American Gangster (album)
Encyclopedia
American Gangster is the tenth studio album
by American rapper Jay-Z
, released November 6, 2007 on Roc-A-Fella Records
. It is Jay-Z's last studio release for the Def Jam
and Roc-A-Fella Records
label and his first concept album
, which was inspired by the film of the same name. The album features production from Diddy
& The Hitmen
, Just Blaze
, and The Neptunes
, among others. Guest appearances include Beanie Sigel
, Lil Wayne
, Pharrell, and Nas
. Jay-Z released an a cappella
version of the album on the date of his 38th birthday, December 4, 2007.
The album was released to commercial success, despite being pulled from the iTunes Store
at Jay-Z's request. It debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200
chart, selling 425,861 copies in its first week, while tying Elvis Presley
for the second most U.S. number-one albums. Upon its release, American Gangster received general acclaim from most music critics. Rolling Stone
named it the third best album of 2007. The album has been certified platinum
by the Recording Industry Association of America
for shipments in excess of one million copies in the United States.
Marcy Projects.
On November 9, 2007, Jay-Z appeared on the Charlie Rose Show to discuss the album. When asked about how the film gave life to this album, he stated "It's a New York City true story, you know. So as soon as the movie came on, it was like familiar, things that my pop seen and my uncles seen and, you know, different things like that, things I've seen growing up. So they resonated with me in a way, the story, as well as, I mean, even though everything happens, you know, the way it turns out, you know, it's one of those movies that where you champion the bad guy, because the bad guy, you know, he don't seem like a bad guy, and the good guy — I mean the good guys are bad. You know, that complex — the complexity of human beings in this thing was amazing to me. I loved the complexity of the human beings".
producer LV from The Hitmen
said "Jay would have the beats...He'd do the record, and he'd send it back to us. We'd fill in the blanks as far as making them full records. From having live horns, live strings, live drummers. This percussion dude, he was coming in with bottles, banging on bottles, just sprinkles of shit. We went all out. We brought in musicians to bring it out. Jay probably just heard a sample and some drums. Once we got the vocals back, we brought in all the extra candy".
Beanie Sigel
and Lil Wayne
are two of the few featured guest spots on the album, in which Sigel appears on the new version of "Ignorant Shit", and Lil Wayne joins Jay-Z on the Beastie Boys
-sampling "Hello Brooklyn 2.0". Jay returned the favor on "Mr. Carter" from Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III
. Also, fellow New York City
rapper and former rival Nas
is featured on the No I.D.
-produced track "Success", while the Neo soul
singer Bilal
sings the hook on "Fallin'", but is not officially credited.
, it might sound like he's dealing with no variation on well-worn themes, the exact same thoughts and emotions that make up older tracks about his past as a drug dealer — the rise, the arrogance, the conflictedness, the fall, and all stages in between." Yahoo! Music
writer Angus Batey viewed its thematic concept in the context of the "gangsta" ideal, stating "Using a selection of beats built from '70s soul and funk, it reflects the period setting; lyrically, its primary theme is an investigation of the evolution of the gangsta archetype, looking at how the drug dealer became a semi-sympathetic outlaw figure, examining the contradictions inherent in those who chase the American Dream on the far side of legality, and ruminating on what this period of US history might yet come to mean". Pitchfork Media
reviewer Tom Breihan noted that "'No Hook' has some of the most complicated rhyme-patterns Jay has tried in years": Although Jay-Z says American Gangster was inspired by the movie of the same name, he touches on the topics of censorship and the Jena 6 controversy:
provide production twice on the album, with the first single "Blue Magic
" which is the fourteenth track, and the eighth track "I Know". Diddy
and two of his producers known as LV & Sean C, who are from his production team, The Hitmen
, are responsible for six tracks on the album. They are credited with the second single "Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)...
", "American Dreamin'" (where his other production partner Mario Winans
assists), "No Hook", "Party Life", "Pray", and finally "Sweet".
DJ Toomp
delivers one track for the album, while Just Blaze
is credited for a bonus track and the re-make of "Ignorant Shit". Kanye West
mentor No I.D.
gives two tracks also, one which he co-produces with Jermaine Dupri
and vice versa. Finally, three lesser known producers lend hand to the "Intro", which is credited to Chris Flames and co-production from Idris "Driis" Elba
, while Bigg D
produces the Beastie Boys
sampling-Lil Wayne
assisted track, "Hello Brooklyn 2.0".
. Jay-Z stated "as movies are not sold scene by scene, this collection will not be sold as individual singles." However, the album is available for digital download, in its entirety, at Amazon.com
and Rhapsody.com.
and ending on November 12, 2007 in Philadelphia. According to a statement on the Roc-A-Fella website, the five-city club tour sold out in less than 60 seconds.
, Jay-Z released an a cappella
version of American Gangster. Released in December 2007, the a cappella version of the CD caused a string of remix
and mash-up
albums by both fans and professional DJs/producers
alike. Although none of the remix or mash-up albums have yet reached the public notoriety of DJ Danger Mouse's The Grey Album
, several versions of the CD have made their way into the mainstream.
