Black album 10 days on...it's not quite so good anymore huh?

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at first i didn't notice that around half of the beats are uninteresting, and one is downright annoying ("what more can i say"). i was also unaware that hova opens up no new lyrical ground, and that at least 2/3 of this is brag tracks...comments?

― paulhw (paulhw), Wednesday, 26 November 2003 22:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes it is good. Not as good as either of his last two records, but still pretty fucking good.

I love "What More Can I Say?"

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Wednesday, 26 November 2003 23:37 (twenty-one years ago)

well I didn't really expect anything more than on par with his better albums, and that it is, so I'm not complaining at all. I'm loving at least half of the tracks (PSA, My First Song, What More, 99 Problems, Allure, Lucifer, Encore), and of the rest I can live without but mostly aren't bad.

also, what the fuck is up with that intro? I would have preferred another OK, I'M RELOADED. and it's kinda weird how you hear 3 sampled voices at the beginning of the record (the intro sample, his mom, and then another voice) before Jay says a word.

― Al (sitcom), Thursday, 27 November 2003 00:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Is it a cover of Ice-T's "99 Problems and a Bitch Ain't One"???

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 27 November 2003 00:52 (twenty-one years ago)

somewhat!

― cinniblount (James Blount), Thursday, 27 November 2003 00:52 (twenty-one years ago)

I really hope it's a single too

― cinniblount (James Blount), Thursday, 27 November 2003 00:52 (twenty-one years ago)

I hear 99 Problems on the radio here more than Change Clothes! I dunno if he has the balls to release it as a single, though.

― Al (sitcom), Thursday, 27 November 2003 00:55 (twenty-one years ago)

it's EASILY the best track

― M Matos (M Matos), Thursday, 27 November 2003 00:58 (twenty-one years ago)

I still think its the best since Reasonable Doubt. Kanye's two beats here are so much better than anything he did on Blueprint or B2. Encore is perfect. What More Can I Say is so intense. And S. himself sounds better than ever. Blueprint 2 was a huge step forward for him as far as skills on the mic and that growth continued here. He doesn't sound like he's "rapping" if thats what everyone else is doing.

― Johnny Badlees (crispssssss), Thursday, 27 November 2003 00:59 (twenty-one years ago)

ok has rubin been producing any other hip-hop lately? ie have my frequent 'god I wish rick rubin would go back to producing hip-hop' wishes been redundant or whatever word I'm thinking of instead of redundant?

― cinniblount (James Blount), Thursday, 27 November 2003 01:00 (twenty-one years ago)

i haven't felt compelled to listen to it as much as i did the blueprint when it first came out...
i like what more can i say,but i do find the hook really annoying...
and i still haven't got reasonable doubt,i'll have to sort that out...

― robin (robin), Thursday, 27 November 2003 01:06 (twenty-one years ago)

does anyone else cringe at his moma's spoken bits? like the part when she describes his 4 year-old bike riding skills as 'special'?

― paulhw (paulhw), Thursday, 27 November 2003 01:24 (twenty-one years ago)

i'm not sure what to make of it, but it makes me smile..."at four, he taught himself to ride a bike, a two-wheel at that...isn't that special?"

― Al (sitcom), Thursday, 27 November 2003 01:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Cringe??? Isn't that a bit much?? It makes me smile too. Mothers.

― Johnny Badlees (crispssssss), Thursday, 27 November 2003 02:00 (twenty-one years ago)

She sounds mentally retarded. I can't listen to the cd anymore because I can't take it. "What a special child". Shut the fuck up.

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Thursday, 27 November 2003 04:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Yow. I smell issues.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Thursday, 27 November 2003 04:39 (twenty-one years ago)

"99 Problems" and "Justify My Thug" are the tracks I always skip.

"Allure" and "My 1st Song" don't lose any impact with re-re-repeated listenings.

I'm still judging everything else. I've been listening to Blueprint again more than I have this record, but I'm not sure if that reflects on The Black Album's quality or my attention span.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Thursday, 27 November 2003 04:42 (twenty-one years ago)

it wasn't that good 10 days ago! i haven't listened to it since the first two or three days i had it and i doubt i will any time soon.

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 27 November 2003 04:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Riiiiight...it was supercool for 30 minutes after it leaked, and now it sucks.

ILM is amusing.

― spittle (spittle), Thursday, 27 November 2003 07:03 (twenty-one years ago)

How does that line go "I got game like Beckham?" Victoria most probably.

― nathalie (nathalie), Thursday, 27 November 2003 08:21 (twenty-one years ago)

"She sounds mentally retarded." You dumb fuck. I think you've got Jay-Z's mother confused with 50 Cent. Now he sounds mentally retarded.

― Johnny Badlees (crispssssss), Thursday, 27 November 2003 09:04 (twenty-one years ago)

2nd half's got a nice run of tracks, i think. i'm leaving it alone for a couple weeks now. been playing 'the gift & the curse' quite a bit tho. this thread is rather unnecessary.

― mitch lastnamewithheld (mitchlnw), Thursday, 27 November 2003 09:08 (twenty-one years ago)

I played it once so far - enjoyed the second half better like everyone's been saying. I can imagine playing it again, probably not today though.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Thursday, 27 November 2003 10:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Seconding: not that good to begin with. Anything MF Doom did/didn't put his name on this year is x10 better than this "last album" afterthought.

― Vek (vek), Thursday, 27 November 2003 22:31 (twenty-one years ago)

I was hypothesising that this completes a loose trilogy that began with The Blueprint. Has Jay actually said this anywhere?

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Sunday, 30 November 2003 22:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Haven't heard the whole record yet, but four of the songs have been played on the local rap/r&b station as singles. sorry to say, but the singles for "Blueprint 2" had me so much more excited to buy that record than the new songs are getting me hyped for "Black Album." the more I hear "Change Clothes" the more I imagine it as an "Excuse Me Miss" redux; "99 Problems" annoyed me the first time I heard it and grates now. "December 4" - whatever. "What More..." I sorta like.

Actually, my favorite Hov track on the radio right now is from that S.Carter mixtape, and it's called (I think) "Y'all Don't Hear Me Though."

― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 1 December 2003 16:23 (twenty-one years ago)

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