''The Black Album'' is the eighth studio album by American rapper

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

. It was released on November 14, 2003, through Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings. It was advertised as his final album before retiring, which is also a recurring theme throughout the songs, 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,

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

, DJ Quik, Timbaland,

9th Wonder Patrick Denard Douthit (born January 15, 1975),
better known as 9th Wonder, is a Rick Rubin, among others. The album also features a guest appearance by

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...

. ''The Black Album'' was promoted with a retirement tour by Jay-Z. It was also supported by three

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

: " 99 Problems", also the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' top-ten hits " Change Clothes" and " Dirt off Your Shoulder". The album received widespread acclaim from music critics and was a massive commercial success. It debuted at number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200, selling 463,000 copies in its first week. It became Jay-Z's top selling record of the 2000s decade, and was certified triple platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) in 2005. The songs "

Encore An encore is an additional performance given by performers after the planned show has ended, usually in response to extended applause from the audience.Lalange Cochrane, in ''Oxford Companion to Music'', Alison Latham, ed., Oxford University Pres ...

", "Dirt off Your Shoulder", and "99 Problems" are all on the

Mashup Mashup may refer to: * Mashup (culture), the rearrangement of spliced parts of musical pieces as part of a subculture * Mashup (education), combining various forms of data and media by a teacher or student in an instructional setting * Mashup (mus ...

EP, '' Collision Course'' with

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drummer ...

Critical reception

''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. AllMusic's John Bush claimed Jay-Z was retiring at his peak with the album. '' Vibe'' magazine said it was remarkable as an apotheosis of his genuinely thoughtful songwriting and lyrics "delivered with transcendent skill",Editors, The.
Review: ''The Black Album''
. '' Vibe'': 120. January 2004. 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. 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. 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".Caramanica, Jon (2004)
Jay-Z
. In Christian Hoard (ed.). '' The Rolling Stone Album Guide'': 424–425. Some reviewers were less enthusiastic. In '' Rolling Stone'',

Touré Touré is the French transcription of a West African surname (English transcriptions are '' Turay'' and '' Touray''). The name is probably derived from ''tùùré'', the word for 'elephant' in Soninké, the language of the Ghana Empire. The clan e ...

determined that ''The Black Album'' was slightly inferior to Jay-Z's best records, namely '' Reasonable Doubt'' (1996) and '' The Blueprint'' (2001). Dave Simpson from '' The Guardian'' was more critical, dismissing the music as "an aural equivalent of that old American favourite, the schmaltzy biopic." In '' The Village Voice'',

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

gave the record a back-handed compliment: " ay-Zraps like a legend in his own time—namely,

Elvis Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

in Vegas". Nonetheless, in a retrospective review in 2011, Christgau stated that he was impressed by the stretch of songs from "Encore" to "Justify My Thug" and thought "the fanfares, ovations, maternal reminiscences, and vamp-till-ready shout-outs were overblown at best" at the time of its release, but they came to sound "prophetic" because of the entrepreneurial success and fame he continued to achieve afterwards. "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, "and not only can he hire the best help dark green can buy, he can make it sing." In 2005, ''The Black Album'' was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, losing to Kanye West's '' The College Dropout'' at the

47th Grammy Awards The 47th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2005, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording of the year beginning from October 1, 2003, through September 30, 2004. They were hosted by Queen Lati ...

. It was ranked number 349 on ''Rolling Stone''s 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, and rose to number 155 on the list's 2020 edition. '' Pitchfork'' ranked ''The Black Album'' at number 90 on its decade-end list of the top 200 albums from the 2000s, while

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

ranked it seventh best on a similar list. In 2012, '' Complex'' named it one of the "classic" records of the previous decade.

Commercial performance

''The Black Album'' debuted at number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, selling 463,000 copies in its first week, according to

Nielsen Soundscan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...

