Jay-Z The Black Album Turns 20 Years Old
Jay-Z is one of the greatest rappers to ever touch a mic. The Billboard magazine named him as the greatest ever as they celebrated the 50th anniversary of hip hop. Back in 2003, Hov said he was retiring after releasing the Black Album. 20 years ago today the Black Album from Jay-Z was released. It marked his 8th album and the follow-up to the Blueprint 2 joint. The album debuted atop the charts selling over 462,000 copies in its first week. It went on to become the highest selling album of his in the 2000s. The Black Album is viewed as one of Jay-Z’s best albums. Change Clothes was the first single and it featured Pharrell of the Neptunes. I’ll be honest, this wasn’t one of the great tracks from the album and one of the weaker songs. Either way, Change Clothes reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Dirt Off Your Shoulder was his second single and this is dope track. Dirt Off Your Shoulder sold over two million copies and is a classic track. The third and final single from the album was 99 Problems. 99 Problems was another classic track from the album that also went double platinum. This track is one of the greatest tracks of the 2000s. Jay-Z only had Pharell Williams singing the hook on Change Clothes. The Black Album has no rap features, and it was Jay just killing it. The Black Album is one of my favorite albums from Jay-Z. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album in 2005. Unfortunately, it lost to Kanye West and his College Dropout. My top 5 tracks of the album are below. After that, you can check out the track listing and stream link to the Black Album.
Top 5 Tracks: 99 Problems, Dirt Off Your Shoulder, Lucifer, Allure, and Public Service Announcement
The Black Album Track Listing
- Interlude
- December 4th
- What More Can I Say
- Encore
- Change Clothes ft. Pharrell Williams
- Dirt Off Your Shoulder
- Threat
- Moment of Clarity
- 99 Problems
- Public Service Announcement (Interlude)
- Justify My Thug
- Lucifer
- Allure
- My 1st Song
