Jay Z - The Black Album C/D?

But yeah, Eminem can produce more than one song...his beat on this album is excellent.

for my thoughts on hte album... im michael

Metallica, Prince, The Damned...

Just making sure...this was sarcastic right?

aaah aaah I was going to say this and you got there first. Now you look better than me!

*sulks*

Lucifer is pretty great.

The best plus the best plus the best plus the best plus the best. The best beats, the best rhymes, the best cars to brag about, the best girl to brag about, the best the best the best the best the best life of all time. Adds up to. Really boring.

I'm not sure if that sounds like, 'He sucks because he's too rich.' I think it's very clear what I mean. I don't mean that. Most rappers get better as they get richer. It's not about being rich. Or, it is, a bit. I'm not sure how that works into how I feel about it. No! It doesn't work into it at all. It's just really pedestrian. That's all I mean. It doesn't have anything to do with rhyming about Maybachs instead of GS 400s.

Yes, clearly they lack perspective. Mm.

I'd say better than Blueprint, overall. The tracks I thought were average are growing fast. The tracks I thought were great are now really great. Top notch lyrically.

So yeah, boring. The best MC gets all the best producers and drops another great album. People think the Yankees suck if they only get to the World Series, too.

I've only heard two songs (My Name Is Hov & What More Can I Say) but he sounds pretty intense on those (to me). Whereas before he was relaxed sometimes verging on disinterested

The fallacy in the Brit-hop presumption is not that Jay-Z et al would be listening, but that the beats are fresh...

OTM. i saw the video this morning. thought to myself 'jesus another video with pharell in it.' that plus the beats makes it hard to differentiate it with everything else on mtv right now.

I read that too, and usually hiphopsite is very reliable...but someone I know got the album, and it was exactly the same as the bootleg.

I like fucking Coldplay and shit. And I'm still on Jill Scott's whole album. And I like John Mayer, surprisingly. I think that's fresh, I'll fuck wth him.

okay..i see you guys are discussing this "fade to black" that jay-z supposedly has dropped to be his final album. i work for the promotions department here at universal records. im not an a&r, or anything special. i am a runner(basically a "gopher"). but in my everyday work, i sometimes get into casual conversations with record label honchos, a&r's, etc...i will not profess to be the biggest jay-z fan..but i thought the following would be interesting to know.."The Black Album" is technically not jay-z's last album...sometime next summer (the word around here is mid-july)..jigga will drop another album that will consist of some his tighter collabos, unreleased material, and 4 to 5 new songs..in the vein of NAS "lost tapes" album. the album is tenatively titled "THE ENCORE: roc-a-fella records presents FEATURE PRESENTATION"..the marketing ploy will be, dame dash releases this without jigga's approval, because he felt the public demanded it. so on and yadda yadda..i was given a tentative tracklist from one of the a&r's in the office. this could be total bullshit for all i know..but it sounds very legit and has actually came from more than 3 reliable sources at the def jam offices in new york and an a&r at the los angeles office.

1."renegade" featuring eminem prod. by eminem

2."4 alarm blaze" feat. m.o.p prod. by dj premier

3."one minute man" feat missy elliott, ludacris produced by timbaland, co produced by big tank

4.*"lobster and scrimp"(rmx) feat. skillz, timbaland
prod. by timbaland

5.*"sneakers and jeans" feat. 50 cent prod. by red spyda

6.*"stop"(rmx) feat. bubba sparxxx prod. by
timbaland

7."big pimpin" feat. ugk produced by timbaland

8.*"casualties of the hustle" feat. notorious b.i.g
prod. by younglord

9.*"as good as it gets" feat. big l, camron
prod. by dj premier

10.*"stand up" (rmx) feat. ludacris produced by kanye west

11."is that yo bitch" (original version) feat. twista prod. by timbaland

12.*"platform" feat. phonte of little brother
produced by 9th wonder

13."aint no nigga"(rmx) feat. lil kim
produced by ski

14."this cant be life" feat scarface, beanie sigel
prod. by kanye west

15.*"still(auto)matic" feat.daz dillinger produced by scott storch(dr.dre)

