Thursday, November 23, 2006

Jay - Z: Kingdom Come

Monstersandcritics.com


This wouldn't be much of a music blog if we didn't address the newest release by one of rap's greatest living legends - Jay Z. Yes one of the biggest name's in rap came out of his self-imposed "retirement" this week with the release of "Kingdom Come". I put retirement in quotes because I rarely believe that musicians retire. It's not like sports where they reach a point where their bodies can no longer perform. They just decide they want a break from
music. Then a few years later they decide their creative fire is burning again and they return. And this thought process brings us to Jay's newest album...

This album has left me on the fence a little. While there are times where I really feel that it's ano
ther Jay-Z classic, there's also plenty of times where I find myself unable to be encapsulated by the songs in the way previous releases were capable of. There are several very good tracks, including the album's first single Show Me What You Got, which has the epic sound of old. But there are plenty of tracks that do not seem to be on the same level with some of his previous works. Dig A Hole is one track in particular that sticks out to me. The track simply does not groove, and the beat sounds like something produced by a high schooler. Hardly what I would expect from someone who had a hand in the rise of Kanye West by recognizing the quality of his beats.

If you're wondering whether Jay Z is getting a little too old for the rap game, the answer is no. But it is something he might be getting a little self conscious about. The veteran rapper makes numerous references to his getting on in years, both in a "I'm older and wiser now" way and in a "I'm still a young baller" way. These phrases along with his constant mentioning of returning from "retirement" can wear on the listener over time.

So yes this is not the same old Jay Z, but at the same time that is because he is a victim of his
own previous success. The bar is high for him, sky high they might say. I tend to liken this album to Michael Jordan's comeback with the Wizards. Overall he played well, and seemed to be capable of doing many of the things the old Michael could do, but when it was all said and done you just wondered whether it was really necessary.

Here's a track from the new album featuring Beyonce; one that I wouldn't be surprised if it's tapped as the next single -

Jay Z - Hollywood (feat Beyonce)


Since I'm on the subject of hip-hip, I also want to make a quick rec. K'naan is a Somali/American/Canadian rapper. His style is very unique, and will probably never make it mainstream because of it, but that doesn't mean it's not good. A quick visit to his myspace page will show this as his styles are listed as hip-hop, folk, and acoustic. He takes a very artistic, even poetic approach to hip-hop, and the beats he employs are not the typical beats you will hear on the radio.

I can't even really describe why I like him, maybe his wise-beyond-his-years attitude and respect for the way the world works. Most rappers rap about growing up on the rough streets, but K'naan grew up on the streets of Mogadishu. He has seen the real horrors of war first hand, and for that you tend to trust what he says. Give it a listen, I guarantee it'll be the best Somali-influenced rap you've heard in a while. Here's a couple tracks from his 2006 release The Dusty Foot Philosopher -

K'naan - If Rap Gets Jealous

K'naan - I Was Stabbed By Satan




Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving
Alec

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sure Jay-Z's retirement was never taken seriosuly by anyone because he kept spitting verses on major releases of other artists ever since the Black Album. He never really stopped, he just slowed down.

Although I agree that Kingdom Come isn't his best release, I don't think the comparison to Michael Jordan is legitimate. Jay-Z hasn't been constantly improving in terms of the quality of his albums - he's up and down (within a high range). No one would say Blueprint 2 was a better album than Reasonable Doubt. The Black Album was a classic release and would be hard for any artist to follow up. Kingdom Come comes close. It's different enough to have it's own identity but suffers from a few weak tracks.

Speaking of which, I think your aversion to the beat on Dig a Hole is for the same reason people took a while to get into Neptunes beats. It's not a standard, catchy track and it takes some time to resonate with you and "groove." Give it a few more spins and see what you think. As for Show Me What You Got, how can you use that as an example of the album's greatest tracks, especially without mentioning Lost One, one of Jay-Z's most emotionally entrancing songs ever, Beach Chair and Minority Report?! Those songs have some much lyrical depth and incorporate instrumentals beautifully. Btw, the reason Show Me What You Got sounds old school is that everything in the beat is sampled from old stuff (Public Enemy and Flava Flav).

Haha, I realize this sounds harsh, but I really like both you and House's writing. Keep it up!

Kyle said...

Just a sidebar....the old school samples are actually from 2 1970's soul tracks...Public Enemy and Flava Flav just sampled them as well.

Afro Lafayette Band - Darkest Light
Johnny Pate - Shaft in Africa

Now Alec,

respond.

Alec said...

Butters, though you don't identify yourself, you make good points. I think the point I wanted to make with my comparison to Michael Jordan is that he announced his retirement in a way that basically had him going out on top, and since then he has come back with something less spectacular.

In reality I like the album more than it sounded like in my review, I just chose to omit some of the stuff I liked for the sake of brevity. The good stuff on the album is what you would expect, so I wanted to write about some other parts while keeping it short so people would read.

I understand you point in regards to Dig A Hole and the Neptunes. Personally I still don't like the song, maybe its just me.

Thanks for reading and commenting. What I really want with this is just to encourage discussion about music.