Several of the notable American Gangster Remix albums are listed below:
, Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
and Top Rap Album charts selling 425,861 records in the United States its first week. American Gangster is Jay-Z's tenth number one album, officially tying him with Elvis Presley
for the second highest number of number one albums behind The Beatles
. On December 6, 2007, the album was certified platinum
in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America
, after sales in excess of one million copies in the United States.
Two singles have been released from American Gangster. The first, "Blue Magic
", was released on September 20, 2007, peaking at 55 on the U.S. Billboard
Hot 100, 31 on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
, and 17 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks
. The track's name is a reference to the kind of heroin that Frank Lucas
sold in the movie American Gangster; the CD even came in a package similar to the one the heroin came in. The second single, "Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)...
" was released on October 10, 2007, and reached 63 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, 15 on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and 8 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks.
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
score of 83, based on 25 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". Rolling Stone
s Rob Sheffield gave it 4 out of 5 stars and wrote that the album "definitely doesn't have any fluff like Kingdom Comes '30 Something
' or 'Beach Chair'. Jay sounds relaxed, no longer worried about impressing anyone. Instead, he follows the story from the uptown dope-king ambition of 'American Dreamin' ' to the big-payback crash of "Fallin'." Neil Drumming of Entertainment Weekly
gave American Gangster a B+ rating, stating "While Jay-Z does not make the ambitious leap of trying to write from Lucas'
point of view, he does use the film's story and period vibe to color his own elaborate legend. On 'American Dreamin', a Marvin Gaye
sample provides the backdrop as Jay-Z wistfully recounts his early days as a dealer, scheming with his buddies." Allmusic writer Andy Kellman gave it 4 out of 5 stars and called it "a very good Jay-Z album". The A.V. Club
critic Nathan Rabin
gave it an A- rating and wrote that Jay-Z "finds inspiration in the Ridley Scott film of the same name, the lush atmosphere of '70s soul, and the bracing grit of blaxploitation".
The New York Times
writer Kelefa Sanneh gave American Gangster a favorable review and commended Jay-Z for his lyricism, stating "he packs his wordy stanzas full of unexpected syllables, clever allusions and unpredictable rhymes schemes. This is probably as close as the new Jay-Z will ever come to sounding like the old Jay-Z". USA Today
s Edna Gundersen gave the album 3½ out of 4 stars and lauded Jay-Z lyrics, stating "Gangsters snarling boasts, stinging rhymes and frenetic wordplay find the Hova re-establishing his status as hip-hop godfather, Corleone
-style". Sputnikmusic
writer Cam gave it 4½ out of 5 stars and wrote "Lyrically, American Gangster may be the smartest album Jay has ever released". However, Sputnikmusic's Lewis gave it 3 out of 5 stars and perceived a lack of passion and "conviction" in Jay-Z's performance. Louis Pattison of NME
gave American Gangster a 5/10 rating and expressed a mixed response towards its "low-key" style, stating "You leave ‘American Gangster’ longing for more of this don’t-give-a-fuck attitude, but the feeling that presides is Jay-Z patting his wallet".
Despite viewing its conceptual style as flawed, The Observer
s Steve Yates praised Jay-Z's reflection on his fame and "the voracious capitalism (up- and downside), which is proving hip hop's most durable legacy", stating "It's Jay-Z's and American Gangsters triumph that reflecting on his appetite seems to have reawakened it". PopMatters
writer Mike Schiller also perceived "no narrative thread", but viewed it as "sonically consistent" and praised Jay-Z's performance, stating "What American Gangster truly gives us is Jay-Z through and through. Sure he’s a gangster, but mostly he’s a human being with loves and likes and pet peeves and needs and a natural predilection for camaraderie. It’s superhero music in that Jay’s supremacy is never questioned, but it’s superhero music that insists on showing off more than just that hero’s immense power". XXL
s Alvin Samuels gave it a rating of "XL" and described it as "a pot of pure uncut crack music", while writing "Rediscovering his hustler’s ambition, Jay delves into the many facets of the drug game like an OG passing knowledge down to a new jack". Amy Linden of The Village Voice
lauded its retro instrumentation and wrote "As you'd expect from (still) one of the best wordsmiths in hip-hop, there's some killer wordplay here".
American Gangster was ranked in the top ten of several music publications' end-of-year lists, including The Austin Chronicle (number one), Spin
(number eight), and Rolling Stone magazine (number three). Rolling Stone also named the album's second single, "Roc Boys (And the Winner Is...)", the best single of 2007. In an interview with Jeff Johnson of cable network BET
, 44th United States President Barack Obama
admitted to being a fan of the album.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by American rapper Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
, released November 6, 2007 on Roc-A-Fella Records
Roc-A-Fella Records
Roc-A-Fella Records is a record label founded by Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Damon "Dame" Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke. Today it operates as a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, and is distributed by Island Def Jam Motown Music Group.-Formation and Early Years:...
