So Jay-Z’s back. Surprise, surprise.
When he announced his “retirement” in 2003, it
wasn’t long before most of us realized he’d be back.
“The Black Album” hinted at his return more than a
couple times, and his variety of collaborations and cameos since
showed he had no intention of slowing down.
“Kingdom Come,” Jay-Z’s ninth studio album,
proved just how right we were. Hova’s back with an arsenal of
A-list producers, an epic collection of guests and 14 tracks filled
to the brim with self-indulgent verse. On the surface, it’s
everything we could’ve hoped for.
Unfortunately, something’s wrong in the world of Shawn
Carter. If he’s really “the Mike Jordan of
recordin’,” he should return from his retirement to be
better than ever. He should pick up right where “The Black
Album” left off.
But he doesn’t. “The Black Album,” though not
as good as “Reasonable Doubt” or “The
Blueprint,” was Jay-Z’s grandest statement, a towering
monument to his status as a legend while simultaneously proving him
right. It’s a near-impossible album to follow up. Because
after you establish yourself as the best MC alive, where do you go
from there?
Jay-Z answers that for us. With “Kingdom Come,” he
stepped beyond Jay-Z the rapper and played up Jay-Z the celebrity,
an entrepreneur who’s no longer content with his bread and
butter and instead wants the entire feast.
And it’s quite a feast. “Kingdom Come”
includes guest appearances from Chris Martin, John Legend,
Beyoncé, Chrisette Michele, Usher and Pharrell, along with
beats courtesy of Dr. Dre, The Neptunes, Just Blaze and Kanye West.
The music video for the album’s first single, “Show Me
What You Got,” features Danica Patrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
and takes place on the coast of Monaco.
It’s all very impressive and, naturally, confirms
Jigga’s celebrity status.
But let’s set aside the impulse to say, “Wow, all
those guests are great artists; the album must be awesome,”
and take a look at the music itself.
John Legend’s warm but repetitive vocals take up more than
half of “Do U Wanna Ride,” leaving little room for
Jay-Z to rap.
Chrisette Michele’s contribution to the ballad-esque
“Lost Ones” is charming but sounds out of place.
“Hollywood” witnesses Beyoncé far outshining
her boyfriend.
“Anything,” which features both Usher and Pharrell,
sounds like it would fit better on an R&B album than on
Jay-Z’s new release.
And “Beach Chair,” the album-closer featuring and
produced by Coldplay’s Chris Martin, is quite simply one of
the silliest collaborations of the last decade.
All of which makes sense. If you’re going for big names on
your hot new album, some toes are going to get stepped on and some
things are going to sound less than natural. And because of this,
“Kingdom Come” is more a display of celebrity influence
than a demonstration of hip-hop savoir faire.
The problem here is that Jay-Z has chosen his display of power
to be a rap album, forgetting that a rap album is more than just a
vessel with which to prove a point; it’s also 30 to 80
minutes of beats, rhymes, choruses and lyrics. And when these
elements are ignored, the album no longer serves as an effective
symbol for Jay-Z’s celebrity status. Instead, it contradicts
it entirely, calling into question why a subpar rapper with stale
beats deserves such an epic guest list.
Yes, “Kingdom Come” is not what it should be. Not
because Jay-Z is getting old. Not because Jay-Z is resting on his
laurels. It’s because with “The Black Album,”
Jay-Z finally hit the high ceiling of his potential and
wasn’t content to stay there. Always determined to keep
moving up the ladder, Jay-Z finally climbed too high, going from
the world’s best living rapper to a celebrity with
questionable merits, and leaving fans of his music behind.
Duhamel is the Daily Bruin’s foremost Hova-thority. E-mail
him at dduhamel@media.ucla.edu.