Jay-Z - American Gangster

Jay-Z once said that he would never return to rapping, comparing his retirement to that of the illustrious career of Michael Jordan. American Gangster is the second studio album from the hip-hop virtuoso since his 'retirement' and it is definitely better than the last. American Gangster is a concept album which attempts to capture the similarities between the notorious 1970s Harlem druglord, Frank Lucas, and Shawn Carter, AKA Jay-Z. The album seems to be the perfect parallel of ideas for this alter-ego, while musically there is a consistent theme of 70s up-tempo soul: blaring horns, Hammond and Rhodes all tucked neatly beneath some classic boom bap drum patterns. However, the standout track on American Gangster has to be the concoction blended up on Blue Magic, which sees Pharell of The Neptunes create a Wurlitzer-inspired track with some contagious bongo drums. With interludes throughout the album lifted directly from the movie of the same name - most notably Denzel Washington's appearance - along with features from man of the moment Lil' Wayne and Beanie Segal, this album has resurrected Hova's faltering voice in hip-hop. [Omar Jenning]