Jay-Z's new album fits structural patterns

Jay-Z, president of Def Jam Recordings, announced his retirement from rapping four years ago. However, he ended it last winter when he came out with his Kingdom Come cd. He has just ended his retirement a second time.

Jay-Z was inspired by the new movie American Gangster, out in theatres now, which he saw in an early screening over the summer. The movie stars Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe in 1970's Harlem in the midst of a heroin investigation. This caught the attention of Jay-Z, who grew up in Brooklyn, and reminded him of his young adult life on the streets. So Jay-Z went to work creating his cd also titlted American Gangster. It was released Tuesday after the movie's first weekend in theatres.

What intrigued me the most about Jay-Z's new record though, was something that he did differently than his past albums. He put together the 13-song album as a story arc of what his life might have been like if he had not taken the path as rapper. In a USA Today article, he stated that American Gangster is meant to be listened to as a single work.

"It's a concept album, not a collection of singles, and I want it heard in the way I intended it. A painter doesn't sell a section of a painting. He sells a whole body of work."

Jay-Z's past albums have been collections of hit singles, for the most part. American Gangster is different. The account follows structural patterns that we have studied in class the past week. It has a beginning, where Jay-Z's character is in a stable situation, but then comes a disruption where he makes some bad decisions involving illegal acts. He goes through a series of events in which he learns from, and there is a definite resolution, which is up for interpretation on whether the character grows from his mistakes or falls back into the trap where he started.

So the record fits character patterns as well as narrative structures. It has a clear beginning, middle and end. Jay-Z has taken some steps to prevent fans from listening to the album out of order. He chose not to release the cd to sites that let users to download and purchase songs one by one. There are two bonus songs that have been released but are not part of the story arc.

I think it is a very cool idea that Jay-Z decided to design his cd as a narrative. It is something new and fresh and just another example of how narrative structures are used in society, especially in the entertainment business. I was also interested in what Andrew Keen had to say Thursday night about the music industry and how the internet has affected it and will continue to shape it. I have not yet heard American Gangster but am extremely excited and looking forward to doing so very soon.