The Black Album (Jay-Z album)

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The Black Album is a 2003 hip hop album by rapper Jay-Z. It was promoted as his final studio album, although Jay-Z subsequently announced a return to solo recording in 2006. The album was very well received by critics and was also a commercial success, debuting at #1 with about 463,000 sold in its first week and more than 3.5 million to date. The black disc is accompanied by a black-covered set of liner notes and a black jewel case.

The album features a guest appearance by Pharrell Williams (in "Change Clothes"), and Jay-Z's mother, who speaks about his childhood in different portions of "December 4th". An a cappella-only version of The Black Album featuring these performances was also released.

Release history

In early interviews, Jay-Z said that the album would be a return to his Reasonable Doubt sound (responding to criticism from some fans that his subsequent efforts were too commercial) and that it would be "for the streets", with no promotion or singles; however, "Change Clothes" and "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" were both successful singles.

He also claimed that the album would have a different producer for each track, and early magazine advertisements listed a series of numbers (representing tracks) and a producer for each number. The final album did feature a variety in producers, although Roc-A-Fella producers Kanye West and Just Blaze produced two tracks each, in addition to the two produced by frequent Jay-Z collaborators The Neptunes. Longtime collaborators DJ Premier and Dr. Dre did not produce any tracks. 9th Wonder saw a boost in popularity after producing "Threat" for the album. (Jay-Z is credited as the second producer on the track for finding the R. Kelly sample that was included in the beat.)

Remixes

An a cappella version of the album was released, with the intention of providing material for remixes and mashups. An early attempt by Kev Brown, The Brown Album, was followed by Danger Mouse's The Grey Album. The latter gained attention due to its unauthorized use of samples of songs by The Beatles. This incited many other remix albums made available on the Internet through file sharing.

The only officially released remix album is Collision Course, Jay-Z's collaboration with Linkin Park; it was produced by Mike Shinoda and included a DVD featuring the artist and the band performing together. Their collaboration led Jay-Z to executive produce Shinoda's solo debut, The Rising Tied, released under the name Fort Minor.

Lines from the album have been sampled by other artists into entirely new songs. These include:

• T.I.'s "Bring Em Out", based on a line from "What More Can I Say", which Jay-Z in turn got line from The Notorious B.I.G. & Tracy Lee song "Keep Your Hands High". Jay-Z had based the chorus from the song a line from Audio Two's "Top Billin'".
• Joe Budden's "Stuntin'", also based on a line from "What More Can I Say".
• Cassidy's "I'm a Hustla", Juvenile's "Way I Be Leanin'", and Clipse's "Number Oun Supplier", each based on a line from "Dirt Off Your Shoulder".
• Clipse's "Where You Been", based on a line from "Threat".
• Gillie Da Kid's "Holla Back," based on a line from "Moment of Clarity".
• Beanie Sigel's "All the Above" uses "Public Service Announcement (Interlude)" for a line on the track.
• Freeway's "It's Over" chorus based on a line in "Encore".

