Jay-Z On How To Make A Storybook LP

In part four of MTV.com’s exclusive interview with Jay-Z, the God emcee goes into detail about how the sequencing of an album (read: the order in which the songs appear) can make or break a project. He says albums need to have an arc, or build-up, like the three acts in a movie. He goes into detail describing what I personally like to call “a carwreck,” which is when songs on a particular album don’t blend with each other. When it sounds like just a hodgepodge of different tracks. Jay offered the following:

“You don’t want to be here and there, a fast-tempo [song] that has nothing to do with this record, you know? …[O]n Rihanna’s album, ‘Sell Me Candy’ and ‘Say It,’ they both have this reggae sense, [so] they go together. When you listen to it, it’s not abrupt. It’s not this fast, loud dance song then it’s a slow ballad, then it takes you back. It has a flow. [It's] almost like a DJ would do.”

Make sure you check out yesterday’s installment , where Jay talks about his methods for collaborating with people, working with Rick Rubin, and the Notorious B.I.G.

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