. This became Jay-Z's sixth US number one album. Another note on the alter was that the ''Black Album'' also blocked the soundtrack to the Tupac Shakur documentary, '' Tupac: Resurrection'', and the

G-Unit G-Unit (short for Guerilla Unit) was an American hip hop group formed by longtime friends and East Coast rappers 50 Cent, Tony Yayo, and Lloyd Banks. After amassing a string of self-released mixtapes in the early 2000s, the group released th ...

debut album, '' Beg for Mercy'', from the top position. Both albums charted at numbers two and three respectively. In its second week, the album dropped to number four on the chart, selling an additional 288,000 copies. In its third week, the album climbed to number one on the chart, selling 288,000 more copies. In its fourth week, the album dropped to number ten on the chart, selling 124,000 copies. On August 16, 2005, the album was certified

RIAA Certification In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets.

triple platinum by the

(RIAA) for shipments of over three million copies. As of July 2013, the album had sold 3,516,000 copies in the US. According to ''

'', it became Jay-Z's top selling record of the 2000s and the 136th highest selling record of the decade in the United States. Three singles were released from the album and appeared on the ''Billboard'' charts. "Change Clothes" and "Dirt off Your Shoulder" both reached the top 10 of the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, while "99 Problems" peaked at number 30.

Remixes

In December 2004 Roc-A-Fella Records released The Black Album on vinyl with no beats underneath Jay-Z's lyrics, spurring producers and DJs to rework his farewell disc into creations such as ''The Brown Album'' and even '' The Grey Album'', by Los Angeles producer

Danger Mouse Danger Mouse may refer (or appear in) to: * ''Danger Mouse'' (1981 TV series), a 1981 British animated television series * ''Danger Mouse'' (2015 TV series), a 2015 reboot of the British animated television series * Danger Mouse (musician) (born ...

, which combines Jay's words with music from the Beatles' self-titled album (also known as the "White Album"), breaking with the Roc-A-Fella's tradition of not releasing acappella 12-inches, so producers could "remix the hell out of it." Several notable reworkings were released but of all the remixed albums, ''The Grey Album'' was the most popular. The hype around ''The Grey Album'' gained notoriety when EMI attempted to halt its distribution despite approval from Jay-Z and the two surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

. EMI ordered Danger Mouse and retailers carrying the album to cease distribution. Music industry activist group

Downhill Battle Downhill Battle is a non-profit organization based in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was founded by Nicholas Reville, Holmes Wilson, and Tiffiniy Cheng in August 2003. Downhill Battle is known for its argument that the four major recording labels ha ...

responded by coordinating Grey Tuesday, an electronic civil disobedience event held on February 24, 2004. Participating websites posted copies of ''The Grey Album'' for free download for a 24-hour period in protest of EMI's attempts to prevent distribution of the mashup on the grounds that sampling is fair use and that a

statutory license A compulsory license provides that the owner of a patent or copyright licenses the use of their rights against payment either set by law or determined through some form of adjudication or arbitration. In essence, under a compulsory license, an ...

should be provided in the same manner as if an artist were to perform or record a cover version of a song. Hundreds of web sites publicized the event with 170 hosting the album for download. Over 100,000 copies were downloaded on that day alone. The legal repercussions of the protest were minimal; a number of the participants received

cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not dis ...

letters from EMI, but no charges were filed in connection with the event.

Track listing

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

Track notes

* 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 Pharrell Williams *"Threat" features additional vocals by Cedric the Entertainer *"Justify My Thug" features additional vocals by Sharlotte Gibson *"Lucifer" features additional vocals by Kanye West

Sample credits

*"December 4th" contains a sample of "That's How Long" written by Walter Boyd and Elijah Powell Jr., and performed by The Chi-Lites. *"What More Can I Say" contains samples of "Something for Nothing" written by Thom Bell, Kenneth Gamble and Roland Chambers, and performed by MFSB, and "Keep Your Hands High" written by Tracey Lee and Christopher Wallace, and performed by Tracey Lee featuring

The Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...

*"Encore" contains elements of "I Will" performed by John Holt. *"Threat" contains a sample from "A Woman's Threat" written and performed by

R. Kelly Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and sex offender convicted of racketeering and multiple sex offenses. During his recording career, Kelly sold over 75 million records worldwid ...

. *"99 Problems" contains samples of " Long Red" written by Norman Landsberg, Felix Pappalardi, John Ventura and Leslie Weinstein, and performed by Mountain, "Get Me Back on Time, Engine Number 9" performed by Wilson Pickett, "The Big Beat" written and performed by

Billy Squier William Haislip Squier (, born May 12, 1950) is an American rock musician and singer who had a string of arena rock and crossover hits in the early 1980s. His best-known songs include "The Stroke", "Lonely Is the Night", "My Kinda Lover", "In t ...

