Jay-Z has created his equivalent of "Tommy," "Operation-Mindcrime," "Ziggy Stardust" or whatever concept album you chose to compare it to, and he wants listeners to absorb it in full doses. To drive home the point that "American Gangster" should be taken whole and not in pieces, Jay-Z is not allowing the disc to be sold on Apple's iTunes store when it is released Tuesday.
“As movies are not sold scene by scene, this collection will not be sold as individual singles,” Jay-Z said in a statement. Album will be sold online at rocafella.com, Amazon.com and rhapsody.com in addition to brick-and-mortar stores.
Jay-Z's disc was inspired by the film starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe and has no music associated with the film.