Honing in on the brag raps fails to look at the whole package. While it might have been nice to see Jay use a more narrative structure for his new CEO status (maybe some sort of running gangster movie theme, like all the old Pain N Da Ass skits), he makes up for it by throwing in a few other interesting topics.
He discusses everything from his ascension to the corporate world to the push and pull of being a born hustler (in “Prelude”), from a feud with Cam’ron (“Dig a Hole”) to Hurricane Katrina (“Minority Report”), and from far-reaching Biblical themes to the end of his career (and life).
It’s far from a terrible mix, topically and thematically. The Hurricane Katrina commentary, in particular, is extremely powerful (“Sure I ponied up a mil/ but I didn’t give my time/ so in reality, I didn’t give a dime/ or a damn/ just put my money in the hands/ of the same people that left my people stranded.”)
Strength of Theory #1 – Doubtful.
Theory #2 – Lyrical Skill. I’ll be the first to admit this album doesn’t have the usual plethora of Press Rewind moments from One Take Jay, and he probably does spend too much time using the whisper voice (the one from “Allure”). That said, it also isn’t fair to measure him by his own extremely high bar.
Compared to most of the stuff coming out in 2006, Hova is still an elite lyricist. He may not be hungry like he was on Reasonable Doubt or at the height of his game like on The Blueprint, which explains some of the repetitive lines and lazy rhymes, but he’s still Jay. This means you are going to get a lot of effortless verses that fuse intelligence and wit in bold, brash, decisive strokes.
From clever little lines like “Guess who’s back/ Since this is a New Era I got a new hat” (“Prelude”) and “Kingpin of the ink pen/ monster of the double entendre” (“Do U Wanna Ride”) to classically complex Jay-Z (“Think I’m in the office, I’m off the grind?/ That’s how kids become orphans, ya lost your mind?/ I keep my enemies close/ I give ‘em enough rope/ they put themselves in the air/ I just kick away the chair” – that last part perfectly describes Sacha Baron Cohen’s style of comedy in Borat, by the way), he still has “it.”
Article comments
1 - Jason Meltzer Patterson
I thought this review was dead on and to be honest I knew almost from the get go I was going to stand in agreement. It's not such a bad offering. As you get older you look for albums that hold up and I think this album has a few gems we'll look back on - like the MySpace one
Oddly enough though, rapper Talib Kweli does have a MySpace and his video for "Listen" off the yet to be released (although originally due for Nov 06) album Eardrum - again, all a matter of where you're at and where you are coming from
Isn't a part of the spirit of true hip hop being in the momemnt and expressing yourself - why wouldn't Jay-Z talk about THIS stage in his life
It's not his fault he was "there by the time he was 22"
2 - Laky
Absolutely spot on man. "The Prelude" alone, disproves critics who say that Jay has lost a step lyrically. The only place where you've lost your way a bit with this article is the album rankings. Vol 2 was Hard Knock Life, arguably Jay's worst. The real rankings should be these:
1. Reasonable Doubt
2 (tie) Blueprint and Black Album
3. Volume 1
4. Kingdom Come
5. Volume 3
6. Hard Knock Life
7. Blueprint 2
8. The Dynasty
3 - Beelow
You guys amaze me. I read review all the time on people dissing Jay and saying that the album was wack. Are you guys really listening to the music or just skimming through it? I mean come on guys if you sit down and listen to the words that Jay says and how he uses different metaphors then you will have something better to say. I wish you dumba** critics who don't know s*** about hip hop just shut up. Who are these people. There is no number one Jay Z album because all of them are the best. Jay is the best since Pac and BIG without a doubt. I wish people stop hating on this guy because he is so successful and give the guy his props because he is the greatest. I mean he's on talk shows and he is one of the 10 most fascinating people of the year according to Barbara Walters. Come on don't hate on the guy. You should do something smart and try to figure out how to get on his level and be as half of as a success as he is. Maybe if you critics spent more time doing other things and stop hating maybe you could get on his level.
4 - Black Krishna
Great review, and yeah, both the praise and criticism are valid as they inevitably are, so it's good that you made peace with them.
The one crucial component that's eroding with age and content is his expression of "balls", which is a rapper's greatest weapon, and what makes 50 Cent the "Frank Sinatra of Hip Hop". Both were gangsters who flaunted it, both weren't the best singers but could certainly sing, and both rocked the biggest balls on the planet, whether it was Frank having fun as a serial killer on "Mack The Knife", or Fiddy inviting 6 billion people to pleasure him in making "Candy Shop" the Number One Song in the World.
(And no, I'm not starting a "Who's better?" conversation, I'm just making a point of why the biggest rapper today is crossing-up the game and crossing over until anybody listening can relate by simply feeling "how" he's saying it over what he's saying. He's no 2Pac either, that dood rocked so much balls - and - soul that cats from other countries will bump dat ish a hundred times without knowing a word - but, with knowing on some level what he's trying to say...)
That (balls) in consistent doses is what Nas has been missing since "Illmatic", and to a lesser extent Jay-Z since "Reasonable Doubt", and here on "Kingdom Come". The pressure and their reactions to it compromise both on too many tracks, and while "Made You Look" and "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" among dozens cement their ability to hit "it", their consistency inevitably suffers over the course of an album as they deal with who they've become and experiment or phone it in and rely on who they are to make it forgiveable.
And yeah, he does whisper waaay too much on this, and I think his braggadocio with his over-exposure is finally irking me on a subconscious level. It's like, sure, I'll hold your jock, but not because you're "explicitly" telling me I will, and not because you're throwing it in my face. I liked when he showed up and hit us out of the blue, and that one-minute wait for "Black Republican" is irritating, especially when both he and Nas aren't at their best on the opening banter, they just don't seem confident and comfortable, though the rest of the song's pretty good.
So yeah, if he's gonna flaunt it he's gotta bring it, because I'll throw my diamond up (if you win your lawsuit), but only if you shine homey... :-)
Peace, (NOW!!!)
BK
Google: Black Krishna
5 - RJ Elliott
Fine review. But this album has 99 problems, and Beyonce ain't one.
6 - Still Waters
This Album is not the best Jay-Z CD I've ever purchased...BUT I love this as an alternative to what he have in Hip-Hop right now. I don't want to hear LiL Wayne, 50 Cent, and a host of others.
Jay-Z has always been mature with his approach. Reasonable Doubt was serious, as well as the others.
The flow is still amazing. Listen to the flow on "Beach Chair" that flow has NEVER been used in rap before.
Do the critics understand what voice game is? The intro track....With Goldie from "The Mack" talking and then Jay with another original flow.
Honestly, I believe this album was meant to be a tease before either He and NAS do a CD or he comes out again.
7 - foj-z
i agree w/ beelow. how n da fuck can u say dat dis album is wack. get da fuck outta here.y dont u git a 9 2 5? u shouldnt b a critic.lately dats da only thing i've been hearing, this albums wack & all dat, but u didnt say not 1 time it wasnt good music.
its da ROC
`1`
8 - pkd
the album is nt the best jay-z work bt if u re a fan of jay u'll love all thesame.i dont know why critics re trying to kill the album but i can only say that jay sounds martured onlike dem others
9 - RJ Elliott
The semi-literates speak!
10 - adrian cano
I see music in a total defrent way than other people,and they say I am crazzy!is it best that I keep this sick secret treasure to my sell-f and HO?