed to be a concept album, we probably wouldn't have caught on. this isn't necessarily due to a weak concept, more to due with the fact that this is basically what jay's been rapping about since his classic debut in '96. not that thats a bad thing, jay does this better than anyone else, and the album is pretty much a success, with no real weak songs, only a couple of misguided ideas and jay reaching out of his nearing forty comfort zone (more on that later).
when jay was discussing concept, he must of had the flow of the album in mind, because its track sequencing is pretty much flawless, leading off with a perfect intro to set the tone into "pray", an epic sounding track that starts jay off documenting his urge to deal. the next thirteen tracks play with pretty much the same concept, but it remains interesting by switching to the different mindsets of a hustler; in fact the album is basically exactly what jay described it as: the concept of reasonable doubt mixed with the lyrical prowess of the blueprint. what on paper sounds like a jay-z fan's dream come true (and for the most part it is) the execution sometimes falls flat due to jay not realizing he really is about to turn forty, and while his rhymes and flow are still up to par he makes an occasional mistake that makes you think hes trying to adapt to guest lil' wayne's persona at times. blasphemy you say? maybe im just not used to jay adopting to trendy terms such as "ya dig" and muttering "hot hot hot..." but for a man of his age and a rapper of his status these come ons sound sort of elementary, especially when paired up against his aging voice, which is actually starting to give jay a new feel with his words. while im sure hes still capable of his double speed flow that he nearly abandoned since the late nineties his voice is much more comfortable giving the authoritative flow that jay has always been famous for, now that his voice is sounding older when he works his rhymes to fix with this flow the effect is amazing. jay-z has always had the ability to seem like a legend giving advice to younger men, now that this is actually the truth jay has the ability to truly destroy anyone vying for the throne, its only when he tries to go down to their level that he falters.
now i've spent far too much time talking about the few negatives on the album, as the positives FAR outweigh the negatives. the album flows perfectly, the aformentioned intro and first track segue into "american dreamin" which basically works as a placeholder to hold us off for the lil wayne collaboration hello brooklyn 2.0, i dunno why this has been getting so much bad press, the song is fucking awesome, with jay and weezys personas bouncing off of eachother, a simple pulsating bass with a voice shouting the tittle, it works, both of the rappers are on point, whats not to like? no hook follows which leads into the celebratory second single, roc boys, which, like blue magic, is one of jay's best singles in years; even if neither necessarily "sound" like a jay-z single. the following three tracks, "sweet", "i know", and "party life" all round out the middle of the album perfectly, leading into the revamped "ignorant shit", a leftover (although it really shouldn't have been) from the black album, now complete with a beanie sigel verse and a brilliant new verse by jay dealing with the don imus controversy. "say hello" might be the best track on the cd, or possibly "success" featuring nas, which has the formal rivals trading verses over a beat that only these two could do justice to. the album "closes" with "fallin", with a great hook by bilal, but its a godsend that there are two more bonus tracks, seeing as this track would be a pretty weak closer. its lyrics, which ape reasonable doubts "regrets" to fully demonstrate the downside of the hustler lifestyle, are great, but the tone of the track just doesnt demonstrate closing material. so the first bonus cut is the first single, blue magic, which breaks the flow of the cd completely but by this point its so late in it really works, and the track brings to mind the eighties, while the rest of the cd jay is trying to invoke the seventies, it gives the song a sense of looking back after the "fallin" out of his heyday. the album closes with the celebratory title track, which only makes sense: jay wanted to illustrate the demise of the fictional gangsters throughout his concept, but (in typical jay fashion) he couldn't help to put himself at the forefront of things, and we all know how he turned out....
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