
(Pic from GQ/men.style.com)
I've been listening to a Jay-Z's Kingdom Come disc this week and I'm not overall impress with this collection. The beats are kinda hot but some of Jay's lyrics were under-whelming[sic] for me. My recommendation is to go to iTunes and download your favorite track(s) as opposed to buying the entire disc. (Christmas is around the corner, save those pennies kids.)
My personal favorites on this much balleyhooed set include the Hurricane Katrina reflective track "Minority Report," in which Jay shows he's a humanitarian rhymer. Another song "Beach Chair," is a nice quasi-rock/rap ballad produced by Coldplay front-crooner Chris Martin, but it really belongs on a Coldplay album. Jigga's dis song "Lost One," is another track that is getting heavy rotation in my iPod. But there are a lot of duds on this set, as well -- particularly "Hollywood" (with Jigga's boo Beyoncé) and that John Legend-assisted rap&b ballad "Do You Wanna Ride?", which really stinks to high hell. "Anything" is my favorite new stripper song. Yeah, pop the bubbly to that joint.
Moving along . . .
I figure I do a roundup of what bloggers had to say about Jay-Z's CD Kingdom Come. Some of these reviews will probably shock you.
Blogger Fresh of Thirty Three Jones blog calls Jay-Z's Kingdom Come the "Best Hip-Hop Album of the Year."
*** Whoa! What CD was he listening to? ***
Fresh writes:
"The criticism that Jay has received for becoming too corporate, for trying to appeal to too broad of an audience, certainly has its merits. At this point in his life, though, it would take an extreme suspension of disbelief to listen to him rap about selling drugs or popping off shots at his enemies. For better or worse, Jay has become a corporate entity, and his lyrics reflect that. He's a grown man now, and this is a grown man's album."
The almighty
Bol (of byroncrawford.com), in his usual acerbic wit, proclaims that
Kingdom Come is this year's official "shit sandwich."
Bol Says:
"This one sounds especially sloppy though, as if he (Jay-Z) didn't spend very much time at all coming up with song ideas or lyrics or even finding good beats to rap over to begin with."
Journalist/blogger
Jeff Weiss wasn't too thrill with the collection either. He believes that
Kingdom Come could leave a blemish on Jigga's stellar rap career.
To wit:
"With Kingdom Come, not only has Jay-Z delivered his worst album yet, he's also invented a new genre of hip-hop: socialite rap."
Jeff also adds:
"His album won't be played until kingdome come, it will be forgotten by the new year. Jay-Z can go back to finding no-talents like Rick Ross and Young Jeezy, sit courtside at Nets games and go back to the penthouse [apartment] where he belongs."
Writer
Omar Mazariego of
Slam magazine, gave
Kingdom Come "3.5 Gangstas." He uses the
Michael Jordan analogy in his review. "Hopefully for Jay this is the #45 Jordan return where his first couple of months were very shaky and the next year returned to his prominence and took home the title," he
writes. "Because if this is Jay’s Wizards return, then God help hip-hop."
This is the most detailed write up of Kingdom Come I have read on the 'Net, so far. It's a LOOONG critique on the disc, so get some popcorn and pull up a chair. Despite its length, there are some funny tidbits.
Blogger Panama Jackson spits:
"Overall, Kingdom Come isn't a classic, nor should it be even believed to be close. The good songs are great and the bad songs require me to really want to ask Jay, 'What the fuck he was thinking?' Jay is basically letting you know where he is right now in his life and how he views the rest of us little niggas (which he says a whopping almost 20 times on the song "Trouble"). He's a grown ass man who does grown ass man things. And he has good credit."
I'll give Jay-Z some credit, he has made the rap game just a little more exciting in the last several days. However, I don't believe Hova will move 850,000 copies in the first week of release, as industry sales watchers are predicting. I estimate more than 500,000 units will be sold, which is not shabby at all in this bleak rap market. In the end, Jigga will prove that Kings do rule.
Next up . . . The Clipse. Crack rap is back!
Holla!