“I used to think rappin’ at 38 was ill, but last year alone, I grossed 38 mil. I know I ain’t quite 38, but still; the flow’s so special–got a ’38’ feel. The real is back.” –Jay-Z (The Prelude)
S. Carter is back indeed with his latest release, Kingdom Come.
The current C.E.O of Def Jam Records originally planned for 2003’s Black Album to be his final solo album.
Nonetheless, ‘Hov’ has returned three years later with a 14-track masterpiece.
The album hit the stores on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2006 and has done over $850,000 in sales so far.
Jay-Z’s ‘most incredible’ flow is matched with an ‘ivy-league’ list of producers and Grammy Award-winning artists.
The debut single from the album, “Show Me What You Got” (produced by Just Blaze), is a sophisticated club-banger with a classic sample from Public Enemy, on which Jay lets everyone know he’s back.
Also on the album is the title track, “Kingdom Come” (also produced by Just Blaze), which features a sample from the late Rick James.
The Brooklyn rapper speaks on those close to him on the second single from the album, “Lost Ones” (produced by Dr. Dre), which features Chrisette Michelle, a new Def Jam vocalist.
Jay teams up with R&B diva Beyonce on “Hollywood” (produced by Scyience) to talk about the reality behind the spotlight and cameras.
He brings on singer Ne-Yo to bring light on the Hurricane Katrina disaster and the U.S. government’s failure on “Minority Report.”
Other notable tracks on the album are “Anything” (featuring Usher and Pharell), “Do You Wanna Ride” (feat. John Legend) and 30 Something–a track on which Jay-Z discusses his maturity as a man and artist in the game. The final track on the album, “Beach Chair,” showcases Jay-Z’s well-known innovative thoughts in lyrical form. The song features Grammy-Award Winning artist Chris Martin (from Coldplay). Critics were very skeptical as to if Jay-Z would be able to top the success of his previous album.
The media influence on this issue brought more skepticism built around the fact that he is a rap artist in his 30s who spends the majority of his time in an office than in the booth.
Whether intentional or not, Jay-Z clearly eliminates any skepticism with his most recent album.
Jay-Z felt the need to create a quality album that not only made the public feel good and want to move, but one that made them think as well. He wants to bring life back to hip hop.
Jay-Z was recently on 106 & Park, where he performed older songs and a few tracks from the new album. The performance also featured artists such as Memphis Bleek, Pharrell, Timbaland and Nas.
- Lawrence Wiggins