Concept Album "american Gangster"

Concept Album

A concept album refers to a rock album containing a series of songs that communicate a specific idea or theme. The songs in a concept album hold a larger connotation collectively than they do separately. Usually, this borderer meaning is conveyed through a distinct dominant theme or narrative, which can be compositional, instrumental, or poetic. However, critics opinion varies on a precise criterion for a "concept album"

American Gangster by Jay-Z is the tenth studio and the first concept album by the rapper Jay-Z. This album is a collection of tracks inspired by Ridley Scott’s drug trade classic American Gangster. This concept-album narrates, animates and replicates a consistent story similar to the movie including all the details of the beginning, the rise and demise of the hustler. Every song of the album is based on a specific act from the film.

The album is bold, both in its concept and in its execution. Jay-Z narrates the story of a Brooklyn teenager getting involved and ultimately getting trapped in drug trade. Exploiting the film’s era as a background gave Jay-Z a strong basis for the creation of his concept album. In his album, Jay plays the character. This album is a sequence of monologues shaped into a one-man show.

The story starts with a young man deprived of opportunities, dreams and hopes and who is dreaming about gaining his success back (“Pray,” “American Dreamin’”), then, once he’s successful, he celebrates (“Roc Boys [And the Winner Is…],” “Party Life”), and before he becomes obsessed and everything turns uncertain (“Success,” featuring one-time enemy Nas), and eventually receiving his punishment (“Fallin’”).

As the story develops, the songs get rasher and their flow gets murkier. While celebrating the success in the album “Roc Boys”, Jay tries to put across the same level of swaggering as he did when he was overcoming his uncertain days, with melodramatic celebrations. When things start to fall apart, in the ominous “Success,” which features onetime rival Nas, and the fiery “Fallin’,” where Dupri welds together ’70s soul. Thus, musically the album is lush and evokes the ’70s, yet the lyrics and flows call to mind mid- ‘90’s Jaÿ-Z, when his name had an umlaut and his ambition was unquenchable. “

The album is claimed to be a concept album but throughout the album, Jay fails to satisfy the perception as its not assembled around a solid concept. It is only assembled around a few snippets of the classic. Despite the fact, the drug dealing is the most common theme of Jay’s songs, yet, collectively they are not reflecting a solid concept. Moreover, the concept of the album doesn’t attempt out anything exceptional. Throughout the initial 13 tracks, the album roughly sketches the criminal rise and fall, the desperate youth, the enthusiastic schemes, the hard earned success, the extravagant festivity of that success, and the eventual depressing apathy and obsession involved in retaining the triumph. That story stimulates the album, but it doesn't dictate its movements. In addition, the album doesn’t follow the story, and throughout the process, Jay-Z disrupts the narrative and tries to integrate his contingencies: The scornful aristocratic death-threats, the breezy upbeat party-songs, and the ladies’ seduction-song.