In large part, the album failed because Jay-Z was too comfortable. Chock full of uninspired rhymes about expensive brands, it lacked any sense of urgency and utterly failed to engage listeners. Kingdom Come may have triumphantly announced the return of one of hip-hop's most celebrated figures, but Jay-Z didn't seem to have much else to say.
Can we really hold it against him, though? His finest work has always revolved around conflict or aspiration. But with Kingdom Come, Jay-Z was totally content. Maybe he just didn't want to fake intensity where there wasn't any. Right or wrong, it's simply what he was feeling at the time.
It's no surprise, then, that American Gangster is an entirely different animal. Inspired by Ridley Scott's film of the same name, Jay-Z's latest is a concept album that loosely details the rise and fall of his fictional drug-dealing alter ego. Far from the comfy, secure themes of Kingdom Come, it sees a return to ruminations on crime and inner-city life that Jay-Z hadn't thoroughly explored since his classic 1996 debut Reasonable Doubt. Tapping into an old vein of creativity revitalizes him, lending him a legitimate, sincere reason to return to the intensity and passion that made his seminal work so compelling.
Jay-Z - "Roc Boys (And the Winner is)..."
Jigga Man's newfound vigor is evident from the get-go with the stunning album opener, "Pray." Perhaps the most emotionally resonant track on the album, it follows the childhood of Jay-Z's protagonist in the New York City projects. The song's observations are disarming in their simplicity and specificity, ranging from used needles on his classroom floor to his father leaving the house in search of his uncle's killer. When Jay-Z proclaims, "I didn't choose this life/ This life chose me," it's strangely easy to empathize with alter-Jay's decision to pursue a life of crime.
To complement his gift for vibrant imagery, Jay-Z employs some of his most vibrant, flexible rhymes to date. Jaw-dropping tracks such as "No Hook," "Ignorant Shit" and the advance single "Blue Magic" all stand among Hova's finest, effortlessly pounding out complex internal rhyme schemes and clever puns. Similarly stunning is the production work, largely handled by Diddy and the Hitmen. The samples are focused on 1970s soul, a fitting touch for an album inspired by Frank Lucas' life.
All these elements congeal into what may well be Jay-Z's best album in half a decade, which makes all the talk of corporate synergy surrounding this release frustrating. True, the fact that Universal is putting out both Jay-Z's album and the related film raises some good questions – is all this just another corporate media scheme to earn some more money?
Maybe, but let's not get caught up in the media politics of the release lest we miss out on some great music. American Gangster may not reach the same heights as his greatest work (Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint), but it rests comfortably next to The Black Album and In My Lifetime as one of Jay-Z's great second-tier albums, and one of the most resonant, accomplished hip-hop albums of 2007.
Originally written for the Cavalier Daily:
http://www.cavalierdaily.com/news/2007/nov/15/jigga-man-resurrects-his-gangster-appeal/
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