Jay Z - Fade to Black

I love this DVD. I love Jay-Z as an artist. His style and skills are so impressive. The Black Album was a great album within itself. Just seeing his creativity and the creativity of the other artsts involved was incredible. The concert was amazing and getting a behind-the-scenes look into the making of the concert and album was truly awesome!

Jay-Z can easily be classified as haughty; he has been identifying himself as the best rapper alive for years. But, while I don't think he's the absolute best who has ever touched a microphone, he is one of the most skilled rappers ever. His vivid descriptions of life in the `hood and his all-around creative ways to tell stories via rap separate him from average rappers and place him in the ethereal positions that we have put rappers like 2 Pac and Biggie Smalls. "Fade to Black" is a nice documentary/concert starring Shawn "Jay-Z", "Jigga Man", "J-Hova", "Hovi" Carter.

Jay-Z has a slew of celebrities he features in his flick including Twista, R. Kelly, Ghostface Killah, Mary J. Blige, Beyonce', Memphis Bleek (who got more air time than he deserved) and Beanie Siegal. Jay is very crafty, especially the way in which he writes his rhymes. He listens to a beat for awhile and writes his rhymes mentally. It was very intriguing to watch him mentally compose such great music. One thing I appreciated about this film was the candidness of it. Everything from the audience to the informal conversations he had with his celebrities comrades to him chilling at the studio all helped to make his documentary more intimate and personal. Further, I had no idea Jay was such an outstanding performer! He recites his lyrics effortlessly and has great stage presence, yet he is such a calm individual. He never seems to overreact, even when things don't transpire in his favor. He speaks his mind but he's always so unruffled, much like a quiet storm.

He delivers some of his biggest hits like "Encore", "Can't Knock the Hustle", "Song Cry", "Best of Both Worlds" and "What More Can I Say?" He also pays homage to rappers who have passed on and played snippets of their music. Also, the first outfit he wore was a Biggie shirt, jeans and tennis shoes. He also wore a very nice suit and a New Jersey Nets jersey (how ironic, he's part owner of the Nets).
I enjoyed watching Jay express himself musically and personally. He appears to be a mellow and down to earth individual with a good head on his shoulders. Hip hop and rap fans, take a few hours and view this movie.

Absolutely outstanding. I especially like the parts of him creating the Black Album. The concert was tight too but I'm more for the behind the scenes stuff. It was amazing seein him work

I'm quite convinced that this is the most watched DVD I've ever owned, I must have seen it 30 times. Jay-Z's madison gig must've been one of the greatest nights in entertainment history, and for a fan unable to be there that night, this is the next best thing. the event was captured in an outstanding way, just watching this makes me bop my head, jump around the room and sends mad chills down my back. One of the greatest concerts ever performed and THE best live capturing.

This film shows Sean Carter is the most positive light. I see a man with a strong work ethic and so much drive. He's hungry for success and he never settles for anything. He always aims higher. I think I enjoyed the studio footage more than the actually concert footage. Much love goes out to Jay Z and his production crew!