. It is Jay-Z's last studio release for the Def Jam
Def Jam Recordings
Def Jam Recordings is an American record label, focused primarily on hip hop and urban music, owned by Universal Music Group, and operates as a part of The Island Def Jam Motown Music Group...
and Roc-A-Fella Records
Roc-A-Fella Records
Roc-A-Fella Records is a record label founded by Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Damon "Dame" Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke. Today it operates as a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, and is distributed by Island Def Jam Motown Music Group.-Formation and Early Years:...
label and his first concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
, which was inspired by the film of the same name. The album features production from Diddy
Sean Combs
Sean John Combs , also known by his stage names Diddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He has won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and his clothing line earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award. He was originally...
& The Hitmen
The Hitmen (production team)
The Hitmen is a production team formed by Sean "Diddy" Combs to produce hip hop and R&B records for his Bad Boy label's recording artists. Because of its great success, the group has also been hired for projects outside of Bad Boy-Production:...
, Just Blaze
Just Blaze
Justin Smith, better known as Just Blaze, is an American hip hop music producer from Paterson, New Jersey. Blaze is also the CEO of Fort Knocks Entertainment. He is most well known for producing Jay-Z songs on the albums The Blueprint, The Blueprint 2, and The Black Album. He is also known for...
, and The Neptunes
The Neptunes
The Neptunes are a record production duo consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who are credited with contributing the sound for many successful hip hop, R&B and pop artists in the late-1990s and 2000s...
, among others. Guest appearances include Beanie Sigel
Beanie Sigel
Dwight Grant , also known as Beanie Sigel, is a American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,most recently he was in talks with 50 Cent to sign with G-Unit Records and is a former member/artist of Dame Dash Music Group and Roc-A-Fella Records where he had formed a close association with rappers...
, Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne
Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. , better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included...
, Pharrell, and Nas
Nas
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...
. Jay-Z released an a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
version of the album on the date of his 38th birthday, December 4, 2007.
The album was released to commercial success, despite being pulled from the iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
at Jay-Z's request. It debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart, selling 425,861 copies in its first week, while tying Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
for the second most U.S. number-one albums. Upon its release, American Gangster received general acclaim from most music critics. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
named it the third best album of 2007. The album has been certified platinum
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
for shipments in excess of one million copies in the United States.
Background
Jay-Z originally stated he recorded nine tracks for the album, but the final track listing accumulated fifteen overall cuts (two bonus tracks). He also stated that almost every song is based on a specific scene from the film based on Frank Lucas, a former drug kingpin. Def Jam executive Tracey Waples noted each track from the album will have its own "mini-film". As for the direction of the album, Jay-Z used personal memories he hadn't touched on in a while, specifically memories from his early life when he lived in Brooklyn'sBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
Marcy Projects.
On November 9, 2007, Jay-Z appeared on the Charlie Rose Show to discuss the album. When asked about how the film gave life to this album, he stated "It's a New York City true story, you know. So as soon as the movie came on, it was like familiar, things that my pop seen and my uncles seen and, you know, different things like that, things I've seen growing up. So they resonated with me in a way, the story, as well as, I mean, even though everything happens, you know, the way it turns out, you know, it's one of those movies that where you champion the bad guy, because the bad guy, you know, he don't seem like a bad guy, and the good guy — I mean the good guys are bad. You know, that complex — the complexity of human beings in this thing was amazing to me. I loved the complexity of the human beings".
Recording
Jay-Z would have the film—American Gangster—playing on the monitors above the recording booth to keep him inspired. In an interview with MTVMTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
producer LV from The Hitmen
The Hitmen (production team)
The Hitmen is a production team formed by Sean "Diddy" Combs to produce hip hop and R&B records for his Bad Boy label's recording artists. Because of its great success, the group has also been hired for projects outside of Bad Boy-Production:...
said "Jay would have the beats...He'd do the record, and he'd send it back to us. We'd fill in the blanks as far as making them full records. From having live horns, live strings, live drummers. This percussion dude, he was coming in with bottles, banging on bottles, just sprinkles of shit. We went all out. We brought in musicians to bring it out. Jay probably just heard a sample and some drums. Once we got the vocals back, we brought in all the extra candy".
Beanie Sigel
Beanie Sigel
Dwight Grant , also known as Beanie Sigel, is a American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,most recently he was in talks with 50 Cent to sign with G-Unit Records and is a former member/artist of Dame Dash Music Group and Roc-A-Fella Records where he had formed a close association with rappers...
and Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne
Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. , better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included...
are two of the few featured guest spots on the album, in which Sigel appears on the new version of "Ignorant Shit", and Lil Wayne joins Jay-Z on the Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
-sampling "Hello Brooklyn 2.0". Jay returned the favor on "Mr. Carter" from Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III
Tha Carter III
Tha Carter III is the sixth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne, released June 10, 2008 on Cash Money Records. It follows a long string of mixtape releases and guest appearances on other hip hop and R&B artists records, helping to increase his exposure in the mainstream...
. Also, fellow New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
rapper and former rival Nas
Nas
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...
is featured on the No I.D.
No I.D.
