Gourt Home::Gourt :: The Black Album (Jay-Z album)
The Black Album was a 2003 hip hop music album by rapper Jay-Z. It is supposedly his last studio album and has generally been well received by the critics. *. The album's name is a reference to both The Beatles' White Album as well as Metallica's Black Album. It features a black-covered set of liner notes and a black jewel case to go along with a black CD.
The album mixes sentimental quotes from Jay-Z's mother in "December 4th" with defiance and anger in tracks such as "What More Can I Say" and "Threat," delivering an emotionally driven final statement to the world.
It is rumored that Jay-Z will return to making records under a new pseudonym, most likely S. Carter. This rumor is given some credence because of various lyrics and imagery in his music videos. Most notably, the "99 Problems" music video shows him being shot at the end, which he says signifies the death of Jay-Z.
Jay-Z changed his mind about how the album would be set up before it was released. In early interviews, he said that it would be a return to his Reasonable Doubt sound (referring to criticism from certain hip-hop fans that his subsequent efforts were too commercial) and would be for the streets, with no singles; however, "Change Clothes" and "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" (both successful singles) show that he decided against keeping it strictly underground.
Later, he also claimed that he would have a different producer for each track. In fact, early magazine advertisements for the album featured full-page layouts featuring a series of numbers, representing tracks, and the producer for each one of them. The final result did have a wide variety in producers, although Roc-A-Fella producers Kanye West and Just Blaze were given priority (West produced two tracks, and Just Blaze produced two as well as the intro) and The Neptunes produced two tracks. Notably left off the album's production are DJ Premier and Dr. Dre, both of whom have collaborated with Jay-Z in the past (particularly Premier, who had contributed three beats to Reasonable Doubt, two beats to Vol. 1, and one beat each to Hard Knock Life and Vol. 3) and have received praise from the rapper.
The album has no guest appearances aside from some background singers on a couple of tracks such as "Encore" and "Change Clothes."
An a capella version of this album was also released, giving DJs the chance to set Jay-Z's lyrics to other artists' music, resulting in a flood of remix albums via Internet file sharing. Danger Mouse released what is probably the most notable, The Grey Album, on which he sampled The Beatles' self-titled album (the "White Album"). The only officially-recognized production is Jay-Z's collaboration with Linkin Park, Collision Course, which included a DVD of the two artists performing together.
In addition to the many remixes, lines from the album have been sampled by other artists into entirely new songs. These include:
- T.I.'s "Bring Em Out", based on a line from "What More Can I Say".
- Cassidy's "I'm a Hustler", based on a line from "Dirt Off Your Shoulders".
- Juvenile's "Way I Be Leanin'", also based on a line from "Dirt Off Your Shoulder".
Track listing
- "Interlude" (1:23)
- Produced by Just Blaze
- "December 4th" (Boyd/Carter/Powell/Smith) (4:35)
- Produced by Just Blaze
- Contains a sample of "That's How Long" performed by The Chi-Lites
- "What More Can I Say" (Bell/Carter/Chambers/Gamble/Gonzalez/Johnson) (4:57)
- "Encore" (Carter/West) (4:13)
- Produced by Kanye West
- Additional vocals by John Legend, Leonard Harris, Kanye West
- Contains a sample of The Beatles' "I Will" performed by John Holt
- "Change Clothes" (Carter/Hugo/Williams) (4:20)
- Produced by The Neptunes
- Additional vocals by Pharrell, Danee Doty
- "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" (Carter/Mosley) (4:07)
- Produced by Timbaland
- "Threat" (Carter/Douthit/Kelly) (4:08)
- Produced by 9th Wonder, Jay-Z
- Additional vocals by Cedric the Entertainer
- Contains a sample from "A Woman's Threat" performed by R. Kelly
- "Moment of Clarity" (Carter/King/Mathers/Resto) (4:26)
- Produced by Eminem
- Additional production by Luis Resto
- Keyboards by Luis Resto
- Guitar by Steve King
- Bass by Steve King
- "99 Problems" (Carter/Landsberg/Pappalardi/Rubin/Squier/Ventura/Weinstein) (3:56)
- Produced by Rick Rubin
- Contains a sample from "Long Red" performed by Mountain, "The Big Beat" performed by Billy Squier, "99 Problems" performed by Tracy Marrow and Alphonso Henderson
- "Public Service Announcement (Interlude)" (Carter/Levin/Smith) (2:55)
- Produced by Just Blaze
- Contains a sample from "Seed Of Love" performed by Little Boy Blues
- "Justify My Thug" (Blake/Carter/Chavez/Ciccone/Kravitz/McDaniels/Simmons/Smith) (4:06)
- "Lucifer" (Carter/Perry/Smith/West) (3:14)
- Produced by Kanye West
- Bass by Keenan "Kee Note" Holloway
- Contains a sample from "I Chase The Devil" performed by Max Romeo
- "Allure" (Carter/Hugo/Williams) 4:54)
- Produced by The Neptunes
- "My 1st Song" (Carter/De La Fuente/McCarrell) (4:45)
- Produced by Aqua & Joe "3H" Weinberger
- Contains a sample from "Tu y Tu Mirar...Yo y Mi Canción" performed by G. de La Fuente
- Contains a vocal portion by The Notorious B.I.G.
Credits
- Executive Producers: Shawn Carter, Damon Dash, Kareem "Biggs" Burke
- A&R Direction: Kyambo "Hip Hop" Joshua
- A&R: Lenny S.
- A&R Direction/Join Venture: Darcell Lawrence
- A&R Administration: Rob Mitchell
- Recording Administration: Rob Mitchell
- Mastering: Tony Dawsey
- Marketing: Shari Bryant, Amber Noble
- Management: Roc-A-Fella Management
- Art Direction & Design: Robert Sims
- Principal Photography: Jonathan Mannion
- Additional Photography: Lenny "kodak man" Santiago, Walik Goshorn
- Legal Counsel: Michael Guido, Jennifer Justice
- Business Affairs for Roc-A-Fella Records: Michael Seltzer, Ian allan, Antoinette Trotman, Jeff Kempler
- Sample Clearance Agent: Eric Weissman
See also
- Kev Brown - The Brown Album (2004)
- Danger Mouse - The Grey Album (2004)
- 9th Wonder - Blak Is Back (2004)
External links
"The Black Album (Jay-Z album)"