Quick backstory: I'm not too proud to admit that it was Puffy, B.I.G. & Mase who really got me into hip-hop at the tender age of 11. "No Way Out" was the first CD I ever bought, and on it, my introduction to Jay-Z. I couldn't tell you what drew me to Hov, but whatever it was, I ended up saving my allowance money for "In My Lifetime: Vol. 1" - the second CD I ever bought. Since then, and for as long as I can remember, Jay has been my favorite emcee. I have a very fond memory of buying The Blueprint on bootleg in Queens before the album dropped and abusing the hell out of that disc. To this day, "The Blueprint" & "Reasonable Doubt" are two of my favorite albums. I even have a particular soft spot for "The Blueprint 2", go 'head, make your jokes. Now, let's fast-forward to today: at press time, I've got nothing but disdain for the man, plus, a laundry list of emcees I would put over Young H-O. I haven't even been compelled to write about it until Sunday night. While browsing the internet, I came across a remix to Timbaland's "Give It To Me", off of his new (and very wack) LP. It's got Timbaland, Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z on it, and if it weren't for Jay's 16, it would be just as unremarkable as the rest of Timbo's album. The beat is typical Timbo: Pepsi can, glue stick, Tic-Tac's and paper clips. Justin adds nothing to the song except for a lame hook. Jay, however, spits his best verse since "The Blueprint 2"-era. So, he's still got it...right?Let's rewind a little to right after the release of "The Blueprint 2". Although slightly bloated, I will still maintain that it's the best double-album in hip-hop and if trimmed down to one-disc, could hold it's own next to his best work. After the album dropped, Jay started talking about "The Black Album". It was meant to be a short, 12 song affair if I can recall, taking it back to his "Reasonable Doubt" style of rhyming. A prequel of sorts. He was going to handpick 12 producers (Dr. Dre & DJ Premier didn't make the cut, although they were rumored to have done work with Hov prior to the album's release) and make a cohesive, well-rounded LP. Oh, and retire after it's release. This wasn't the first time Hov announced his retirement - his original plan was to retire right after "Reasonable Doubt" dropped. Well, that never happened. Neither did his plan to retire after "Hard Knock Life: Vol. 2". But Jay was getting older, and at this point, had nothing else to prove to anyone. If Jay was going to retire after "The Black Album", then so be it. Although there were many doubters (and rightfully so), I thought maybe this was really it, Jay had bowed out gracefully.
For the record, I don't really like "The Black Album" a whole lot. I didn't like how on most of the songs he was talking about retirement and getting out of the game. I felt it was corny that he had his Mother on there, talking about how Jay didn't give her any pain when she gave birth to him (which is clearly bullshit). I didn't like how "What More Can I Say" is merely a retread of "Hovi Baby". I thought that Eminem's contribution to that album was downright awful. I was upset that The Neptunes didn't give Jay a "La La La" or "Give It To Me" - I've heard better Neptunes beats on Gwen Stefani albums. But regardless, Jay knew it was time to throw in the towel, and he did, sorta. Hov started popping up on remixes and on guest spots. Some of his guest verses were fantastic ("Go Crazy", "Diamonds From Sierra Leone"), others, not so much. I still told myself he wasn't going to come out of retirement, he was just doing these guest verses to boost the profile of the artists on his label. Then came "Show Me What You Got"...
So Jay had officially cemented himself as the Hulk Hogan of hip-hop, proving to everyone what we already know - hip-hop is next-to-kin to pro-wrestling. Entertainment Weekly broke the story - Jay was back, and bigger than ever! "Show Me What You Got", Jay's comeback single, to be quite blunt, was and still is downright awful. It's a schmaltzy, Las Vegas-ized version of "Hovi Baby" and "What More Can I Say", with Jay's worst songwriting to date. It's embarrassing. I don't even want to talk about it. However, it would make great entrance music for Jay if he ever decided his true calling was working for Vince McMahon. Then came "Kingdom Come", the title track. Good, albeit simple Just Blaze beat, with Jay flowing nonsensically over Just's "Superfreak" chop. A real missed opportunity, just like "Oh My God" - where Jay claims his life is like "Grand Theft Auto, PSP" and name-drop's My Chemical Romance, maybe in an effort to appeal to his new fanbase - 11-year old kid's. Then again, I don't know if an 11-year old Lyle would like this shit. "30 Something" - a track where Jay declares that "30's the new 20" and talks about how he goes to parties to hang out with nice girls - is a definite low-point of the album, along with the cheesy "I Made It", which sounds to me like a broke-ass "December 4th". "Beach Chair" which is co-produced by and features Coldplay's Chris Martin is another missed opportunity, and Jay never allows Martin to shine on the track, just regulating him to hook-duty. I tried fronting, pretending like I really did like "Kingdom Come", even putting it on my favorite album's of the year list, but I had to face facts: the record sucked, and Jay was on the decline. I'm not even going to address how Lil' Wayne absolutely murdered "Show Me What You Got" - showing how lethargic Jay has really become. It makes me real upset, no joke.
So maybe this verse on that Timbaland song is a sign that the Jay we know and love is on his way back. I'll let you be the judge:
Timbaland - Laff At 'Em (Feat. Jay-Z & Justin Timberlake)