No I.D., officially known as Immenslope and also known as Ernest Wilson , is a hip hop and R&B record producer, also the vice-president of Def Jam Recordings, best known for his early work with Chicago rapper Common and is known as "The Godfather of Chicago hip hop".. The nickname No I.D...
-produced track "Success", while the Neo soul
Neo soul
The term neo soul was originally coined by Kedar Massenburg of Motown Records in the late 1990s as a marketing category following the commercial breakthroughs of artists such as D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Maxwell...
singer Bilal
Bilal (musician)
Bilal Sayeed Oliver , better known by his stage name Bilal, is an American neo soul/jazz singer-songwriter, musician and producer. He is also a core member of the loose collective, the Soulquarians. Bilal started out by singing in small clubs until he began classical training in jazz and big-band...
sings the hook on "Fallin'", but is not officially credited.
Lyrics
Allmusic says that "And that might be the most common complaint about the album — it's really just another case of Jay-Z being Jay-Z, albeit with different presentation. Unless you know each verse from Reasonable Doubt through Kingdom ComeKingdom Come (Jay-Z album)
Kingdom Come is the ninth studio album by American rap artist Jay-Z. It was released on November 21, 2006. It was considered a "comeback album" for the established rapper, as 2003's The Black Album was slated to be his final release...
, it might sound like he's dealing with no variation on well-worn themes, the exact same thoughts and emotions that make up older tracks about his past as a drug dealer — the rise, the arrogance, the conflictedness, the fall, and all stages in between." Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...
writer Angus Batey viewed its thematic concept in the context of the "gangsta" ideal, stating "Using a selection of beats built from '70s soul and funk, it reflects the period setting; lyrically, its primary theme is an investigation of the evolution of the gangsta archetype, looking at how the drug dealer became a semi-sympathetic outlaw figure, examining the contradictions inherent in those who chase the American Dream on the far side of legality, and ruminating on what this period of US history might yet come to mean". Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
reviewer Tom Breihan noted that "'No Hook' has some of the most complicated rhyme-patterns Jay has tried in years": Although Jay-Z says American Gangster was inspired by the movie of the same name, he touches on the topics of censorship and the Jena 6 controversy:
Production
The NeptunesThe Neptunes
The Neptunes are a record production duo consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who are credited with contributing the sound for many successful hip hop, R&B and pop artists in the late-1990s and 2000s...
provide production twice on the album, with the first single "Blue Magic
Blue Magic (song)
"Blue Magic" is the first single from Jay-Z's tenth studio album, American Gangster., the song was released as a single on September 20, 2007. In the chorus Pharrell sings an interpolation of the song "Hold On" by R&B girl group En Vogue. The song uses the hookline from Mick Smiley's song "Magic"...
" which is the fourteenth track, and the eighth track "I Know". Diddy
Sean Combs
Sean John Combs , also known by his stage names Diddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He has won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and his clothing line earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award. He was originally...
and two of his producers known as LV & Sean C, who are from his production team, The Hitmen
The Hitmen (production team)
The Hitmen is a production team formed by Sean "Diddy" Combs to produce hip hop and R&B records for his Bad Boy label's recording artists. Because of its great success, the group has also been hired for projects outside of Bad Boy-Production:...
, are responsible for six tracks on the album. They are credited with the second single "Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)...
Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)...
"Roc Boys ..." is the second single from Jay-Z's tenth studio album, American Gangster. The song is produced by Diddy and two of his producers known as LV and Sean C from his production team, The Hitmen. It features additional vocals by Beyoncé and Kanye West. The song samples "Make the Road by...
", "American Dreamin'" (where his other production partner Mario Winans
Mario Winans
Mario Winans is an American R&B singer, songwriter, music producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Born Mario Brown, he is the son of gospel recording artist Vickie Winans and her first husband, Bishop Ronald Brown. He is also the stepson of his mother's second husband, gospel singer, Pastor Marvin...
assists), "No Hook", "Party Life", "Pray", and finally "Sweet".
DJ Toomp
DJ Toomp
Aldrin Davis, better known as DJ Toomp, is an award-winning American record producer and DJ who works in Atlanta, Georgia. In the late 1980s he was MC Shy-D's DJ and went on tour with him and the 2 Live Crew as they performed at various venues across the country with other artists such as N.W.A...
delivers one track for the album, while Just Blaze
Just Blaze
Justin Smith, better known as Just Blaze, is an American hip hop music producer from Paterson, New Jersey. Blaze is also the CEO of Fort Knocks Entertainment. He is most well known for producing Jay-Z songs on the albums The Blueprint, The Blueprint 2, and The Black Album. He is also known for...
is credited for a bonus track and the re-make of "Ignorant Shit". Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
mentor No I.D.
No I.D.
No I.D., officially known as Immenslope and also known as Ernest Wilson , is a hip hop and R&B record producer, also the vice-president of Def Jam Recordings, best known for his early work with Chicago rapper Common and is known as "The Godfather of Chicago hip hop".. The nickname No I.D...
gives two tracks also, one which he co-produces with Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri Mauldin , known as Jermaine Dupri or JD, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper.- Early life and career :...
and vice versa. Finally, three lesser known producers lend hand to the "Intro", which is credited to Chris Flames and co-production from Idris "Driis" Elba
Idris Elba
Idrissa Akuna "Idris" Elba is a British television, theatre, and film actor. He has starred in both British and American productions. Elba grew up in Canning Town, East London. One of his first acting roles was in the soap opera Family Affairs. He has worked in a variety of TV roles including ...
