The popular rapper was inspired to write this album after watching a screening of the Denzel Washington movie bearing the same name. The album is high on '70s soul samples, punctuated by Jay-Z's typical flawless rapping. This is music looking to make a social statement, full of high drama that suggests why gangs are so popular in the U.S. The cover image of a man stalking through shadows in a business suit says it all: Gangster life is our cultural paradigm, played out as big business by the powerful, as crime by the powerless. Uplifting, eh?
Jay-Z
American Gangster (Def Jam)