Unfinished Business translates as, "Like, if we could just get this pesky little obligation out of the way, we could get around to more pressing engagements." That disinterest is in the air on the second joint album from the best (albeit sorta-retired) rapper in the game and the best (albeit steadily indicted) R&B singer-songwriter. Backed by top-shelf producers the Trackmasters, this album should be musically bulletproof. But mostly, Jay-Z can't get through his verses quick enough — they're among his least engaging in a while. R. Kelly is better, but it's telling that two of the best tracks, "She's Coming Home With Me" and "Mo' Money," are revisions of numbers from the first Jigga-Kelly collaboration, 2002's swept-under-the-rug The Best of Both Worlds. Better to revisit the past, it seems, than dwell on the opportunistic and craven present.

Photograph coutesy of Kim Kardashian via Twitpic

“1999”

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.