, while Bigg D
Bigg D
Derrick Baker , better known as Bigg D, is an American producer from Miami, Florida.-Biography:Born in Miami, Baker grew up in Carol City, his father a professional musician, and his mother a church pianist. He learned guitar and toured with BeBe & CeCe Winans and Shirley Caesar in the 1980s...
produces the Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
sampling-Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne
Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. , better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included...
assisted track, "Hello Brooklyn 2.0".
Removal from iTunes
Jay-Z pulled American Gangster from the popular iTunes StoreITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
. Jay-Z stated "as movies are not sold scene by scene, this collection will not be sold as individual singles." However, the album is available for digital download, in its entirety, at Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
and Rhapsody.com.
Tour
On October 21, 2007, Jay-Z announced his American Gangster Live tour to promote the album. Jay-Z stated that he would only perform material from American Gangster. The tour consisted of five smaller sized venues across the U.S., starting on November 6, 2007 in L.A.Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and ending on November 12, 2007 in Philadelphia. According to a statement on the Roc-A-Fella website, the five-city club tour sold out in less than 60 seconds.
A Cappella CD and remixes
Like Jay-Z's 2003 album The Black AlbumThe Black Album (Jay-Z album)
The Black Album is the eighth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, released November 14, 2003, on Roc-A-Fella Records. It was promoted as his final studio album, which serves as a recurring theme, although Jay-Z returned to solo recording with Kingdom Come in 2006.The album debuted at number one...
, Jay-Z released an a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
version of American Gangster. Released in December 2007, the a cappella version of the CD caused a string of remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
and mash-up
Mashup (music)
A mashup or bootleg is a song or composition created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another...
albums by both fans and professional DJs/producers
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
alike. Although none of the remix or mash-up albums have yet reached the public notoriety of DJ Danger Mouse's The Grey Album
The Grey Album
The Grey Album is a mashup album by Danger Mouse, released in 2004. It uses an a cappella version of rapper Jay-Z's The Black Album and couples it with instrumentals created from a multitude of unauthorized samples from The Beatles' LP The Beatles...
, several versions of the CD have made their way into the mainstream.
Several of the notable American Gangster Remix albums are listed below:
- 2007: The American Godfather - DJ SkeeDJ SkeeScott Keeney , better known by his stage name DJ Skee, is a DJ and entrepreneur operating out of Los Angeles. Skee manages his own new media music, marketing, and production company, Skee.TV...
- Samples: The Godfather IThe GodfatherThe Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
& The Godfather IIThe Godfather Part IIThe Godfather Part II is a 1974 American gangster film directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a script co-written with Mario Puzo. The film is both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather, chronicling the story of the Corleone family following the events of the first film while also depicting the...
- Samples: The Godfather I
- 2007: Brooklyn Soul - Mick BoogieMick BoogieMick Boogie, born Mick Batsyke in Youngstown, Ohio, is an American DJ and mixtape composer.Mick Boogie and grew up in Poland, Ohio. His interest in music began at an early age. He learned to play the piano and the drums through school programs. His hiphop career began when his mother purchased a...
, Shuko & The Gunna- Samples: Marvin GayeMarvin GayeMarvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
- Samples: Marvin Gaye
- 2007: American Zeppelin - DJ Doc Rok
- Samples: Led ZeppelinLed ZeppelinLed Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
- Samples: Led Zeppelin
- 2009: Hindustani Gangster - Music Without Borders: Kunal Merchant & Seif Al-Din
- Samples: Indian & Bollywood samples
Commercial performance
American Gangster debuted at number one on the Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...
and Top Rap Album charts selling 425,861 records in the United States its first week. American Gangster is Jay-Z's tenth number one album, officially tying him with Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
for the second highest number of number one albums behind The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. On December 6, 2007, the album was certified platinum
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
, after sales in excess of one million copies in the United States.
Two singles have been released from American Gangster. The first, "Blue Magic
Blue Magic (song)
"Blue Magic" is the first single from Jay-Z's tenth studio album, American Gangster., the song was released as a single on September 20, 2007. In the chorus Pharrell sings an interpolation of the song "Hold On" by R&B girl group En Vogue. The song uses the hookline from Mick Smiley's song "Magic"...
", was released on September 20, 2007, peaking at 55 on the U.S. Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot 100, 31 on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
, and 17 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks
Hot Rap Tracks
Rap Songs is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stations and sales in hip hop-focused or exclusive markets. From 1989 through 2001, it was based on how much the single...
. The track's name is a reference to the kind of heroin that Frank Lucas
Frank Lucas (drug lord)
Frank Lucas is a former U.S. heroin dealer and organized crime boss who operated in Harlem during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was particularly known for cutting out middlemen in the drug trade and buying heroin directly from his source in the Golden Triangle...
sold in the movie American Gangster; the CD even came in a package similar to the one the heroin came in. The second single, "Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)...
Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)...
"Roc Boys ..." is the second single from Jay-Z's tenth studio album, American Gangster. The song is produced by Diddy and two of his producers known as LV and Sean C from his production team, The Hitmen. It features additional vocals by Beyoncé and Kanye West. The song samples "Make the Road by...
" was released on October 10, 2007, and reached 63 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, 15 on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and 8 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks.
Critical response
Upon its release, American Gangster received general acclaim from music critics. At MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 83, based on 25 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s Rob Sheffield gave it 4 out of 5 stars and wrote that the album "definitely doesn't have any fluff like Kingdom Comes '30 Something
30 Something (song)
"30 Something" is the third single from Jay-Z's album Kingdom Come and was produced by Dr. Dre. The main theme of the song is Jay undermining "flossin" as pertaining to the general view on hip hop...
' or 'Beach Chair'. Jay sounds relaxed, no longer worried about impressing anyone. Instead, he follows the story from the uptown dope-king ambition of 'American Dreamin' ' to the big-payback crash of "Fallin'." Neil Drumming of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave American Gangster a B+ rating, stating "While Jay-Z does not make the ambitious leap of trying to write from Lucas'
Frank Lucas (drug lord)
Frank Lucas is a former U.S. heroin dealer and organized crime boss who operated in Harlem during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was particularly known for cutting out middlemen in the drug trade and buying heroin directly from his source in the Golden Triangle...
point of view, he does use the film's story and period vibe to color his own elaborate legend. On 'American Dreamin', a Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
sample provides the backdrop as Jay-Z wistfully recounts his early days as a dealer, scheming with his buddies." Allmusic writer Andy Kellman gave it 4 out of 5 stars and called it "a very good Jay-Z album". The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
critic Nathan Rabin
Nathan Rabin
Nathan Rabin is an American film and music critic. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Rabin was the first head writer for The A.V. Club, a position he continues to hold today....
gave it an A- rating and wrote that Jay-Z "finds inspiration in the Ridley Scott film of the same name, the lush atmosphere of '70s soul, and the bracing grit of blaxploitation".
The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
writer Kelefa Sanneh gave American Gangster a favorable review and commended Jay-Z for his lyricism, stating "he packs his wordy stanzas full of unexpected syllables, clever allusions and unpredictable rhymes schemes. This is probably as close as the new Jay-Z will ever come to sounding like the old Jay-Z". USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
s Edna Gundersen gave the album 3½ out of 4 stars and lauded Jay-Z lyrics, stating "Gangsters snarling boasts, stinging rhymes and frenetic wordplay find the Hova re-establishing his status as hip-hop godfather, Corleone
Corleone family
The Corleone family is a fictional Sicilian Mafia family settled in New York City. The family was created by Mario Puzo and appears in his 1969 novel The Godfather, as well as the acclaimed film trilogy of the same name directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The family was founded by Vito Corleone , who...
-style". Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic, or simply Sputnik, is a music website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites...
writer Cam gave it 4½ out of 5 stars and wrote "Lyrically, American Gangster may be the smartest album Jay has ever released". However, Sputnikmusic's Lewis gave it 3 out of 5 stars and perceived a lack of passion and "conviction" in Jay-Z's performance. Louis Pattison of NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
gave American Gangster a 5/10 rating and expressed a mixed response towards its "low-key" style, stating "You leave ‘American Gangster’ longing for more of this don’t-give-a-fuck attitude, but the feeling that presides is Jay-Z patting his wallet".
Despite viewing its conceptual style as flawed, The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
s Steve Yates praised Jay-Z's reflection on his fame and "the voracious capitalism (up- and downside), which is proving hip hop's most durable legacy", stating "It's Jay-Z's and American Gangsters triumph that reflecting on his appetite seems to have reawakened it". PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
writer Mike Schiller also perceived "no narrative thread", but viewed it as "sonically consistent" and praised Jay-Z's performance, stating "What American Gangster truly gives us is Jay-Z through and through. Sure he’s a gangster, but mostly he’s a human being with loves and likes and pet peeves and needs and a natural predilection for camaraderie. It’s superhero music in that Jay’s supremacy is never questioned, but it’s superhero music that insists on showing off more than just that hero’s immense power". XXL
XXL (magazine)
XXL is a Hip-Hop magazine, published by Harris Publications.In 1997, XXL was founded by former Source staffers as well as other Harris Publication employees, who wanted to create their own magazine about the hip-hop music and culture using the model developed by the founders of The Source...
s Alvin Samuels gave it a rating of "XL" and described it as "a pot of pure uncut crack music", while writing "Rediscovering his hustler’s ambition, Jay delves into the many facets of the drug game like an OG passing knowledge down to a new jack". Amy Linden of The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
lauded its retro instrumentation and wrote "As you'd expect from (still) one of the best wordsmiths in hip-hop, there's some killer wordplay here".
