The Black Album (Jay-Z album)

The Black Album
Studio album by Jay-Z
Released November 14, 2003
Recorded July 2003 – October 2003
Studio
  • Baseline Studios (New York, New York)
  • The Hit Factory (Miami, Florida)
  • The Mansion (Los Angeles, California)
  • 54 Sound Studios (Detroit, Michigan)
Genre Hip hop
Length 55:32
Label
Producer
Jay-Z chronology
Blueprint 2.1
(2003)		 The Black Album
(2003)		 Unfinished Business
(2004)
Singles from The Black Album
  1. "Change Clothes"
    Released: November 4, 2003
  2. "Dirt off Your Shoulder"
    Released: March 2, 2004
  3. "99 Problems"
    Released: April 27, 2004

The Black Album is the eighth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, released on November 14, 2003, by Roc-A-Fella Records. It was advertised as his final album before retiring, which is also a recurring theme throughout the songs,[1] although Jay-Z resumed his recording career in 2006. For the album, Jay-Z wanted to enlist a different producer for each song, working with Just Blaze, Kanye West, The Neptunes, DJ Quik, Timbaland, 9th Wonder and Rick Rubin, among others.

When The Black Album was released, it received widespread acclaim from critics. In its first week, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 463,000 copies in the United States. It became Jay-Z's top selling record of the 2000s decade, and by July 2013, it had sold 3,516,000 copies in the US. The Black Album was promoted with a retirement tour by Jay-Z and three singles that also achieved Billboard chart success, including the top-ten hits "Change Clothes" and "Dirt off Your Shoulder".

Release and promotion

Jay-Z had announced that The Black Album would be his final record and went on a retirement tour after its release.[2] When it was released, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and sold 463,000 copies in its first week.[3] According to Billboard, it became Jay-Z's top selling record of the 2000s and the 136th highest selling record of the decade in the United States.[4] By July 2013, the album had sold 3,516,000 copies in the US.[5]

Three singles were released from the album and appeared on the Billboard charts. "Change Clothes" and "Dirt off Your Shoulders" both reached the top 10 of the Hot 100, while "99 Problems" peaked at number 30.[6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic84/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[9]
The Guardian[10]
Mojo[11]
MSN MusicA[12]
NME8/10[13]
Pitchfork8/10[14]
Q[15]
Rolling Stone[1]
USA Today[16]

The Black Album was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, it received an average score of 84, based on 19 reviews.[7] AllMusic's John Bush claimed Jay-Z was retiring at his peak with the album.[8] Vibe magazine said it was remarkable as an apotheosis of his genuinely thoughtful songwriting and lyrics "delivered with transcendent skill",[17] while Steve Jones from USA Today said even with "top-shelf work" from elite producers, the album was elevated by Jay-Z's uniquely deft and diverse rapping style.[16] Writing for The A.V. Club, Nathan Rabin felt Jay-Z returned to "brevity and consistency" on an album that demonstrated his lyrical abilities and, more importantly, hip hop's best producers.[18] Jon Caramanica wrote in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004) that The Black Album was both "old-school and utterly modern", showcasing Jay-Z "at the top of his game, able to reinvent himself as a rap classicist at the right time, as if to cement his place in hip-hop's legacy for generations to come".[19]

Some reviewers were less enthusiastic. In Rolling Stone, Touré argued that The Black Album was slightly inferior to Jay-Z's best records, namely Reasonable Doubt (1996) and The Blueprint (2001).[1] Dave Simpson from The Guardian was more critical, dismissing the music as "an aural equivalent of that old American favourite, the schmaltzy biopic."[10] In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave the record a back-handed compliment: "[Jay-Z] raps like a legend in his own time—namely, Elvis in Vegas".[20] Nonetheless, he was impressed by the stretch of songs from "Encore" to "Justify My Thug" and wrote in a retrospective review for MSN Music that "the fanfares, ovations, maternal reminiscences, and vamp-till-ready shout-outs were overblown at best", but they have come to sound "prophetic" because of the entrepreneurial success and fame Jay-Z continued to achieve after The Black Album. "He's got a right to celebrate his autobiography in rhyme because he's on track to become a personage who dwarfs any mere rapper," Christgau wrote in 2011, "and not only can he hire the best help dark green can buy, he can make it sing."[12]

