Jay-Z Working On New Album

By: Yves Erwin Salomon

Hip hop mogul Jay-Z saw an early version of Ridley Scott's new film, American Gangster, and he was inspired to record new music. MTV.com reports that the rapper was so moved by Denzel Washington's character that he decided to record a concept album of music inspired by the movie. The rapper said, "It was like I was watching the film and putting it on pause and giving a back story to the story....Watching that film, it brought back all these memories. It took me back to those emotions."

The album will not be the movie's official soundtrack as Def Jam Records will officially release an album featuring '70s era music from Bobby Womack and the Staple Singers as the movie's soundtrack.

Denzel Washington pushed for the Jay-Z project to be the official soundtrack but film producer Brian Grazer wanted an authentic '70s sound.

Jay-Z will release the album, American Gangster, on November 6th just four days after the movie is scheduled to hit theaters. The rapper will preview the project's first single, "Blue Magic," in the coming weeks. The song was produced by Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes.

A source at the New York Times who heard a few of the tracks from the project likened it to the sound Jay-Z utilized when he released The Blueprint in 2001.

Jay-Z's last release was 2006's Kingdom Come. The set has sold 1.6 million copies since its release.