16."money aint a thang" feat jd produced by jermaine dupri

17. "change the game" feat. beanie sigel, memphis bleek prod. by rick rock

18.*"hovi baby" (rmx) feat. twista, xzibit prod. by just blaze

19.*"early morning" feat. d'angelo prod. by dj premier

disc 2
20.*"get by"(rmx) feat. talib kweli
prod. by kanye west

21.*"brooklyn's finest"(rmx) feat, notorious b.i.g remix produced by just blaze

22."5 minute freestyle" feat. funkmaster flex
prod. by dj clue & ken "duro" ifill

23.*"fade to black" feat. dr. dre
prod. by dr. dre & focus

24."money, cash, hoes" feat. dmx produced by swizz beats

25.*"that aint it" feat. bonecrusher
produced by 9th wonder

i guess we will see

You always said you hated the term "rapper" and you didn't like being known as one.

Oooh, yeah.

What did you mean by that?

"Rapper" is like what we're doing. It's what's happening right now in music. People are just rapping. People aren't even making albums anymore, they're making this type of song. They're making the "club song," the "girl song" and the "hardcore" song. Rap is supposed to be about bucking the system, being that voice, you know what I'm saying? Being what's going against everything.

...

The gaime ain't even fresh. It ain't fresh. That's gotta be the best word to use for it-- fresh. It ain't hot. I love it when other people make hot albums and shit like that. I mean, I love it. I'm loving the Dre [from OutKast] CD right now.

And you used to say you didn't even "get" OutKast.

Oh man.

and man, d k, quite trifling with sub-trifean "he likes rock music" = "he is a traitor to rap" bullshit.

"Dirt Off Your Shoulders" is supposed to be the second single.

Eminem just remade that 8 Mile track,
Neptunes tracks are both Gay
Timbaland is siply a rehash of stuff he's done sooo many tiems beofre

the 99 reasons tracks is kinda cool. - more punk than Run DMC ever were ;)

The Eminem track is one of my favorites. The lyrics are incredible. Can we look past the fact that its a standard Eminem beat in terms of mood an to the fact that it is a great improvement over previous Eminem beats in terms of execution? Never mind the fact that, once again, lyrically this is one motherfucker of a track.

that said, this album is exactly what i expected. like the blue print, it gets an 8.7. or maybe an 8.5 or something. remember before the blue print and after reasonable doubt? the tone was like "buy this album while sucking my dick, or else!" the blueprints kind of backed off with that, but this album has the tone of reasonable doubt. jay-z is being an artist again and really trying instead of just talking (albeit formally flawless), though with much more maturity than in 96.

i am listening to kid 606 while i write this.

if i were listening to the black album i would probably get excited about kanye west's solo album, dropping in january. the title is supposed to be "college dropout." and if you think about it, the reason he's so good is probably because he's so much smarter than everyone in rap. maybe even jay-z. i really want another ex-crack dealer to reference rainer maria rilke. this probably is never going to happen. maybe kanye west will fantasize about a crack-dealing past and also reference rilke. or maybe he will produce rainer maria. but i digress. this is getting wishy-washy. maybe whimsical. i hate myself and i want to die.

godbless jay-z.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101031124-543787,00.html

The problem is that Jay-Z may not be able to outrun his legacy. He begins any criticism of the state of rap with "You know, I love hip-hop ..." but he believes that the numerous rappers behind him on the ladder lack his style and have turned rap into a much crasser art form. Jay-Z has always had fairly catholic tastes, but he now finds himself listening more to John Mayer and Coldplay than to rap. "There's not a bunch of hip-hop artists that you can relate to once you hit 30," he says. "I think, unfortunately, rap music is made to destroy itself. You have to be fresh and sell to an audience that's 16 to 25. They demand that you 'keep it hood,' 'keep it real.'" He says this sadly, but he can't deny responsibility. Today's records show: rap artists are doing it his way.

after the first three songs so far, sounds good!

Did anyone see FADE TO BLACK?

-- VIC MACKEY (nordicskilla), Friday, March 18, 2005 9:39 PM (2 years ago)

I didn't, is it worth it?

-- roxymuzak (roxymuzak), Monday, April 4, 2005 1:46 AM

YES

what's depressing, that he likes Coldplay? the man has taste! i think this proves again that all smart people like Coldplay haha.

smh

thank you for bumping this.

I'd no idea Ned liked Hova!