Talk:The Black Album (Jay-Z album)

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Major Overhaul[edit]

I seriously think a concerted effort needs to be made in order to improve this page, and i would like to set up a writing commission (lol) to carry out a serious review of this page and rewrite in a manner befitting an album of enourmous cultural relevance. Anyone interested? —Preceding unsigned comment added by TheOriginalGhostWriter (talk • contribs) 11:31, 21 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

- TheOriginalGhostWriter —Preceding unsigned comment added by TheOriginalGhostWriter (talk • contribs) 11:33, 21 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

- TheOriginalGhostWriter —Preceding unsigned comment added by TheOriginalGhostWriter (talk • contribs) 11:34, 21 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Metallica?[edit]

I'm sure someone thought this was funny, but the article about Jay-Z's The Black Album has been replaced with a copy of the article for Metalica's self-titled fifth album, which is often called The Black Album by fans. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.76.70.49 (talk) 13:16, 17 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

BPM?[edit]

Someone needs to post the bpms of the a capella songs

Merge[edit]

Should this page be moved into the page with the album?

Survey[edit]

Add *Support or *Oppose followed by an optional one-sentence explanation, then sign your opinion with ~~~~

Support It seems crazy that a song should get its own page. Superstarwarsfan 19:00, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Support no extra information Wikipedia's False Prophet holla at me Improve Me 03:40, 3 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Too many articles link to this one for it to redirect to elsehwer. The information in the infobox would seem out of place if merged with the Black Album article. And there are hundreds of articles for songs that are very short, just like this one.

I do, though, believe it needs to be expanded. If anyone knows anything more about this single, please add it to the article.

NME review[edit]

Transcription using Google News Advanced News Archive Search.

Jay-Z's 'last ever' album sees him make a return to form, but is it really the Jigga's final curtain? And now, the end is near. The jigga faces the final curtain. 'The Black Album' is Jay-Z's ninth album in seven years and, if we're to believe this elegant hip-hop institution, the last one he'll ever make. "Pound for pound I'm the best that ever come around," he claims on 'What More Can I Say?' And, while the rap world is necessarily full of egomaniacs and hyperbole, it's hard to argue. Jay-Z's nonchalant flow, his dazzling wordplay, his cultivation of the finest beatmasters, the artful little twists he puts on both the thug life and its uptown sequel - all this puts Shawn Carter on another level to virtually anyone else in hip-hop history.
Apart from a couple of choruses sung by Pharrell and a few reminiscences from Jay's mum on 'December 4', 'The Black Album' is a strictly solo show. Constantly, he compares leaving the rap game to leaving the streets, and deals with both with an unusually vulnerable ambiguity. "Son it ain't even fun no more, I'm jaded," he claims on 'Allure'. On 'Moment Of Clarity' he's even franker, admitting, "I dumbed down for my audience to double my dollars." This isn't quite an apology: a "dumbed-down" Jay-Z is still immeasurably smarter than most of the competition ("No, I didn't get shot up a whole bunch of times," he snipes at 50 Cent). His lyrical skills have been in such demand that, rumour persists, he's ghostwritten rhymes for many of his contemporaries - a story he seems to confirm in 'What More Can I Say' when he notes, "I'm not a biter I'ma writer, for myself and others." What emerges is a man deeply proud of his gifts and his experiences, but one who's also a lot more self-aware and reflective than his flashy image might suggest. By the end, on the wonderful blues of 'My First Song', his voice is breaking a little as he sings, "It's my life", and says his protracted farewells. It's a magnificent way to leave hip-hop, quitting while you're ahead for a new life as an author, actor and trainer magnate. After all, if his old business partner Damon Dash insists on hanging around with Victoria Beckham, who can blame Jay-Z for getting out now? But hip-hop is nothing if not a big, blousy melodrama. And so on 'The Black Album', Jay-Z toys with our emotions quite brilliantly and, we suspect, not entirely as honestly as he makes out. Retirement? Oh, we'll give it six months.
8 out of 10
— Columnist

Dan56 (talk) 00:47, 4 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Track cleanup[edit]

I asked the person who tagged the track list for cleanup and was informed the problem is that songwriter credit is missing. RJFJR (talk) 18:22, 20 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Interlude lyrics[edit]

Experts, Please can you help me with Interlude? I like the tree analogy and I need to know who originally wrote the words so I can attribute the quotation. Did Jay-Z write them? It sounds like a quote from another piece of work but I can't get the source. Thanks, RatnimSnave (talk) 20:00, 12 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Remixes Section[edit]

where it reads "In December 2004, Roc-A-Fella Records released The Black Album on vinyl with no beats underneath", that should be December 2003 (a month after the album's release); because how would danger mouse have released his mixtape in february of 2004 if the instrumentals weren't released for another ten months?