Fade to Black

It's nearly impossible not to get caught up in the insane energy of the live performance scenes in this movie (from Jay as well as the audience, who were in love with the world, Jay, and whatever joker standing next to them in the rows out there too), and the man is obviously at his peak here. It didn't feel like a super-cohesive film, but that doesn't bug me too much. I could watch hours of him doing his thing in the studio and Rick Rubin and whoever else is there just sort of marveling at Jay's self-proclaimed "Rainman" routine of just sounding everything out until the puzzle pieces fit. He is not my favorite hip hop artist by a long shot but he is sure as hell interesting, and this film needed to be made, if not for anything else other than posterity. I've watched Fade to Black a good dozen times over the years. I like the authenticity of this film a LOT more than the recent documentary, Made In America-- which was amusing as hell and I loved the collection of artists, but many of the montage bits and segues were pretty pretentious.

When "Reasonable Doubt" was released, it was an instant classic by one of the best rappers of all time.

Jay-Z's "Fade to Black" is two movies in one. The first is Jay's last concert at Madison Square Garden promoting his latest and last album, "The Black Album." The second film is recording sessions that go behind Jay'Z's making of said album.

Well, the concert footage is great. One of the best concert films I've ever seen. Jay-Z's performance on stage is nothing short of adrenaline pumping. The guests are always game, even, if only for a verse. Some get more screen time than others, such as Memphis Bleek. Twista, Kanye West, Memph Bleek and Beanie Siegel make an impression. Mary J Blige is excellent. Others, such as Missy Elliott and Foxy Brown barely make an impression.

In short, this is an excellent concert film and if you are a Jay-Z fan, you should buy this one, because you will not be disappointed.

Some minor quibbles. The making of the album footage, while interesting, because Jay-Z never writes his rhymes down, he memorizes them all, and kinda freestyles in the booth, that's very compelling. But, it does get a bit redundant.

This film would be a ten if it was just the concert from beginning to end.

Minor quibbles. Great concert film. Energetic, always entertaining and humorous, this is a good film, especially if you're a hip hop fan. If not, something may be lost in translation. But, if you're inclined to read this, you will not be disappointed. Thumbs way up.

I have just looked at this concert film on Turner Classic Movies. There have been a lot of concert movies running on that venue recently, and I run the risk of overdosing on them. Nonetheless, it was there, and it look at it.

First, I need to note that I am not the core audience for rap music. It's not my music at all, even though I can link it to the talking blues and recitative. The simplicity of its music and the crudeness of its language both bore me. So, can I place myself in the dual position of one of this show's audience, while standing far enough outside to judge its inherent value? You be the judge of that.

It is mostly a stage show, and an obviously and carefully plotted one, that makes its performers and the artists that walk onstage for an 'impromptu' rap battle look far less than spontaneous to my eye. Clearly, however, the theater audience doesn't care, and it's their energy that is infectious, energy that breaks through the constrained pace of the rappers.

Rapper Jay-Z records The Black Album and performs his farewell concert at Madison Square Garden in November 2003. I'm not a big fun of his music other than a few big hits. I'm more impressed with his command, his producing, and his business skills. The man is a mogul and a genius. There is real energy at his concert. I love the audience. As for Jay-Z with his boys, there is too much fawning going on. I can't really expect different but it would be nice to see him in more varied situations. While I don't care that much about his recording, it's fascinating to see him spitting his rhymes. This is for his fans. For his non-fans, this may get a bit repetitive and they may not care about being at his concert.

This documentary is part making of THE BLACK ALBUM and part his retirement concert in Madison Square Guarden intertwined with each other.

Throughout the documentary there is constant talk of Jay-Z's retirement with fans and friends talking about how they can't believe the Jigga man is retiring.

But of course that all turned out to be nothing more than a publicity stunt because 2 years later he released a new album and have made countless albums since.

So it definitely loses it's value from that fact, although tbh I and many others never believed him when he said he was retiring and there are enough good performances and insight on the making of the album that it makes worth watching regardless (if you're a fan).

Even if Jay-Z's performance on MTV's UNPLUGGED was a lot better though.

So yeah nothing amazing, and the retirement was just another hustle for Hov to put on his resumé and as he said 'you can't knock the hustle' so I guess we can't knock it too hard, and it's a hard knock life after all so knock knock on.