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Jay-Z is the first to admit that his retirement from rap was entirely too premature: Like the self-proclaimed Mike Jordan of rap once famously said, "I can't leave rap alone/ the game needs me."
After claiming that he'd release no more albums, last year's Kingdom Come CD was Jay-Z's first comeback attempt. However, just like Jordan's return to the NBA after his first hiatus, Jay's return only partly lived up to expectations.
Although the disc scored his best opening-week sales until that point, it was roundly received as a relative letdown, with too many soft-edged rhymes about his cushy, celebrity lifestyle.
American Gangster, his tenth studio album, represents Jay's comeback from that comeback -- his chance to reassert himself as hip-hop's pre-eminent wordsmith and hustler-gone-legal chronicler. This time, he unquestionably delivers the goods -- showcasing deft metaphors about his own ghetto ascension and an uncanny ear for dramatic sonic backdrops.
Jay claims he was inspired by the Ridley Scott-directed film of the same name about '70s-era Harlem drug mogul Frank Lucas. Though not a soundtrack to the biopic, the disc still has a cinematic quality. The beats, most notably the six tracks produced by Sean "Diddy" Combs and his Hitmen beatmaking team, capture a range of moods that few rap albums nail. Stately horns punctuate Roc Boys (And the Winner Is ... ) while Sweet features a smoothed-out blaxploitation vibe.
And built on a mournful Marvin Gaye sample and sweeping strings, American Dreamin' chronicles thoughts of attending college that give way to profiting from dealing drugs. Jay rhymes: "Mama forgive me, should be thinkin' bout Harvard/ But that's too far away, n--s are starving/ Ain't nothin' wrong with aim, just gotta change the target/ I got dreams of baggin' snidd-ow the size of pillows."
Then later, with the aid of the tumbling congas and bright, electro-synths of the Neptunes-produced I Know, Jay unfolds a tale of addiction where his own music could be the choice drug. "I am so dope/ Like Louboutins with the red bottoms /You gotta have 'em, you glad you got 'em."
Indeed, Jay's allure even has an effect on his rap-star peers. Recent rival Lil Wayne contributes some tight-jawed rhymes and sing-songy vocals on Hello Brooklyn 2.0, which uses a screeching Beastie Boys vocal sample and some thumping 808 drum kicks.
American Gangster is proof that Jay-Z hasn't lost his gift of making some of the most undeniably inventive and assured hip-hop music.