Track listing

#	Title	Performer(s)	Songwriters	Producer(s)	Samples
1	"Interlude"	Jay-Z		Just Blaze
2	"December 4th"	Jay-Z Additional vocals by Gloria Carter	Shawn Carter Justin Smith Walter Boyd Elijah Powell	Just Blaze	Contains sample from "That's How Long" written W. Boyd & E. Powell as performed by The Chi-Lites
3	"What More Can I Say"	Jay-Z Additional vocals by Vincent "Hum V" Bostic	Shawn Carter Roland Chambers A. Gonzalez S. Johnson Thom Bell Kenneth Gamble	The Buchannans	Contains sample from "Something For Nothing" as performed by MFSB Contains sample from Gladiator
4	"Encore"	Jay-Z Additional vocals by Don Crawley, John Legend, Kanye West, Dexter "Consequence" Mills, and Leonard "GLC" Harris	Shawn Carter Kanye West	Kanye West	Contains a sample from "I Will" as performed by John Holt
5	"Change Clothes"	Jay-Z Additional vocals by Danee Doty and Pharrell Williams	Shawn Carter Chad Hugo Pharrell Williams	The Neptunes
6	"Dirt Off Your Shoulder"	Jay-Z	Shawn Carter Tim Mosley	Timbaland
7	"Threat"	Jay-Z Additional vocals by Cedric the Entertainer	Shawn Carter Patrick Douthit Robert Kelly	9th Wonder Jay-Z	Contains sample from "A Woman's Threat" as performed by R. Kelly
8	"Moment of Clarity"	Jay-Z	Shawn Carter Marshall Mathers Luis Resto Steven King	Eminem Luis Resto (additional production)
9	"99 Problems"	Jay-Z	Shawn Carter Rick Rubin Norman Landsberg William Squier John Ventura Leslie Weinstein Felix Pappalardi	Rick Rubin	Contains sample from "Long Red" as performed by Mountain Contains sample from "The Big Beat" as performed by Billy Squier Contains sample from "99 Problems" Written by T. Marrow & A. Henderson, performed by Ice-T Contains sample from "Straight Outta Compton" as performed by N.W.A
10	"Public Service Announcement (Interlude)"	Jay-Z	Shawn Carter Justin Smith Ray Levin	Just Blaze	Contains sample from "Seed Of Love" as performed by Little Boy Blues
11	"Justify My Thug"	Jay-Z Additional vocals by Sharlotte Gibson	Shawn Carter David Blake Ingrid Chavez Madonna Ciccone Lenny Kravitz Darryl McDaniels Larry Smith Joseph Simmons	DJ Quik	Contains sample from "Rock Box" as performed by Run DMC Contains sample from "Justify My Love" as performed by Madonna
12	"Lucifer"	Jay-Z	Shawn Carter Kanye West Max Smith Lee Perry	Kanye West	Contains sample from "I Chase The Devil" as performed by Max Romeo
13	"Allure"	Jay-Z	Shawn Carter Chad Hugo Pharrell Williams	The Neptunes
14	"My 1st Song"	Jay-Z	Shawn Carter Nicholas McCarrell Germaín De La Fuente	Aqua, Joe "3H" Weinberger	Contains sample from "Tu y Tu Mirar...Yo y Mi Canción" written by G. De La Fuente, as performed by The Los Angeles Negros Contains sample from Notorious B.I.G. interview

Chart positions

Chart (2004)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard 200	1
U.S. Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums	1

Singles

Year	Song	Chart positions
		Billboard Hot 100	Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	Hot Rap Singles
2003	"What More Can I Say"	-	#48	-
2003	"Change Clothes"	#10	#6	#4
2004	"Encore"	-	#30	#22
2004	"Dirt Off Your Shoulder"	#5	#3	#2
2004	"99 Problems"	-	#26	#10

Credits

• Executive Producers: Shawn Carter, Damon Dash, Kareem "Biggs" Burke
• A&R Direction: Kyambo "Hip Hop" Joshua
• A&R: Lenny S.
• A&R Direction/Join Venture: Darcell Lawrence
• A&R Administration: Rob Mitchell
• Recording Administration: Rob Mitchell
• Mastering: Tony Dawsey
• Marketing: Shari Bryant, Amber Noble
• Management: Roc-A-Fella Management
• Art Direction & Design: Robert Sims
• Principal Photography: Jonathan Mannion
• Additional Photography: Lenny "kodak man" Santiago, Walik Goshorn
• Legal Counsel: Michael Guido, Jennifer Justice
• Business Affairs for Roc-A-Fella Records: Michael Seltzer, Ian allan, Antoinette Trotman, Jeff Kempler
• Sample Clearance Agent: Eric Weissman

See also

• Kev Brown - The Brown Album (2004)
• Danger Mouse - The Grey Album (2004)

External links

• The Black Album at Discogs