American Gangster was ranked in the top ten of several music publications' end-of-year lists, including The Austin Chronicle (number one), Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
(number eight), and Rolling Stone magazine (number three). Rolling Stone also named the album's second single, "Roc Boys (And the Winner Is...)", the best single of 2007. In an interview with Jeff Johnson of cable network BET
Bet
Bet or BET may refer to:* A wager in gambling* Basic Economics Test * Bet , the second letter in many Semitic alphabets, including Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician and Syriac* Brunauer-Emmett-Teller isotherm. See BET_theory...
, 44th United States President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
admitted to being a fan of the album.
Track listing
(co.) Co-producerPersonnel
| # | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Intro" | Arrangers: Hector Delgado & Idris Elba Idris Elba Idrissa Akuna "Idris" Elba is a British television, theatre, and film actor. He has starred in both British and American productions. Elba grew up in Canning Town, East London. One of his first acting roles was in the soap opera Family Affairs. He has worked in a variety of TV roles including ... Guitar Guitar The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... : Marty Reid Additional Strings String instrument A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones... : Timon Abuptah Additional vocals: Angel Wood Dialogue from the motion picture American Gangster, dialogue excerpts spoken by Denzel Washington Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr... |
| 2 | "Pray" | Songwriters: S. Carter, S. Combs, D. Matthews, L. Coppin, A. Hawkshaw Sample: "New Earth" by Hank Marvin Strings & Drums: Mario Winans Bass clarinet Bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet... & Bass trombone: Aaron J. Johnson Bass Bass (instrument) Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles... & Guitar Guitar The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... : James Lewis Vocals: Adonis Shropshire, Carmen Cameron, Cheri Dennis Cheri Dennis Cheri Dennis is an American singer, signed to Bad Boy Records.Cheri Dennis was born in 1979 and raised in a housing projects of Cleveland, Ohio. She later moved to Shaker Heights, Ohio and was initially a member of a group named Spoiled... , Leisa Johnson, Shannon Jones, Jayms Madison & A.J. Walker Additional vocals: Beyoncé Knowles Beyoncé Knowles Beyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child... (uncredited) |
| 3 | "American Dreamin'" | Songwriters: S. Carter, S. Combs, D. Matthews, L. Coppin, M. Gaye, A. Ross, L. Ware Sample: "Soon I'll Be Loving You Again" by Marvin Gaye Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range.... Bass, Piano Piano The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal... & Strings: Arden "Keys" Altino Live Drums & Strings: Mario Winans Background vocals: Keon Bryce |
| 4 | "Hello Brooklyn 2.0" | Songwriters: S. Carter, D. Carter, D. Baker Sample: "B-Boy Bouillabaisse B-Boy Bouillabaisse B-Boy Bouillabaisse was originally the 15th and final track on the album Paul's Boutique by American hip hop group the Beastie Boys, released on July 25, 1989... " (Section 5, "Hello Brooklyn Hello Brooklyn Hello Brooklyn is section five of the nine-part song "B-Boy Bouillabaisse" by American hip hop group the Beastie Boys, from their 1989 album Paul's Boutique... ") by the Beastie Boys Beastie Boys Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar.... All Instruments: Bigg D |
| 5 | "No Hook" | Songwriters: S. Carter, S. Combs, D. Matthews, L. Coppin, B. White Sample: "Love Serenade" by Barry White Barry White Barry White, born Barry Eugene Carter , was an American composer and singer-songwriter.A five-time Grammy Award-winner known for his distinctive bass voice and romantic image, White's greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring... Percussion: Bashiri Johnson Bass & Guitar: Ed "Wolverine" Goldson Strings & Drums: Mario Winans Keyboards Keyboard instrument A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... , Strings, Rhodes Rhodes Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within... & Piano: Arden "Keyz" Altino Vocals: Jayms Madison |
| 6 | "Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)..." | Songwriters: S. Carter, S. Combs, D. Matthews, L. Coppin, T. Brenneck, D. Guy, M. Deller, L. Michels, B. Mann Sample: "Make the Road by Walking" by Menahan Street Band Menahan Street Band The Menahan Street Band is a musical ensemble featuring musicians from Antibalas, El Michels Affair, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings and the Budos Band. The group was founded by Thomas Brenneck while living in an apartment on Menahan St. in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York... Arrangement & Tenor Saxophone Tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble... : Kenneth "Scooter" Whalum Trumpet Trumpet The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air... : Keyon Harrold & Cameron Johnson Trombone: Saunders Sermon Bass & Guitar: Ed "Wolverine" Goldson Percussion: Bashiri Johnson Drums: Mario Winans Addition vocals: Beyoncé Knowles, Cassie & Kanye West Kanye West Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and... |
| 7 | "Sweet" | Songwriters: S. Carter, S. Combs, D. Matthews, L. Coppin, R. Love Sample: "Does Your Mama Know" by Rudy Love & The Love Family Bass & Guitar: Ed "Wolverine" Goldson Percussion: Bashiri Johnson Additional vocals: Cassie, Carmen Cameron & A.J. Walker |
