The Black Album
Studio album by Jay-Z
Released	November 14, 2003
Recorded	2003
Genre	Hip hop
Length	55:32
Label	Roc-A-Fella/Island Def Jam
Producer	Jay-Z (exec.), Damon Dash (exec.), Kareem "Biggs" Burke (exec.), Just Blaze, Kanye West, The Neptunes, Timbaland, 9th Wonder, Eminem, Rick Rubin, The Buchanans, DJ Quik
Professional reviews
Allmusic [1] Entertainment Weekly (B+)[2] Los Angeles Times [3] NME (8/10)[4] Pitchfork Media (8.0/10)[5] PopMatters (favorable)[6] Rolling Stone [7] USA Today [8] Vibe [9] Village Voice (favorable)[10]
Jay-Z chronology
The Blueprint²: The Gift & The Curse (2002) The Black Album (2003) Kingdom Come (2006)
Singles from The Black Album
"Change Clothes" Released: November 11, 2003 "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" Released: January 13, 2004 "99 Problems" Released: April 13, 2004

The Black Album is the eighth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, released November 14, 2003 on Roc-A-Fella Records. It was promoted as his final studio album, which serves as a recurring theme,^[7] although Jay-Z returned to solo recording with Kingdom Come in 2006.

The album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling nearly 463,000 copies in its first week. It received widespread acclaim from most music critics.^[11] According to The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), The Black Album is "old-school and utterly modern", as it showed 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".^[12] Pitchfork Media ranked The Black Album at number 90 on its list of the top 200 albums of the 2000s.^[13]

Contents 1 Release history 2 Remixes 3 Track listing 4 Chart history 5 Personnel 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Release history

Jay-Z said 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 of 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. 9th Wonder saw a boost in popularity after producing "Threat" for the album.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Remixes

An a cappella version of the album was released to provide 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 unauthorized use of samples of songs by The Beatles. The mixtape The Prefix by Lil Wayne is him rapping over the instrumentals of this album.

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 two acts performing together.

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

• The chorus to T.I.'s "Bring Em Out" was based on a line from "What More Can I Say", which Jay-Z in turn got line from The Notorious B.I.G.'s, song "Rap Phenomenon".
• Joe Budden's "Stuntin'" based on a line from "What More Can I Say".
• Cassidy's "I'm a Hustla" and Juvenile's "Way I Be Leanin'" were based on lines from "Dirt Off Your Shoulder".
• Clipse's "Number One Supplier" was based on a line from "Public Service Announcement".
• Clipse's "Where You Been" was based on a line from "Threat".
• Beanie Sigel's "All the Above" uses a line from "Public Service Announcement (Interlude)".
• The chorus to Freeway's "It's Over" was based on a line in "Encore".
• RZA's "Straight Up the Block" chorus was based on a line in "Dirt Off Your Shoulder"

[edit] Track listing

This track listing should be modified to meet track listing standards. Please improve this article if you can. (September 2009)

#	Title	Producer(s)	Samples	Length
1	"Interlude"	Just Blaze		1:22
2	"December 4th"	Just Blaze	"That's How Long" by The Chi-Lites	4:34
3	"What More Can I Say"	The Buchannans	"Something for Nothing" by MFSB Contains lyrics from Keep Your Hands High by Tracey Lee Ft. The Notorious B.I.G. Gladiator	4:55
4	"Encore"	Kanye West	"I Will" by John Holt	4:11
5	"Change Clothes"	The Neptunes		4:18
6	"Dirt Off Your Shoulder"	Timbaland		4:05
7	"Threat"	9th Wonder, Jay-Z	"A Woman's Threat" by R. Kelly	4:07
8	"Moment of Clarity"	Eminem, Luis Resto (co)		4:24
9	"99 Problems"	Rick Rubin	"Long Red" by Mountain "The Big Beat" by Billy Squier "99 Problems" by Ice-T "Touched" by UGK	3:55
10	"Public Service Announcement" (Interlude)	Just Blaze	"Seed of Love" by Little Boy Blues	2:53
11	"Justify My Thug"	DJ Quik	"Rock Box" as performed by Run DMC "Justify My Love" by Madonna	4:04
12	Lucifer	Kanye West	"I Chase The Devil" by Max Romeo	3:12
13	"Allure"	The Neptunes		4:53
14	"My 1st Song"	Aqua, Joe "3H" Weinberger	"Tu y Tu Mirar...Yo y Mi Canción" by Los Angeles Negros Notorious B.I.G. interview	4:45

[edit] Chart history

Album Chart (2003) Peak position U.S. Billboard 200 1 U.S. Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums 1 U.S. Top Rap Albums 1 [14]

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 - "Change Clothes" #10 #6 #4 2004 "Encore" #106 #30 #22 "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" #5 #3 #2 "99 Problems" #30 #26 #10

Chart procession and succession

Preceded by Shock'n Y'all by Toby Keith	Billboard 200 number-one album (First Run) November 23, 2003 - November 29, 2003	Succeeded by In the Zone by Britney Spears
Preceded by In the Zone by Britney Spears	Billboard 200 number-one album (Second Run) December 7, 2003 - December 13, 2003	Succeeded by The Diary of Alicia Keys by Alicia Keys

[edit] Personnel

• 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 Allen, Antoinette Trotman, Jeff Kempler
• Sample Clearance Agent: Eric Weissman

[edit] See also

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

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The Black Album at Discogs
• The Black Album at Metacritic
• Album Review at IGN
• In Brief: Jay-Z at New York
• Jay-Z Raps On the Fly Like a Man Set to Die at New York Times

v • d • e Jay-Z Studio albums Reasonable Doubt · In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 · Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life · Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter · The Dynasty: Roc La Familia · The Blueprint · The Blueprint²: The Gift & The Curse · The Black Album · Kingdom Come · American Gangster · The Blueprint 3 Compilations Jay-Z: Unplugged · Chapter One: Greatest Hits · The Blueprint 2.1 · Bring It On: The Best of Jay-Z · Greatest Hits Collaborations Streets Is Watching (soundtrack) (with various artists) · The Best of Both Worlds (with R. Kelly) · Unfinished Business (with R. Kelly) · Collision Course (with Linkin Park) Tours Hard Knock Life Tour (1998)  · Roc The Mic Tour (2003)  · Best of Both Worlds Tour (2004)  · American Gangster Live (2007)  · Heart of the City Tour (2008)  · Jay-Z & Ciara Live (2009)  · Fall Tour (2009)  · The Blueprint 3 Tour (2010) Related articles Discography · Songs  · Roc-A-Fella Records · Roc Nation · StarRoc · The 40/40 Club · Jay-Z vs. Nas feud · Beyoncé Knowles  · Def Jam Recordings · Fade to Black · Live Nation