Jay-Z’s The Black Album is a hot album.  I think when people discuss his discography it is often slept on.  I put it up there in my top 3 Jigga LPs.  Definitely.  Of course, the story behind it at the time of it’s release in 2003 was that it was going to be his last album.  But since, he’s released Kingdom Come, American Gangster, and he’s currently working on Blueprint 3.

There were a ton of Black Album mash ups and remix albums made, most notably Danger Mouse’s The Grey Album, which was constructed using samples from The Beatles’ The White Album.  But Lt. Dan’s Black Album Remixes (cover above) was far and away my favorite of the bunch.  He cleverly and carefully selected classic early 90’s hip hop beats to blend with the pre-Reasonable Doubt story lines and feel of the songs, as if to create the audio illusion of the album actually being released before 1996 (when Reasonable Doubt came out).  And the blends are perfect!  I really mean it.  Of course there are some stand outs, and everyone will have their favorites, but from top to bottom it is an extremely well produced and conceptually tight project.  Pardon the bold statement, but this is absolutely my favorite blend mixtape ever.  Not to mention that Lt. Dan has the best DJ drop of all time (see Forrest Gump, “Lieutenant Dan!!!!!!!!”).  Download immediately.

DOWNLOAD LT. DAN JAY-Z THE BLACK ALBUM REMIXES

Jay-Z’s movie Fade to Black, which documents the making of The Black Album and his historic Madison Square Garden Concert celebrating his so-called retirement (I was there!), supposedly makes him “cringe” when he watches it now.  Probably because he’s talking up his last album, which wasn’t the case, and his last concert, which wasn’t the case either.  Still, it’s an ill movie.  The live footage is great, with all the guests he brings out (love the part with Slick Rick and Ghostface backstage), but the real gems are behind the scenes where he’s making the album cuts with all the different legendary producers.  Check the clips, featuring Timbaland (LOL), Rick Rubin, Kanye West, and Pharrell, which are especially cool because almost all of them capture the initial moment Jay-Z hears the beats used on the album for the first time, and of course they showcase his non-writing writing style…

Hope this holds you over until Blueprint 3.  Peep his recent performance of his latest banger “D.O.A.” at Hot 97’s Summer Jam, and also download the song HERE.  And for classic late 90’s footage of Jay-Z and the Roc performing at NYC’s The Tunnel nightclub, go HERE….oh yeah, and here’s the official “D.O.A.” video and his live performance at the BET Awards HERE!

*MJ BONUS*

For those of you still looking for a Michael Jackson fix, here’s a Lt. Dan blend of “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” b/w Justin Timeberlake’s Neptunes produced “Like I Love You”, featuring a verse from the late great Notorious B.I.G.  What a combo!

Michael Jackson “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” Lt. Dan BLEND featuring Notorious B.I.G.

More info on Lt. Dan x Michael Jackson The King of What’s Poppin’ at TREES FOR BREAKFAST.  Great name for a blog, huh?  They’ve got the tracklist and D/L link (RAR file) too.  It’s worth checking out if you’re looking for MJ blends, though as someone who has owned the mixtape since it dropped, I must say (other than the blend above) it’s not that rad….

Cheah!