American Gangster - Essay Sample

American Gangster is a classic rap album that was released in the year 2007. The album was released at a time when Jay Z was feeling proud to have left the drug business (Bradley 142). He viewed this as an achievement as the time, as it was hard to quit the industry. He had just witnessed the rise and fall of drug a kingpin in the movie American Gangster produced by Ridley Scott. It comprises 13 tracks, which shows almost similar incidences that are so much in the movies, that is, criminals, rising and falling. However, it has an additional two bonus songs. Also, it shows the desperation of the youths and even a problem maintaining the success that they are faced with. The album was released by Jay Z, and it was inspired by Ridley Scott, an epic crime movie (Bradley 145). The album was developed in such a way that Jay Z focuses on the rise and fall of the drug kingpin. The fact that the album was crime-related guaranteed itself media attention and ensured that Jay Z was able to regain his status. The music in the album is rap, and it relates heavily to other genres. Mainly, this is because rap music is all about educating people by believing that one is saying the truth for others to listen.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

In most cases, music is sung for people to relate to their daily lives. The music can be seen as near RnB is they are both quite similar. The music was released into a very receptive audience, which was affecting them at the time. Jay Z was celebrating how he had been able to quit crime, especially how he dealt with the drugs each day. Having been raised on the east side of town where there was a lot of poverty, life had not been easy for them. He believed that in the business, there were quite a lot of challenges are most people had a short stint after rising in success. Therefore he deemed the business to be quite bad in the sense that it was almost impossible to grow and stay at the top for a long period. The music also relates to other genres and sub-genres through how it can talk about issues that are in society. In this case, the music focuses on drug kingpins who have not had the best of their lives, unlike what most youths think (Rambsy 260). It is also quite similar in the way it was released as it was quite strategic.

Notably, the lyrics, especially in the last two songs of the album, showed his lifestyle. The central theme portrayed in the music is the gangster lifestyle of a drug dealer who evolved to become good. Each song is an illustration of a specific theme that is seen in the movie (LEE 166). They showed how drug Kingpins could operate. He quotes how he was able to bribe the police so that he survived in the industry. The lyrics also show how every artist in the rap industry tries to show how real they are by focusing on issues that are happening in society. In this case, the music is a notch higher as it elaborates on the drug life and shows why he is grateful to have quit it. He uses a very dense wordplay in all the songs that it is hard for most listeners to comprehend. He also includes a long pause in between the lines. The instrumentation of the album is not all about Hip hop instrumentals.

Instead, it comprises other instruments played by professionals such as drums, horns, unconventional percussion and string arrangement. However, the music exhibits a fast flow of ideas, which is hard to comprehend if not accustomed to the type of music. It is mainly based on both the instrumentation and also sophistication of a gangster in America (LEE 166). It shows the struggles that the young people in America are subjected to in their pursuit of freedom and success. It comprises hooks and hard-hitting beats, which creates a theme of crime in the whole classic album. The album is mainly focused on the lifestyle of an American Gangster, mostly the memories of Jay Z. He claims that this depicted his post-Don era and unfolds his dirty dealing using gorgeous instrumentation.

Besides, the music developed was good to listen to and very educative, which helped transform most of the lives of Americans, especially the youth. In terms of production, the album is a classic musically art. It has sampled quite a variety of voices, such as those of Al Green and Gaye (Bradley 145). The voices have helped develop a record by remembering Jay's memories. The production team for the first five songs comprises of Diddy and Hitmen. Both of the producers were handpicked by Jay Z and have been in the industry for a very long time. They helped develop the musician’s voice by keeping it grounded in thick (LEE 166). It is crucial to note that they form a different atmosphere for the listeners and help maintain the hype. The album also features other producers such as Just Blaze and The Neptunes. There were notable guest appearances for professionals such as Nas, Beanie Sigel, Pharrell, and Lil Wayne.

Additionally, most of what was in the music revolved around the 1970s. In essence, the album focused on the memories of Jay Z growing up and the challenges he faced. The album was closely related to crime movies, which show how the drug dealers experience a concise span of glory. Therefore the difficulties they experience in having to continue with their dealings. Besides, the cover of the album and its music videos were entirely designed by June Ambrose.

Remarkably, the video was released at a time when Jay Z was seeking to get back to grow (Rambsy 256). At the time, there were many criminal activities, especially among the youth who strived hard to ensure that they were rich. Therefore people, especially those who had been raised in poor backgrounds, were not enjoying so much peace at the time, and they felt as if they were losing a lot. Therefore they deemed it necessary to ensure that they would gain the status that they wanted to achieve and gained entry into the world of crime. Consequently, the artist of the album was trying to educate the youth on the repercussions that are attached to the world of crime. The media highlighted the album, which is why it gained international recognition, and more people saw it as extremely great. Ideally, most of the audience received the music well and embraced it fully with the way that Jay Z was able to coordinate the full music.

However, it fully transformed the music industry. The album had quite a considerable impact that it revolutionized the music industry, and it had a huge impact on the industry. Majorly artists began concentrating on music that showed the lifestyle that people were subjected to. It greatly influenced the lives of most of the individuals. The album is completely dazzling as the artist can recast himself as a premier artist, not just a CEO (Rambsy 260). The fact that he was able to deal with the majority of the issues affecting individuals is quite necessary. The album was rated high on the billboard and recorded massive sales.

All in all, the majority of the artist copied how from this to ensure that they were also able to produce high-quality videos. The revolving hip hop culture, which mainly advocated for black people, was very necessary for developing the way in ensuring equality. The album also influenced the lives of most of the black people as they had to forfeit the bad deeds that they were doing.

Works Cited

Bradley, Regina N. "Introduction: Hip-Hop Cinema as a Lens of Contemporary Black Realities." Black Camera 8.2 (2017): 141-145. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/659463/summary

LEE, JOON. "Conscious versus Gangster: An Evolving Relationship in Hip-Hop Activism." DIALOGUES@ RU (2017): 166. https://dialogues.rutgers.edu/images/Journals_PDF/2017-18-dialogues-web_e6db3.pdf#page=174

Rambsy, Kenton. "Jay Z's American Gangster." Black Camera 8.2 (2017): 255-266. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/blackcamera.8.2.15