In 2005, The Black Album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album,[21] losing to Kanye West's The College Dropout at the 47th Grammy Awards.[22] It was also ranked number 349 in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[23] Pitchfork ranked The Black Album at number 90 on its decade-end list of the top 200 albums from the 2000s,[24] while Slant Magazine ranked it seventh best on a similar list.[25] In 2012, Complex named it one of the "classic" records of the previous decade.[26]

Track listing

All song samples, writing and production credits are according to the album booklet.

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Interlude" Just Blaze1:22
2."December 4th"
Just Blaze4:32
3."What More Can I Say"
The Buchanans4:55
4."Encore"
Kanye West4:11
5."Change Clothes"
The Neptunes4:18
6."Dirt off Your Shoulder"
Timbaland4:05
7."Threat"
4:05
8."Moment of Clarity"
4:24
9."99 Problems"
Rubin3:55
10."Public Service Announcement (Interlude)"
  • Carter
  • Smith
  • Raymond Levin
Just Blaze2:53
11."Justify My Thug"
DJ Quik4:05
12."Lucifer"
Kanye West3:12
13."Allure"
  • Carter
  • Williams
  • Hugo
The Neptunes4:52
14."My 1st Song"
  • Aqua
  • Joe "3H" Weinberger
4:45

Track notes

  • ^[a] signifies an additional producer
  • "What More Can I Say" features additional vocals by Vincent 'Hum V' Bostic
  • "Encore" features additional vocals by John Legend, Don Crawley, Leonard Harris and Kanye West
  • "Change Clothes" features additional vocals by Danee Doty
  • "Threat" features additional vocals by Cedric the Entertainer
  • "Justify My Thug" features additional vocals by Sharlotte Gibson

Sample credits

Personnel

Adapted from AllMusic.[27]

  • Aqua – producer
  • Marcella Araica – assistant
  • Vincent "Hum V" Bostic – vocals
  • David Brown – engineer, mixing assistant
  • Shari Bryant – marketing
  • Buchannans – producer
  • Kareem "Biggs" Burke – executive producer
  • Shawn Carter – executive producer, liner notes, primary artist, producer
  • Demacio Castellon – engineer
  • Cedric The Entertainer – guest artist, vocals
  • Don Crawley – vocals
  • Damon Dash – executive producer
  • Tony Dawsey – mastering
  • DJ Quik – mixing, producer
  • Danee Doty – vocals
  • Jimmy Douglas – mixing
  • Eminem – mixing, producer
  • Sharlotte Gibson – vocals
  • Walik Goshorn – photography
  • Leon Harris – vocals
  • Keenan "Kee Note" Holloway – bass
  • Ken "Duro" Ifill – mixing
  • Kyambo "Hip Hop" Joshua – A&R
  • Just Blaze – producer
  • Gimel Keaton – engineer, mixing
  • Steve King – bass, engineer, guitar, mixing
  • Jason Lader – programming
  • Darcell Lawrence – A&R
  • John Legend – vocals
  • Jonathan Mannion – photography
  • Rob Mitchell – A&R
  • The Neptunes – producer
  • 9th Wonder – producer
  • Amber Noble – marketing
  • Felix Pappalardi –
  • Luis Resto – keyboards, producer
  • Rick Rubin – mixing, producer
  • Lenny Santiago – A&R, photography
  • Andrew Scheps – engineer, mixing
  • Robert Sims – art direction, design
  • Chris Steflene – assistant engineer
  • Michael Strange Jr. – engineer
  • Darrell Thorp – mixing
  • Timbaland – producer
  • Richard Travali – mixing
  • Joseph Weinberger – producer
  • Eric Weissman – sample clearance
  • Kanye West – producer, vocals

