Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	84/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Entertainment Weekly	B+
The Guardian
Mojo
MSN Music	A
NME	8/10
Pitchfork	8/10
Q
Rolling Stone
USA Today

The Black Album is the eighth studio album by American rapper Jay Z, released on November 14, 2003, by Roc-A-Fella Records. It was advertised as his final album before retiring, which is also a recurring theme throughout the songs, although Jay-Z resumed his recording career in 2006. For the album, Jay-Z wanted to enlist a different producer for each song, working with Just Blaze, Kanye West, The Neptunes, Timbaland, 9th Wonder and Rick Rubin, among others.

When The Black Album was released, it received widespread acclaim from critics. In its first week, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 463,000 copies in the United States. It became Jay Z's top selling record of the 2000s decade, and by July 2013, it had sold 3,516,000 copies in the US. The Black Album was promoted with a retirement tour by Jay Z and three singles that also achieved Billboard chart success, including the top-ten hits "Change Clothes" and "Dirt Off Your Shoulder".

Jay-Z said The Black Album would have a different producer for each track, and early magazine advertisements listed a series of numbers (representing tracks) and a producer for each number. Dr. Dre and DJ Premier were originally supposed to be among these producers; however, they did not make the final cut. The final album did feature a variety of producers, although Roc-A-Fella producers Kanye West and Just Blaze produced two tracks each, in addition to the two produced by frequent Jay-Z collaborators The Neptunes..

...
Wikipedia