| Summary: Danger Mouse gives Jay-Z’s Black Album new beats and sampling via the Beatles, creating a slightly lesser quality hip-hop album. |
1 of 1 thought this review was well written
Jay-Z and the Beatles seemingly have very little in common. The Beatles are the most famous band of all time, and essentially revolutionized all the music that has come after them. Black Sabbath and The Ramones, the bands that helped shape early metal and punk, claim them as very large influences.
Jay-Z, meanwhile, can claim less than half the fame of the Fab Four. While some (including Jay) claim that he was (at one point) the greatest rapper alive, the success and influence he’s had is basically nonexistent when compared with the Beatles. Rising from his humble beginnings during the Reasonable Doubt era, Jay-Z (aka Hova) quickly rose to become one of hip-hop’s most financially successful figures. He became president of Def Jam records and took the young (and back then, unknown) Kanye West under his wing.
After the release of The Black Album, which was supposed to be his final opus before retirement, Hova released the acapellas from it with the intention of remixes being made. DJ Danger Mouse obviously thought about the idea of mixing it with The Beatles’ White Album, and after finishing his mixes, called it The Grey Album. EMI, the record company who owned Beatles’ copyrights, immediately put out a cease-and-desist order. This publicity helped make The Grey Album one of the most famous bootlegs of all time, and helped spawn several other mashups of The Black Album – including Metallica (The Double Black Album) and Weezer (The Black and Blue Album).
Being a mash-up, the first half, element or “side” of the album is Jay-Z’s rapping. Needless to say, it’s quite excellent. Like many rappers, he’s as high as a kite on himself, but if I was able to record raps like these in just one take, I probably would be too. His flow is terrific, varying with each song. Jay’s lyrics are at times better, sporting rapid wordplay. He describes himself quite well in “Moment of Clarity”:
“Music business hate me cause the industry ain't make me
Hustlers and boosters embrace me and the music I be makin
I dumbed down for my audience to double my dollars
They criticized me for it yet they all yell "HOLLA!"
If skills sold, truth be told, I'd probably be
lyrically, Talib Kweli
Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense
But I did five mill' - I ain't been rhymin like Common since”
(There are plenty of other great lyrics to be found, but for the sake of keeping this review from being incredibly long, I won’t be listing them.)
That’s all fine, but what about the sampling? Well, that’s where The Grey Album falls a bit short. The beats are all quite good, despite often sounding spasmodic or disjointed. However, several of the songs (“Dirt Off Your Shoulder”, “Justify My Thug”, “December 4th”) feature uninteresting sampled guitars from the Beatles songs. What makes it worse is that 7 of the 11 songs feature either acoustic or electric guitar samples. This makes for a feeling of monotony throughout the album, which is a shame since the three aforementioned tracks were standouts on The Black Album. Even though one probably shouldn’t compare this to The Black Album, I can’t help but miss the better production that backed nearly every track on it.
So, how do the actual songs sound? Well, the first three are quite good. Public Service Announcement kicks it off, backed by the guitar and another high-pitched instrument (that I obviously don’t know). It works quite well, and the next track is even better. The piano and guitar from “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” introduces us to What More Can I Say, and we even get to hear the Beatles chorus once. Once again, the guitar from “Glass Onion” starts Encore, but halfway through, “Savoy Truffle” comes in to finish the song. After these three songs is one of the aforementioned weaker tracks. “December 4th” is backed by a boring sample from “Mother Nature’s Son” making the song feel like a weird b-side that The Roots might have recorded. The rest of the songs sound fairly similar to one of those four, with 99 Problems being the best of the bunch, backed by the guitar, bass and vocal snippets of “Helter Skelter”.
DJ Danger Mouse has done something quite special here. By blending classic rock and superb rapping, The Grey Album stands as what might be the greatest mash-up ever. At the very least, it’s probably the most famous bootleg in history, and well worth the effort of finding it.
So, in conclusion:
The Black Album is a 4/5
The Grey Album has overall weaker beats and sampling, giving it a lower score of 3.5/5.
Recommended tracks:
What More Can I Say
99 Problems
Moment of Clarity
Allure
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Album Rating: 3.5
I wish I could make my descriptions/analysis more fleshed out, but hopefully this works alright.
If you're going to neg it, please leave a comment saying why.
Digging: Nine Inch Nails - The Slip | | |
Quote:
He was became president of Def Jam records and took the young (and back then, unknown) Kanye West under his wing.
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That's the only problem with this review. Fix and I'll pos. Also going to get this since it sounds f*ckin awesome.
Digging: From First to Last - From First To Last
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don't think i could bring myself to listen to this, tbh
Digging: Silversun Pickups - Carnavas
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Quote:
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That's the only problem with this review. Fix and I'll pos. Also going to get this since it sounds f*ckin awesome.
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I'm assuming you're talking about the little error at the beginning? I'm not 100% sure about my info on Kanye.
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Yeah that was it. I meant to bold the exact error, sorry lawl.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Good album, I like it. Good review too.
Digging: Envy - A Dead Sinking Story | | |
^ Oh dear god, it's not him again, is it?
Digging: Santogold - Santogold
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^It is, check out his newest sh!tty list. He's resorted to saying he likes Eminem to try and get in the good graces of the mods.
I'm guessing he'll be gone before the end of the day.
| | | Album Rating: 3
This album is fun once in a while.
This Message Edited On 05.09.08
Digging: Russian Circles - Station | | | Album Rating: 3
This ain't all that.
Digging: Hadouken! - Music For An Accelerated Culture | | |
It so is.
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Listening to this in school and I gotta say, this is pretty neat, fun stuff.
| | | Album Rating: 3
Here's my review of this album.
Average album + average album = average album.
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I think there's too much history -- everybody knows who the Beatles and Jay Z are -- and not enough depth to the review of the music. Overall not a bad review.
I love "While My Guitar Gently Weeps/What More Can I Say?"
Digging: Tom Waits - Real Gone
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Cheesy rap.
Digging: The Mountain Goats - Full Force Galesburg
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Quote:
Here's my review of this album.
Average album + average album = average album.
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Obviously, I would say:
Awesome rap + good pop = great mashup.
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