, elements of "99 Problems" written by Tracy Marrow and Alphonso Henderson, and performed by Ice-T, interpolations of "Touched" written by

Chad Butler Chad Lamont Butler (December 29, 1973 – December 4, 2007), better known by his stage name Pimp C, was an American rapper and record producer. He was best known for his work with Bun B as one half of the hip-hop duo Underground Kingz (UGK). S ...

and

Bernard Freeman Bernard James Freeman (born March 19, 1973), known professionally as Bun B, is an American rapper. He is best known as one half of the southern rap duo UGK (UnderGround Kingz), a group he formed in 1987 alongside Pimp C. Aside from his work with ...

, and performed by

UGK UGK (short for Underground Kingz) was an American hip hop duo from Port Arthur, Texas, formed in 1987, by Chad "Pimp C" Butler and Bernard "Bun B" Freeman. They released their first major-label album, ''Too Hard to Swallow'', in 1992, followe ...

, and portions of "

Children's Story "Children's Story" is a song recorded by British-American hip hop artist Slick Rick. Taken as the second single from his album ''The Great Adventures of Slick Rick'', the song was a Top 5 hit on both the Hot R&B Singles and the Hot Rap Tracks ...

" written and performed by Slick Rick. *"Public Service Announcement (Interlude)" contains a portion of "No One Can Do It Better" written by Tracy Curry and

Andre Young Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and w ...

, and performed by The D.O.C., and a sample of "Seed of Love" written by Raymond Levin, and performed by Little Boy Blues. *"Justify My Thug" contains portions of "

Rock Around the Clock "Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song in the 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter being under the pseudonym "Jimmy De Knight") in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was record ...

" written by

Max C. Freedman Max Charles Freedman ( Friedman; January 8, 1893 – October 8, 1962) was an American songwriter and lyricist, best remembered for co-writing the song " Rock Around the Clock" . Background Freedman was born in Philadelphia, and became a radi ...

and

James E. Myers James Edward Myers (October 26, 1919 – May 10, 2001) was an American songwriter, music publisher, actor, director, producer, and raconteur. Myers is best known as the credited co-writer of " Rock Around the Clock" for which he used the pseudon ...

, and performed by

Bill Haley & His Comets Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band founded in 1947 that continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group record ...

, samples of "

Rock Box "Rock Box" is a song by the American hip hop group Run-DMC. The song was produced by Larry Smith and Russell Simmons and released by Profile Records in March 1984. Following the popularity of their previous two singles " Hard Times" (1983) a ...

" written by Darryl McDaniels, Joseph Simmons and Larry Smith, and performed by

Run-DMC Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of ...

, and an interpolation of "

Justify My Love "Justify My Love" is a song by American singer Madonna from her first greatest hits album ''The Immaculate Collection'' (1990). It was released on November 6, 1990, by Sire Records as the lead single from ''The Immaculate Collection''. The song ...

", written by Madonna Ciccone, Ingrid Chavez and

Lenny Kravitz Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. His style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop and folk. Kravitz won the Grammy Award for Best Male Roc ...

, and performed by

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

. *"Lucifer" contains a sample of " Chase the Devil" written by Hugh Perry and Maxie Smith, and performed by

Max Romeo Max Romeo (born Maxwell Livingston Smith; 22 November 1944)"Respect to th ...

. *"My 1st Song" contains a sample of "Tu y Tu Mirar...Yo y Mi Canción" written by Germain de La Fuente, and performed by

Los Angeles Negros LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significance ...

, and a vocal portion of

's 1996 interview for

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Personnel

Adapted from AllMusic. * 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

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

*
The Black Album
' at Discogs
In Brief: Jay-Z
at ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

''
Jay-Z Raps On the Fly Like a Man Set to Die
at '' New York Times'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Black Album, The 2003 albums Albums produced by 9th Wonder Albums produced by DJ Quik Albums produced by Eminem Albums produced by Just Blaze Albums produced by Kanye West Albums produced by the Neptunes Albums produced by Rick Rubin Albums produced by Timbaland Def Jam Recordings albums Jay-Z albums Roc-A-Fella Records albums

Critical reception

Commercial performance

Remixes

Track listing

Track notes

Sample credits

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

See also

References

External links