Tarantino

BTW...what happened to my title? It's obviously supposed to be 'Jay-Z'...can someone change that?

= J

MANBREASTS

This should be great, makes me want to start working on a rap album.

boogieman03

I'm excited. That track listing is pretty impressive.

By the way, DRE, we're still waiting on your DETOX album! Stop messing around with other people and get to work!

TheGodfather

Jay-Z albums are the only hip hop albums I buy nowadays and I've been a rap fan since day 1. No one does it like Hov.

DaveWadding

I read in an interview the other day where Jay was talking about how he was working with Dre on Detox...

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/i...ox-and-beyonce

PJsig08

It's out there if you wanna hear it.

RyoHazuki

Snoop Doggs album leaked tonight as well. Haven't listened to either yet but from what I've read, Jay's aint that great, Snoops is pretty good. Although this might be because Jay-Z has a pretty nice catalouge while Snoops post Doggystyle ablums suck. We shall see.

kurupt

I'll give you my initial (a couple listens) breakdown on Kingdom Come, which is the album that I was looking forward to more than any other album this season.

The album starts out with a bang with the "The Prelude." The beat is very "intro-ish" and almost dreamlike. Jay comes out calling himself "a new, improved Russell," and takes a shot at internet downloaders. Next we have a raucaus Just Blaze produced "Oh My God," which is solid, but not spectacular, which leads to the previously leaked "Kingdom Come." When I had my doubts as to whether Jay would pull a Joe Montana/Michael Jordan and stay in the game a little too long, he dropped this track and eliminated any doubts that I might have had. A fantastic "Superfreak" sample sets the stage for Jay's best song in years. Superhero references abound, nimble/clever double metaphors, and in one song Jay accomplishes his goal...he saves hip hop (after a very weak year dominated by terribly redundant "Dirty South" radio hits). Next we have the lead single, "Show Me What You Got." I didn't love it at first, but aside from the annoyingly ubiquitous hook ("Show me what you got lil' mama...") I've grown to appreciate this as a great alternative to mainstream urban radio. It might sound more comfortable on Lupe Fiasco's album production-wise, but Jay does a nice job with it. This takes us to the final mixtape leak, "Lost Ones," which features nice, but uncharacteristic, Dre beat. Hov speaks on his split from Dame Dash, the death of his nephew, and possibly breaks up with Beyonce on this one(?!?). The next track is the lone Kanye production, "Do You Wanna Ride," featuring a deep beat and a very good John Legend hook. Next we have "30 Something" where Jay takes what his detractors have been using against him in the latest round of anti-Jay diss songs (his age) and turns it into a strengh ("I'm young enough to know the right car to buy, but grown enough to know not to put rims on it"). What follows are the two skippable tracks of the album, "I Made It," his dedication to his mom, and "Anything," the requisite strip-club song featuring Pharrell and Usher. Another review stated that the track "Hollywood" with Beyonce on the hook was "big" which is a pretty accurate assesment. It's about the fame that comes along with being Jay-Z. "Trouble" is Dre's best contribution to the album and it sounds like Dre's piano-heavy sound mixed with some industrial noises. The brings us to what's sure to be one of the most talked-about tracks on the disc, the loud, Swizz Beatz produced "Dig A Hole" (Swizz is really on a hot streak lately...I've been sleeping on his beats for awhile, but I'm starting to come around now). Jay talks about Cam'ron's recent obsession with him and how it's probably due to Dame's influence ("Why kill the puppet when Gipetto's still alive?") and he talks about how it's a lose-lose situation to respond to Cam, but he does anyway and in one verse he handles Cam. ("The only time you went plat, my chain was on your neck, that's an actual fact.") The last Dre production on the album is "Minority Report" which features Ne Yo. Jay addresses Hurricane Katrina and the government's response to it pretty well and asks himself if he could've done anything more. This is all set to the sound of rain in the background. Not quite as heartfelt as Lil' Wayne's track, but still a good song. The album ends with the Chris Martin collaboration "Beach Chair," which is strange, but better than you would expect. I would give the abum a 4 out of 5 right now. Not up to the Reasonable Doubt, Blueprint, Black Album standard, but better than pretty much anything else out there right now. Now we'll see what Nas can deliver.

PJsig08

Not up to the Jay-Z standard. But still pretty good.

Rogue588

Underwhelming. I thought Snoop's release was better..

Though, and I realize i'm probably going to be the only one to say this, i'm not understanding the continuing pedestal that Dre is on. I realize his place in hip-hop history, NWA, his solo stuff, blah, blah, blah... But, i'm talking about recent output and there isn't much difference between the beats on this disc and on Snoop's..

boredsilly

Dude, I'm glad you said it. I like Dre, but production wise, his stuff seems kind of tired to me. Plus, from what I understand he works with other people to make his beats, and that is why Scott Storch beats sound a lot like Dre beats, since he worked with Dre before breaking off on his own. Don't get me wrong, Dre still makes fire, but I just don't get excited at the prospect of hearing new Dre beats like I do other producers.

And this might totally discredit what I just said, but I found the beat on "Anything" to be really awesome. It would have worked better on a straight up R&B song, but the Neptunes have been really making some unique choices (listen to anything that is going to be on the Clipse's newest album for further proof).

As per the album - I like it. It's not an instant classic, and I think the anticipation for the album built it up to be something it never could, but it's a good solid listen.

Jamezuva

coulda swore he said he was gonna retire years ago...

Daryl

That was exactly the word I felt after the first few listens: underwhelming. Good enough album, but Hov's past work sent my expectations sky-high, and this album doesn't come close to the standard Jay himself has set. After the last few days of listening, it was time to hit eject and put The Doctor's Advocate back in.