Countless rappers have been inspired by the 1983 gangster epic “Scarface,” pilfering the themes of lavish living and outlandish buying from the film about the excesses of the Cuban drug lord, but Jay-Z has taken cinematic inspiration one step further: He based an entire album on a film that hadn’t even come out yet.
Inspired loosely by the recently released Ridley Scott film of the same name, “American Gangster” follows a loose narrative chronicling the proverbial rise and fall of an ambitious drug dealer.
The concept gives Jay room to flex his storyteller’s wit and revisit the themes he broke onto the scene with 11 years ago on “Reasonable Doubt.” His last album, “Kingdom Come,” failed to entice listeners with its more mature, grown-up subject matter ““ drinking rosé, being 30, going on expensive vacations with Beyoncé ““ so the return to his roots will likely please old fans, and the material seems to liberate Jay by allowing him to operate in his time-tested comfort zone.
Listening to “American Gangster,” though, one can’t help but get the feeling that Jay has lost a step. The effortless fluidity of his flow inspired confidence and awe, but now he sounds ill at ease and is often off-beat. The only time he feels completely comfortable on “American Gangster” is on the song “Ignorant Shit,” “The Black Album” outtake, and the track is 4 years old.
Lyrically though, Jay proves himself capable of crafting songs with vibrant imagery. He fills his verses with the little details that make the stories pop: “Thanks to the duffel bag / The brown paper bag / The Nike shoebox for holding all this cash.”
His wordplay is still sharp as well, with lines like, “Who under heaven knows how to be successful / Need a personal Jesus, I’m in Depeche Mode.”
Musically, the beats are a mixed bunch, ranging from gaudy synth-driven beats like the mediocre Pharrell-produced “I Know” to the swaggering “Say Hello,” in which Southern beat maestro DJ Toomp uses an unlikely sample from the classic video game “Chrono Trigger.”
Punchline king Lil Wayne is wasted on the bizarre “Hello Brooklyn 2.0.” Atop a skittering, 808-laden beat, the New Orleans native Lil Wayne absolves himself from a potential rap duel with his idol and instead defers to an uneven, nonsensical singsong.
The celebratory afrobeat groove of “Roc Boys (And The Winner Is),” the album’s best track and the exultant high point, is where his character, referred to in interviews as “younger Jay,” is at his peak. The confident hip-hop mogul boasts, “Let your hair down baby, just hit a score / Pick any place on the planet, pick a shore / Take what Forbes figured then figure more.”
The gritty organ stabs of “Success” pit Jay with former nemesis Nas, who simultaneously acknowledges their beef and the hazy, unscrupulous competition of opposing drug dons: “Worst enemies want to be my best friends / Best friends want to be enemies like that’s what’s in.”
Despite his advanced age for the world of hip-hop (he turns 38 in December), Jay proves he’s still capable of spitting hot verses. However, “American Gangster” feels rushed and unnecessary, bogged down by inconsistent beats and filler lyrics.
It is no secret that just as many rappers have been inspired by Jay-Z as “Scarface,” and for good reason, but with underwhelming releases like this, we get further and further away from the legend.
““ Teddy Phuong
E-mail Phuong at tphuong@media.ucla.edu.