Charts

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
Canada (Music Canada)[40] Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[41] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[42] 3× Platinum 3,516,000[5]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Touré (November 19, 2003). "Jay-Z: The Black Album". Rolling Stone. New York. Archived from the original on April 1, 2009. Retrieved October 2, 2009.
  2. ↑ Toure. Superstardom is Boring: Jay-Z Quits Again. New York Times, 2003, p. AR33.
  3. ↑ "Back In 'Black': Jay-Z Swan Song Bows On Top". Billboard. Retrieved July 12, 2013.
  4. ↑ Decade-end Charts. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-05-29.
  5. 1 2 Paine, Jake. "Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 7/7/2013". HipHop DX. Retrieved July 12, 2013.
  6. ↑ Gantt, Kareem (October 16, 2014). "Back in the day review: Jay-Z: 'The Black Album'". AXS. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
  7. 1 2 "Reviews for The Black Album by Jay-Z". Metacritic. Retrieved October 2, 2009.
  8. 1 2 Bush, John. "The Black Album – Jay-Z". AllMusic. Retrieved October 2, 2009.
  9. ↑ Drumming, Neil (November 24, 2003). "The Black Album". Entertainment Weekly. New York. Retrieved October 2, 2009.
  10. 1 2 Simpson, Dave (November 21, 2003). "Jay-Z: The Black Album". The Guardian. London. Retrieved October 2, 2009.
  11. ↑ "Jay-Z: The Black Album". Mojo. London (122): 104. January 2004.
  12. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (September 9, 2011). "Jay-Z". MSN Music. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Jay-Z: The Black Album". NME. London. November 22, 2003. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Jay Z: The Black Album". Pitchfork. November 16, 2003. Retrieved October 2, 2009.
  15. ↑ "Jay-Z: The Black Album". Q. London (210): 108. January 2004.
  16. 1 2 Jones, Steve (November 16, 2003). "Jay-Z goes out on top of his game". USA Today. McLean. Retrieved October 2, 2009.
  17. ↑ Editors, The. "Review: The Black Album". Vibe: 120. January 2004.
  18. ↑ The A.V. Club review
  19. ↑ Caramanica, Jon (2004) "Jay-Z". In Christian Hoard (ed.). The Rolling Stone Album Guide: 424–425.
  20. ↑ Christgau, Robert (January 13, 2004). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York: Village Voice Media. Retrieved 2012-08-26.
  21. ↑ Grammy Award Nominees. Retrieved on 2011.05.10.
  22. ↑ Grammy Award Winners. Retrieved on 2011.05.10.
  23. ↑ 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: Jay-Z, 'The Black Album' | Rolling Stone
  24. ↑ Pitchfork staff (September 30, 2009). "The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 100–51". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 1, 2009.
  25. ↑ Slant staff (February 1, 2010). "The Top 100 Albums of the 2000s: 10–1". Slant Magazine. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
  26. ↑ "Jay-Z, The Black Album (2003) — 25 Rap Albums From the Past Decade That Deserve Classic Status". Complex. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  27. ↑ "The Black Album – Jay-Z | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  28. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Jay-Z – The Black Album" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  29. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Jay-Z – The Black Album" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  30. ↑ "Black Album – Jay-Z". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  31. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Jay-Z – The Black Album" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  32. ↑ "Black Album på VG-lista Topp 40 Album". VG-lista. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  33. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Jay-Z – The Black Album". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  34. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Jay-Z – The Black Album". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  35. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  36. ↑ "Jay-Z Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  37. ↑ "Jay-Z Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  38. ↑ "Jay-Z Chart History (Top Rap Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  39. ↑ "Billboard Magazine – Special Double Holiday Issue" (PDF). americanradiohistory. December 25, 2004. p. 19. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  40. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – JAY Z – The Black Album". Music Canada.
  41. ↑ "British album certifications – JAY Z – The Black Album". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type The Black Album in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  42. ↑ "American album certifications – JAY Z – The Black Album". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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