What More Can He Say?
I realise of course that this is probably a little late for most people. After all, the ruler has been back for over a week now, with the release of the retirement busting Kingdom Come from the irrepressible Jay-Z, and most of you have probably already made up your minds already. But for me, whose Amazon pre-delivery arrived only today (great service boys), it is an interesting time. And so I have had the album on repeat and am on the third play-through and am still confused. I can't decide if this is really poor, a classic awaiting confirmation from greater familiarity, or just an average album from a man not normally disposed to mediocrity.
It suffers of course from over-hype and expectation, and from the fact that it follows a bonafide great album, the supposed last word of the Black Album. Of course there are some beat-driven highlights (but where is Timbo? Possibly still timetravelling to the land of Futuresex) and a Jay-Z album is never going to be completely bereft of lyrical genius. But the question lingers as to just how much of interest Jay has to say at the moment and why he returned at all. It's not as if the game is crying out for him to save the day, and the truth is that his really, truly great moments come from a place of need, whether coming out (Reasonable Doubt), coming back (Blueprint) or signing off (Black Album). What is tantalising is that this is unlikely to be the last we hear from him on platter. His quest for true greatness in the hip-hop canon demands that this can't now be his last word. And so when he does decide enough is enough we can possibly expect another classic. But to do that he needs to find a hunger again, something real and of real import to say, otherwise his comeback may ironically be the nail that really punctures his legacy. And as an interesting footnote, in two weeks one time nemesis and new label-mate and colleague Nas drops his own long-player, Hip-Hop Is Dead. Word on the streets is that it is a real return to form and so we will see who is wearing the King of New York crown as 2006 ends.
It suffers of course from over-hype and expectation, and from the fact that it follows a bonafide great album, the supposed last word of the Black Album. Of course there are some beat-driven highlights (but where is Timbo? Possibly still timetravelling to the land of Futuresex) and a Jay-Z album is never going to be completely bereft of lyrical genius. But the question lingers as to just how much of interest Jay has to say at the moment and why he returned at all. It's not as if the game is crying out for him to save the day, and the truth is that his really, truly great moments come from a place of need, whether coming out (Reasonable Doubt), coming back (Blueprint) or signing off (Black Album). What is tantalising is that this is unlikely to be the last we hear from him on platter. His quest for true greatness in the hip-hop canon demands that this can't now be his last word. And so when he does decide enough is enough we can possibly expect another classic. But to do that he needs to find a hunger again, something real and of real import to say, otherwise his comeback may ironically be the nail that really punctures his legacy. And as an interesting footnote, in two weeks one time nemesis and new label-mate and colleague Nas drops his own long-player, Hip-Hop Is Dead. Word on the streets is that it is a real return to form and so we will see who is wearing the King of New York crown as 2006 ends.
<< Home