If you really thought Jay-Z’s “retirement” from rap was going to be permanent, you probably also thought Lance Bass was straight and Runaway would be on the air forever.
Can it even be called a retirement? During his time at the rap retirement home, Hova dropped guest verses on various tracks, some classic (Kanye West’s “Diamonds from Sierra Leone” and Young Jeezy’s “Go Crazy” ) and some clunkers (his boo Beyonce’s “Déjà vu”). That’s not even factoring in the global empire he’s created. Not exactly bingo and Wheel of Fortune.
Regardless of how thin his departure from the rap game was, Jay’s back with Kingdom Come, his first album since 2004’s exceptional The Black Album. Jigga’s latest full-length doesn’t come close to surpassing the lofty hip-hop heights he’s achieved in his other 00’s output, but Kingdom Come shows he hasn’t lost any of his skills while focusing on all his other ventures, and that he’s still the best rapper in the world today.
Jay-Z makes it clear what his aims are right from the get-go; on opener “The Prelude,” he sets his sights on the rap industry, criticizing artists for lame rhymes and bad business strategy (“On the Internet, they’re like you should spit it/I’m like you should buy it, that’s good business”). Over a laid back groove, Jay plays the role of returning hero, a man out to save the industry he helped build.
Hova isn’t alone in his mission; the Def Jam CEO’s called in all the cavalry for Kingdom Come. Jay-Z summons some familiar faces to man the boards, most times resulting in killer tracks worthy of the Jigga nametag. Producer Just Blaze handles the first three tracks after “The Prelude,” starting with the stomping “Oh My God.” Blaze’s best comes next with the title track, Rick James’s “Superfreak” slowed down to creepy-almost-reggae. Jay-Z dominates the beat, ripping over it as he declares himself “the king of New York.”
The Just Blaze trilogy ends with lead single “Show Me What You Got,” a quick paced song featuring some of Jay’s weaker verses on the album. Anchored by a Casino Royale saxophone and the ghostly voice of Flava Flav, “Show Me What You Got” is an impressive sounding track sagged down by some lame rapping by the Jigga man.
The other big-time producers also deliver great cuts. Chicago wonderkid Kanye West’s “Do You Wanna Ride” is a nice, simple song on its own, but West busts out his secret weapon to push the track into amazing territory: the soulful voice of John Legend. Legend’s contributions, coupled with Hova’s flow, makes “Do You Wanna Ride?” one of Kingdom Come’s strongest moments.
Fellow beat-heavyweight Dr. Dre contributes five tracks to the album (and yet he couldn’t help The Game out once?), all of them solid except for the Hurricane Katrina-centered “Minority Report,” a slow, unexciting track loaded with samples of President Bush, newscasts and Kanye West. When truly angry tracks related to New Orleans like Killer Mike’s “That’s Life” already exist, something as weak as “Minority Report” doesn’t pack much of a political punch.
In the end, it doesn’t matter who’s behind the boards, because Jay tears apart every beat thrown at him. Jigga’s proven time and time again he can flow over nearly any sound (see his masterpiece, 2001’s The Blueprint, where producers tried to stump Jay with a wide variety of sounds, but got upended every time), and he does it again on Kingdom Come.
It would be pointless to point to specific examples, not when we expect this from Jay-Z. Anyone who doubted Jay heading into Kingdom Come should be silenced; he proves once again he is the best rapper in the world right now, and that no one can come close to knocking him off his perch.
The rapper doesn’t need any guests, but he brings them in by the wheelbarrow anyway. Some stars shine bright; as mentioned earlier, John Legend takes “Do You Wanna Ride” to a new level. “Anything,” featuring Pharrell and Usher, sounds like a sped up mix of “Confessions Pt. 2” and “Caught Up” but more danceable and with great rhyming. Other guests aren’t so fortunate; Ne-Yo adds absolutely nothing to the already bland “Minority Report.”
And, during his attempt at pulling off his own “Heard ‘Em Say,” Jay-Z recruits Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin to join him on closing track “Beach Chair.” The father of Apple drags down an otherwise decent track with his unexciting crooning. James Blunt wasn’t available?
But one cameo shines above all the rest: Jay enlists his love-interest Beyonce for “Hollywood,” a twinkling track focusing on the pratfalls of being famous. The beat is pop sped up to glimmering levels, but Jay bobs and weaves to it perfectly, nailing some of Kingdom Come’s best lyrical moments. Beyonce’s voice glides in and out of the track, adding a beautiful element to an already shining song. “Hollywood” sees Jay entering new territory, and is the album’s best moment.
A lot has changed since Hovito stepped away from the game two years away; he became a world-renowned business man with his own computer commercials, rap shifted to the South, and music in general got a whole lot weirder (people bought Paris Hilton’s album?).
But it’s nice to know not much changed: Kingdom Come has a few shortcomings, but the album reasserts that Jay-Z is still the top rapper in the world, and an unstoppable force in the music industry. Sometimes, it’s nice to know some things stay the same.