Out of Retirement? Surprise.

The return of Jay-Z was more or less inevitable. When he first retired from “the game,” most people speculated that it wouldn’t be a permanent move. When others in the industry started calling him out (i.e. Camron), it only increased the probability of his comeback. But what truly cemented his return was his Presidency at Def Jam Records. The ol’ Jigga Man has made some bold moves while there – many of which have failed to pay off. The Roots latest effort, although a solid album, was a commercial flop. Lady Sovereign’s State-side debut has thus far been disastrous. The album has been rightfully panned by critics and would-have-been fans… Essentially, Def Jam needed something big right now. So Jay-Z did what he had to, and now Kingdom Come is ready for the world…

But is his latest album any good? Many were wondering if he could repeat the recent success he has found on his Black Album and Blueprint LPs. The answer? While Kingdom Come is a solid album, it’s hardly a classic. It lacks the moments of raw emotion of tracks like 'Song Cry' and 'Public Service Announcement' – songs that defined the mood and tone of his previous works. The album feels like a re-hash of his recent successes. Jay reaches out to producers like Just Blaze and Dr. Dre to try to replicate past hits, but instead these collaborations feel like variations of those previous tracks. It isn’t the inventive and introspective Hov album many people were expecting. But don’t get me wrong – it still has it’s moments and is worth checking out…



Jay-Z - Kingdom Come

[Buy it]