The Black Album

The Black Album is the eighth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z. It was released on November 14, 2003, through Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings. It was advertised as his final album before retiring, which is also a recurring theme throughout the songs, although Jay-Z resumed his recording career in 2005. For the album, Jay-Z wanted to enlist a different producer for each song, working with Just Blaze, Kanye West, The Neptunes, Eminem, DJ Quik, Timbaland, 9th Wonder and Rick Rubin, among others. The album also features a guest appearance by Pharrell Williams. The Black Album was promoted with a retirement tour by Jay-Z. It was also supported by three singles: "99 Problems", also the Billboard top-ten hits "Change Clothes" and "Dirt off Your Shoulder". The album received widespread acclaim from music critics and was a massive commercial success. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 463,000 copies in its first week. It became Jay-Z's top selling record of the 2000s decade, and was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2005. The songs "Encore", "Dirt off Your Shoulder", and "99 Problems" are all on the Mashup EP, Collision Course with Linkin Park. Critical reception The Black Album was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, it received an average score of 84, based on 19 reviews. AllMusic's John Bush claimed Jay-Z was retiring at his peak with the album. Vibe magazine said it was remarkable as an apotheosis of his genuinely thoughtful songwriting and lyrics "delivered with transcendent skill", while Steve Jones from USA Today said even with "top-shelf work" from elite producers, the album was elevated by Jay-Z's uniquely deft and diverse rapping style. Writing for The A.V. Club, Nathan Rabin felt Jay-Z returned to "brevity and consistency" on an album that demonstrated his lyrical abilities and, more importantly, hip hop's best producers. Jon Caramanica wrote in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004) that The Black Album was both "old-school and utterly modern", showcasing 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". Some reviewers were less enthusiastic.