American Gangster
JAY-Z
(Roc-A-Fella)
One of hip-hop's most consistently brilliant artists, Jay-Z disappointed with last year's Kingdom Come. The freestyle virtuoso sounded spent on the CD, which was released following his famously brief and busy retirement. Even though expensive beats from producers like Dr. Dre and Just Blaze banged, and Jigga Man's artful phrasing remained astounding, the disc lacked verve. One couldn't help but think Jay-Z might best serve his legacy by confining himself to running Def Jam Recordings while leaving the actual rapping to the next generation.
But Jay-Z wasn't having that. He attended an advance screening of American Gangster and emerged with a new game plan. Instead of continuing to rhyme exclusively about his larger-than life persona and checkered past, the rapper would riff on the movie's protagonist, 1960s-'70s Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas, who is played in the film by Denzel Washington.
The strategy worked. Jay-Z's album American Gangster hits hard, the rapper sounding focused and impassioned, unleashing razor rhymes over a combination of contemporary synth beats, live horns, organ and old-school funk samples concocted by producers including Diddy, The Neptunes, Bigg D and Just Blaze.
Following a spoken-word intro that includes snippets of dialogue from the movie, the disc explodes with cinematic strings and kick-drum-style bass as Jay-Z describes "the genesis of a nemesis" on the track "Pray," which features a nice cameo from his girl Beyoncé.
Jay-Z alludes to the Lucas character on several other tracks, but not slavishly. Historic references mix with contemporary nods. There are no numbers like Bob Dylan's "Hurricane," the epic that set the real-life tale of wrongfully incarcerated boxer Rubin Carter to music.
"Please don't compare me to other rappers. … I'm more Frank Lucas than Ludacris," Jay-Z spits on "No Hook." The song chronicles a young man who loses his father and hustles to get himself and his mother out of the ghetto. It's an oft-told rap tale, but Jay-Z imbues it with pathos and telling details. The catchiest song on the album is the horn-heavy "Roc Boys (And the Winner Is…)," a victory lap for the Frank Lucas character featuring a cameo by Kanye West.
Seeing Lucas portrayed on screen got Jay-Z's creative juices flowing. It inspired a compelling album at a time when mainstream hip-hop has its back against the ropes. But it basically covers the same subject matter he and other rappers have been mining for years. If Jay-Z wants to push the envelope and reinvigorate rap, his next album should sidestep the drug trade and Rolexes altogether. 4 stars —Wade Tatangelo
Boys and Girls
INGRID MICHAELSON
(Cabin 24)
What's a girl gotta do to be heard? In the case of unsigned Staten Island singer/songwriter Ingrid Michaelson, it took having her folk-pop confection "The Way I Am" featured in an Old Navy commercial. The song, which clocks in at barely over two minutes, features Michaelson's dulcet voice front and center. She sings over lightly strummed acoustic guitar and hand claps. Nothing fancy, just a simple love song with a sense of humor. "I'd buy you Rogaine if you start losing all your hair," she intones. "Sew on patches to all you tear." A huge hit on iTunes, "The Way I Am" managed to reach No. 31 on Billboard's Pop 100 chart. The song can be found on Michaelson's sophomore album, Boys and Girls, a remarkably consistent disc that shows Michaelson has more than silly love songs to share. Whereas "The Way I Am" is soothing and frothy, other selections on the album have a much darker bent, both in lyrics and production. 3.5 stars —WT
Situation
BUCK 65
(Strange Famous)
It's a hell of a concept: For his latest disc, Situation, Nova Scotian MC Buck 65 decided to rap about the year 1957. That means Buck is spitting about topics like Che Guevara, Thelonious Monk and the Beat Generation. (The disc's first lines ape Allen Ginsberg: "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed.") Sounds tight, right? Right. But Situation comes up short in the production and songwriting departments, with most tracks containing little more than basic boom-bap, repetitious loops and no real hooks. Sad, because the idea is golden. 2.5 stars —Cooper Levey-Baker
Total Magique
WE ARE WOLVES
(Dare to Care)
Guitar Wolf. Superwolf. Wolf Parade. AIDS Wolf. And now We Are Wolves, the latest band in the indie rock world to adopt a lupine moniker. At least the Wolves really sound like their namesake. Their unrelentingly bloodthirsty disco-punk sinks into your flesh and then picks your ribcage clean. Total Magique has plenty of whirlwind, heat and flash (and I can easily imagine it killing live), but the Wolves don't take their thrusting aggression any place different from the countless other bands who've been doing this thing since No Wave rocked the Lower East Side. For all of Magique's energy, it sounds like a revival of a revival. 3 stars —CLB
This article appears in Nov 28 – Dec 4, 2007.