Famously making Hov lose his marbles in the 2003 documentary, Fade to Black, the organized distortion of “Dirt Off Your Shoulders” would continue JAY-Z and Timbo’s streak of club bangers.Įnlisting The Neptunes to produce “Change Clothes,” the album’s lead-single, JAY-Z’s decision to go with his longtime collaborators yielded impressive returns. Timbaland supplies JAY-Z with a slapper in the form of “Dirt Off Your Shoulders,” an up-tempo soundscape that features one of the rapper’s more cocksure performances on The Black Album. With 15 years having passed since the album first hit shelves, VIBE decided to pay homage to this classic by ranking the beats on The Black Album, from the most pedestrian to the most impressive. While JAY-Z would eventually come out of retirement in 2006 with his Kingdom Come album, The Black Album will always be looked at as the rapper’s “retirement” album, the one that further branded him as an icon and stands as one of the more revered bodies of work in his career. Boasting a lineup of producers including Just Blaze, Kanye West, Timbaland, The Neptunes, 9th Wonder, Rick Rubin, Eminem and others, The Black Album was an epic affair and Hov’s most sonically-rich long player to date.
While JAY-Z’s lyrical performance on The Black Album is phenomenal, the album is as much of a classic due in part to its production.
1 on the Billboard 200, The Black Album sold nearly a half-million units in its first week and eventually certified triple platinum, making it his most commercially successful release of the decade.
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