Jay–Z & Tapemasters Inc. – An American Gangster

“There’s never been a rapper this good for this long” and “An American Gangster” proves it. Who else could drive sales or for that matter, have the mere implication that they’re affiliated with a release make it a top seller. Jay Z does that. I took a look around a couple of weeks ago and Dj’s were dropping the “Best of Jay-Z’s” like he had some new material out. I know you Jay-Z Stan’s were wet for a minute, but for some reason, everyone decided to drop the same mixtape, at the same time, except Tapemasters Inc.

You could call this a blend mixtape, but the blends are over original production. This isn’t an innovative idea, but people are so thirsty for something new from Hov, not suit wearing Sean Carter, but that nigga Jay straight out of Marcy, that “An American Gangster” deserves some accolades for doing its own thing. The cover is similar to a movie poster or album artwork. Shit, all these similarities remind me of shit that Mick Boogie would do and fans would flock to it like he put his hand in his pocket and a pot o’ gold came out. Why stop now?

Tapemasters Inc. have never had awful transitions, but they’ve never done anything that made me grab my dick, say “oh shit” and hit the rewind button and I don’t think they did it here, but an album should have a certain flow and “An American Gangster” did. The first stand out track was “June 7th” produced by Hassan Insane. The soul sample was excellent and accompanied the track like a skinny bitch with a thong (some of you fucking big bitches wit ‘em). “Hustler’s Clarity” features Lil’ Wayne and the track stands out because of the sonic finger fucking by the same cat. I’m not sure what sound Black Friday was trying to achieve with “Heart of The Black City”, but that sax sample made me picture Jay on stage in a Harlem renaissance bar with one of those old school mics, an old school tux and a loosened bow tie.

The worst blend, remix, or whatever you want to call it was “99 Problems”. The original song was what it was, because Rick Rubin took it back to those “Raising Hell” days when that ill guitar riff captured the gritty inner city streets perfectly. This happy, mess, of teenage bliss made me want to beat Tapemasters Inc. for 99 days non-stop with one of Hannah Montana’s legs.

From here on, Tapemasters Inc. goes the route of all the other jack asses that released those “best of” releases, but like any dude with his dick in the right place for the first time, they started strong and fucked themselves out before the chick was satisfied. Here’s hoping they run with this formula, because it’s obvious Mick Boogie put his skates on when Drama got knocked.