Jay-Z presented his nearly-completed tenth album, American Gangster, Friday evening for a small gathering of media at Manhattan's Roc The Mic Studios. Inspired by the forthcoming Denzel Washington drama of the same name, the album – a crisper, more focused effort than his previous album, last year's somewhat maligned Kingdom Come – is a cinematic work, told with a loose narrative that follows the rise and subsequent fall of a New York drug lord. "It plays like a cautionary tale," he said. "But it's not me. I made it. I'm a bad motherfucker."
Working with producers like Bad Boy's Hit Men team, Jermaine Dupri and longtime collaborator Just Blaze, Gangster is lush with a live band sound that echoes the deep soul and funk sounds of the film, as on the electrifying banger "Roc Boys" and fierce lyrical workout "No Hook." Jay-Z spoke about acquiring tracks from Diddy's long-dormant crew of hitmakers. "He just had 'em, he didn't have anyone to give 'em to," he said, as a loop of the film played in the background on a PlayStation 2. Other standouts include DJ Toomp's booming "Say Hello to the Bad Guy," the No ID-helmed "Success" - which may feature former rival Nas - and the rescued "Ignorant Shit," originally recorded during the sessions for 2003's The Black Album (Roc-A-Fella). "Ignorant Shit" has been updated to include a verse from Roc-A-Fella's Beanie Sigel. It also now cannily addresses the controversy surrounding deposed shock rock Don Imus earlier this year. Nas, Sigel, R&B crooner Bilal (featured on the late album track "Fallen") and Pharrell (on lead single "Blue Magic") are the only guests.
Talking at length about the album's creation, Def Jam's reigning President and CEO said it took less than three weeks to record American Gangster. "I like the challenge of it," he said. "You could make 100 classic albums in a row and someone [else] could make one hot song and people compare you. This is the only sport like that."
Initially brought to his attention by Universal's noted soundtrack executive Kathy Nelson, American Gangster depicts the true story of Frank Lucas, a Harlem drug kingpin who amassed a $250 million empire in less than 10 years in the 1970s. Referencing Lucas' reserved, all-business attitude, Jay-Z often echoes the aspirational themes of the film, as on "No Hook," which finds him snarling, "Fuck rich, let's get wealthy."
American Gangster (Universal/Imagine), directed by acclaimed filmmaker Ridley Scott, is in theaters on November 2. Jay-Z's American Gangster will be available four days later on November 6.
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