On record, however, the encore has yet to match what was supposed to be his final word. The Black Album was intended as the full stop on a recording career that saw Shawn Carter rise from hip hop fan in his Brooklyn home, rapping over a boombox his mother bought him (to the annoyance of his siblings), to the multi-millionaire artist known as Jay-Z. Except it didn't, did it? He inevitably returned, and three albums later, has now overtaken Elvis as the most successful US solo star ever. It closed with My First Song, which brought us back to Jay-Z's debut single of 1996. I'm suppos'd to be number one on everybody's list, we'll see what happens when I no longer exist.'

The rhetorical What More Can I Say breaks down at the end, leaving him in full dextrous a cappella, the sound of a man (supposedly) stepping out at the top of his game: 'Pound to pound I'm the best to ever come around here, excluding nobody. jay-z fml lol smdh by rap legend Jesse Dangerously album cover art The Black Album Revisited by Big Ghost Ltd album cover art Tall Black Guy X Jay-Z by Tall. Jay-Z might boast that he's the 'best rapper alive', but few would disagree on the basis of the inventive rhymes and free flow that power the narrative. Even Ma Carter makes an appearance on December 4th, waxing lyrical about her 'special child'. Many consider The Blueprint to be his greatest album – after which even Jay-Z admits he 'dumbed down for my audience to double my dollars' – but with an unrivalled list of heavyweights behind him, The Black Album was the more rounded, polished beast.įrom the opening interlude – 'All things must come to an end, all things must conclude' – to the final word, it's a gloriously epic, self-celebratory album. Ultimately this proved a little too ambitious even for him, but the finished product did feature all the producers du jour – Timbaland, Just Blaze, Kanye West, the Neptunes, Eminem and even Rick Rubin. LEMONADE revealed JAY-Z’s infidelity, 4:44 was JAY-Z’s apology, and EVERYTHING IS LOVE is. Hova's ambitious plans for The Black Album involved a dozen producers serving up a dozen different tracks. The album completes the trilogy of Beyonc and JAY-Z’s relationship as told through their albums. During a playback at his Baseline Studios in New York, shortly before its release in 2003, Jay-Z was adamant that after this, his eighth album in eight years, he was ready to pass the mic for good. It was billed at the time as his swansong.

Jay z the black album cover