| 8 | "I Know" | Songwriters: S. Carter, P. Williams Additional Vocals: Pharrell Williams Pharrell Williams Pharrell Williams , commonly known simply as Pharrell, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, composer, and fashion designer. Williams and Chad Hugo make up the record production duo The Neptunes, producing hip hop and R&B music... |
| 9 | "Party Life" | Songwriters: S. Carter, S. Combs, D. Matthews, L. Coppin, W. Hale, D. Stone Sample: "Get into the Party Life" by Little Beaver Willie Hale Willie Hale , often known by the name Little Beaver, is an American R&B guitarist, singer and songwriter featured on many hit records since the 1960s.... Bass & Guitar: Ed "Wolverine" Goldson Percussion: Bashiri Johnson Drums: Mario Winans Trumpet: Keyon Harrold Additional vocals: Shannon Jones |
| 10 | "Ignorant Shit" | Songwriters: S. Carter, J. Smith, D. Grant, R. Isley, O. Isley, R. Isley, M. Isley, E. Isley, C. Jasper Sample: "Between the Sheets Between the Sheets (song) "Between the Sheets" is a quiet storm funk song released by American R&B/soul/funk band The Isley Brothers in 1983 off their album of the same name on the T-Neck imprint.-History:... " by The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers are a highly influential, successful and long-running American music group consisting of different line-ups of six brothers, and a brother-in-law, Chris Jasper... |
| 11 | "Say Hello" | Songwriters: S. Carter, A. Davis, T. Brocker Sample: "The Love We Share Is the Greatest of Them All" by Tom Brock Production coordination: Keke & Amy Background vocals: Rhonda Robinson |
| 12 | "Success" | Songwriters: S. Carter, E. Wilson, N. Jones, L. Ellis Sample: "Funky Thing (Part 1)" by Larry Ellis & The Black Hammer Background vocals: Juan "OG" Perez Sample: I'm Back By Eminem from The Marshall Mathers LP Dialogue from the motion picture American Gangster, dialogue excerpts spoken by Armand Assante Armand Assante -Personal life:Assante was born in New York City and raised in Cornwall, New York, the son of Katherine , a music teacher and poet, and Armand Anthony Assante, Sr., a painter and artist. His father was Italian and his mother was Irish, and was raised in a devoutly Roman Catholic family... |
| 13 | "Fallin'" | Songwriters: S. Carter, J. Dupri, T. Hester Sample: "Fell for You" by The Dramatics The Dramatics The Dramatics are an American soul music vocal group, formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1962. They are best known for their 1970s hit songs "In the Rain" and "Whatcha See is Whatcha Get", both of which were #1 R&B and Top 10 Pop hits.-Career:The Dramatics originally formed in 1962 recording as the... Background vocals: Bilal |
| 14 | "Blue Magic" | Songwriters: S. Carter, P. Williams, D. Foster, T. McElroy, T. Ellis, C. Herron, M. Jones, D. Robinson, B. Kaun Sample: "Hold On Hold On (En Vogue song) "Hold On" was the debut single from En Vogue's debut album, Born to Sing. It reached number one on the Hot Black Singles chart. The single became one of 1990s' biggest hits in the US and also a major hit in the UK . It also reached #1 on the U.S. Dance chart... " by En Vogue En Vogue En Vogue is an American female R&B vocal group from Oakland, California assembled by music producers Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy.The group has won more MTV Video Music Awards than any other female group in MTV history, a total of seven, along with four Soul Train Awards, six American Music... Sample: "Main Title/Neighbor Burial" by Bernhard Kaun Additional Vocals: Pharrell Williams Dialogue from the motion picture American Gangster, dialogue excerpts spoken by Denzel Washington Dialogue from the motion picture Frankenstein Frankenstein (1931 film) Frankenstein is a 1931 Pre-Code Horror Monster film from Universal Pictures directed by James Whale and adapted from the play by Peggy Webling which in turn is based on the novel of the same name by Mary Shelley. The film stars Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles and Boris Karloff, and features... Directed by James Whale |
| 15 | "American Gangster" | Songwriters: S. Carter, J. Smith, C. Mayfield Sample: "Short Eyes" by Curtis Mayfield Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly... Live Drums: Stillphil Additional piano: Canei Finch Alto Saxophone Alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions... : Andy Snitzer Tenor Saxophone: Charles Pillow Trombone Trombone The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate... : Mike David Trumpet: Jeff Kievet Violin Violin The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello.... s: Sandra Park, Sharon Yamada, Sarah Boyle, Jeanine WYnton, Lisa Kim, Minyoung Chang, Matt Lehmann, Liz Lim Viola Viola The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average... s: Dawn Hannay & Sue Pray Cello Cello The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is... s: Eileen Moon & Jeanne LeBlanc Strings Contractor: Sandra Park |
Chart positions
| Charts (2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
3 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart | 1 |
| French Albums Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
58 |
| Irish Albums Chart Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
59 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 17 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
30 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Rap Albums | 1 |
See also
External links
- American Gangster at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- Album Review at Chicago TribuneChicago TribuneThe Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
- Album Review at About.comAbout.comAbout.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....