Jay-Z is back (again) - only this time with a story to tell. He's described his latest album, American Gangster, as a "concept album," inspired by the Ridley Scott film of the same name; each track references a specific scene of the film. But in the end, the creativity of his approach fails to translate to the music.
Following his standard medium-paced repertoire, Jay-Z experiments more with harmony, working with synth violin and varying bass lines over jazzy, slower, less driving beats. His flow still retains its signature laid-back style, repeating lines of equal length following an unvarying, straightforward meter. Although the lyrics align well with the concept of the album, they rely too often on references to Scarface and other notorious gangsters.
American Gangster, although ambitious in its efforts, is not particularly different from anything else Jay-Z has done before. The standout track, "Blue Magic," originally added to the album only as a bonus track, works precisely because it doesn't fit: his raps weave in and out of spaces in the beat, as the track defies what die-hard fans have come to expect.
