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American Gangster // Jay Z
Utilising one of the most artistically exceptional movies of modern times as his inspiration, Jay Z distils the cinematic brilliance and the vivid concept of a fully realised gangster into an album filled with funk, soul-filled beats and intelligent lyrics. Pivotal to the album is the conceptual inspiration itself, in that the brainchild is a movie laden with metaphors, cinematic artistry and scenes of suspense and drama – with the album delivering all of this and more as it progresses from track to track. Immediately, the artistic inspiration becomes apparent in ‘Intro’ boasting Idris Alba, utilised as a trailer of sorts for both the movie and the album, mirroring directly the cinematic experience the album seeks to promise.
Musically, each track delivers a sound that suits perfectly to the film, seemingly designed to coexist with a pivotal movie scene or as a background for a fast-paced montage. The rapper utilises themes such as the American dream, fallen heroes and illegally acquired wealth to paint the rich story of the American Gangster archetype associated with the movie. However, Jay Z moves beyond the realm to deliver critical accounts of censorship issues and the Jena 6 controversy. Here, the concept album gains depth and personality, with attitudes and criticism being presented by the rapper himself nestled alongside movie-inspired tracks. Overall, the album becomes a piece of imagining cinematic mastery through sound, and achieves its ambitions both conceptually and musically.