Album Reviews
Hear it Now
View The last time Jay fired himself up with comeback talk, on 2001's classic The Blueprint, he had that Apollo Creed "Eye of the Tiger" spirit. This time, he's more imperious, kicking back like he has nothing to prove or learn, as if the game didn't change while he was away. Sometimes this strategy works (Michael Jordan in 1995, Dr. Dre's 2001); sometimes it doesn't (Miles Davis in the Eighties, Charles Bronson's Death Wish II). Jay battles it to a draw. He leans hard on big-deal producers, getting great tracks from Dre ("Trouble") and Swizz Beatz ("Dig a Hole"). Just Blaze provides two real killers: "Kingdom Come," slicing up Rick James' "Super Freak," and "Oh My God," which bites a soul cover of the Allman Brothers' "Whipping Post." (Somewhere, Duane is damn proud.) "Trouble" is the hottest, with Jay spitting, "If my hand's in the cookie jar/Know one thing/I'm-a take the cookie/Not leave my ring."
On "Kingdom Come" and "Trouble," Jay is just dominant. But one way he definitely did not spend his vacation was woodshedding new lyrics, because he's mostly boasting about his street-hustling days, which are, what, fifteen years behind him? He has trouble finding things to get hard about, besides CEO office politics and post-retirement boredom. He disses Cristal, and switches to Krug Rose. He raps about giving Beyonce space on "Lost Ones," one of his feebler efforts, though she sings on "Hollywood." When he rhymes about New Orleans with Ne-Yo in "Minority Report," he just seems pissed Kanye got so much attention for bitch-slapping George Bush. As for "Beach Chair," the collabo with Coldplay's Chris Martin -- you know how bad you think it is? It's that bad. When Martin croons the hook, "I hear my angel sing," you think he's saying "my agent," and that might make more sense.
Jay rhymes about Jordan's comeback, inspiring jokes that Kingdom Come equals Jordan on the Wizards (hey, it beats Jordan on the Birmingham Barons). "Thirty's the new twenty" is the theme, but to turn one of his old hits around, Kingdom Come is about where he's been, not where he's about to go. He still gets excited about the dealer he used to be, but if you're wondering who Jay-Z is now, well, so is he. As he admits several times on the album, the only reason there's a new one is he didn't know what else to do -- a reasonable doubt indeed. Last time, on The Black Album, Jay dubbed himself "rap's Grateful Dead." So maybe this is his Mars Hotel, or Wake of the Flood, but at least it's not Go to Heaven. On Kingdom Come, the highs are really high, and the lows are really low. As Sinatra used to say, that's life.
Share
Email
AIM
Del.icio.us
DiggThis
Fark It!
Advertisement
News and Reviews
Advertisement
Click the play button.
Register or enter your username and password.
Let the music play!
It's FREE.
-
The Prelude (Edited) (track not available in Rhapsody)
- Oh My God (Edited)
- Kingdom Come (Edited)
- Show Me What You Got (Edited)
- Lost One (Edited)
- Do U Wanna Ride (Edited)
- 30 Something (Edited)
- I Made It (Edited)
- Anything (Edited)
- Hollywood (Edited)
- Trouble (Edited)
-
Dig A Hole (Edited) (track not available in Rhapsody)
- Minority Report (Edited)
- Beach Chair (Edited)
 |
Your Turn
Review 1 of 14
howieg writes:
i've been hearing alot of people say how bad the album was.....and i just don't get it.....i loved this album.....and "Beach Chair" was a great song to me! (sooooo many people hated it). I dunno maybe my bias makes me enjoy it so much cuz Jay-Z is my fav rapper but i really don't see what's wrong with the album.....and someone's comment said something abt the usual garbage music produces nowadays and how "Kingdom Come" is so much better.....and I agree.....if we compare this album to "The Blueprint" yea it looks a bit weaker.....but in comparison to what bull**** hip-hop is producing now this is a great album!
Jun 29, 2008 18:00:47
Review 2 of 14
ThaDaliLama writes:
Jay-Z gave us some of his best work on The Black Album, now time for some of his worst works. Kingdom Come, with all its illiterate money talk, sounds like an average hip-hop album. The beats are subpar compared to past albums, due to The Neptunes getting more than there fair share of beat makings. The best songs on this CD aren't even close to the worst songs of The Black Album, except any Pharrell featured song. Jigga goes average, and makes the worst album of his career.
Mar 14, 2008 20:53:38
Review 3 of 14
life771 writes:
I think the album was good. It showed some growth and I think he got a little more poetic with the word play and most fans want artist to stay in the same lane and drive and the same speed. Remember last year alone he grossed $38mill.
Feb 2, 2007 07:04:52
Review 4 of 14
diceoflife writes:
ok i give this album a 2 tops just cuz its j. its alright but its by far his worst album. he has maybe 2 hot tracks, Dig a Hole and Trouble. besides that i wasnt feelin it
Jan 29, 2007 16:42:07
Review 5 of 14
early1 writes:
ok every one stop and really listen. Now i kno it aint the blue print or reasonable doubt but he grown now!!! thats what you have to realize i mean yea rappeing at 30 would be ill if you was still talking about selling drugs but you a ceo. but hova aint on it he telling us his midlife crises shit he showing how he matureing. You mutha fuckas better really listen because when you turn 30 and you still wanna listen to shit about being on the grind ha ha NEWSFLASH your a loser! this cd is actually good real good not his best and i think he aint create it ta be his best but he jus wanna show yall wy he created that swagger everybody wants
Jan 5, 2007 08:45:21
Review 6 of 14
skidude writes:
Wow, gkskrilla calls it the worst album from 'Gay-Z' was it? Then you give it 3 stars?? Makes a lot of sense you ignorant homophobic loser.
Jan 2, 2007 09:08:24
Review 7 of 14
gkskrilla writes:
The worst album to ever come out from Gay-Z. I grew up and was raised in Harlem, and Jay was always that dude when I was a teenager killing every album he ever did. But Kingdom Come is a R&B happy, chick album with more guest appearances than you can count. Dig a hole was a hard track, and it shows Homo's I mean Hova's maturity after the fact he said he was to big to mess with Killa Cam. His lines were directed to, but indirectly said to Cam'Ron, and that shows girlish qualities in Jigga. My sister loves the Hollywood song with Beyonce, I feel Jay has lost his musical talent, which was always ripping off BIG for his genius. Jay would never rip another Biggie song off again, not after the Chancletas and shit. Jay, stick to doing Budweiser commercials and wearing cardigan sweaters and start promoting Def Jam Artists albums like you do to yourself you greedy fagot.
Dec 28, 2006 11:55:05
Review 8 of 14
VaingloriousKIA writes:
Put it like this...
If you don't care for "Kingdom Come", or think that it's merely a so-so effort --try comparing it to the BULLSHIT albums that are being force fed to us today! Music sucks these day, Jay is refreshing.
Lets be fair; its hard to hit your peak TWICE. Jay already had his peak before he retired, but he's still (one of) the hottest in the game. Michael Jackson will never see another "Thriller" but we still love him, right?
Dec 28, 2006 01:35:12
Previous Next
Advertisement
©RealNetworks, Inc. All rights reserved.
©Copyright 2008 Rolling Stone
- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC.
Get RS Mobile
RSS
