SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT

And I quote: “Look what you made me do, look what I made for you.” -- Encore from the Black Album.

Look what your boy has done! Jay-Z has stepped out of rap retirement to show us exactly what he’s got on his latest release Kingdom Come.

Kingdom Come has 14 tracks that tell a story chronicling everything from his return to the rap game to when he walks away from it again.

The current single Show Me What You Got, produced by Just Blaze gets me going all the time. Granted it may be considered ‘commercial’ by some, but this track is filled with a bunch of raw energy. Laced with some strong percussion and keys that surround the classic sample of Shaft In Africa and Darkest Light; even if you are not a fan of the Jigga Man, there is no way that you don’t catch some feelings when this is playing.

Hands down I think Lost One featuring Island Def Jam’s new artist Chrisette Michele will be a hip hop classic. From the start Lost One takes you back to the classic sound of hip hop. When I first heard the piano arrangement I thought of Biz Markie’s - Just A Friend and I was transported back into time and hooked. Just a simple beat that gets you nodding your head; then Ms. Chrisette Michele’s smooth vocal comes in and drops the chorus and hook and yes you have just Lost One.

My next favorite is 30 Something produced by Dr. Dre. Right away you recognize Dre’s signature west-coast style, but this time the beat is smoothed out. This is a jam that is just right for us 30 something’s who still love hip hop but need a track that lets us act our age.

The Neptunes added some flavor to the Kingdom with Anything featuring Pharrell and Usher. Loving his delivery on this one and the Neptunes always bring the flavor with their beats. Pharrel, Usher, and Jay-Z. This wasn’t anything but a perfect fit.

Ms. Beyonce made sure she helped her man out by appearing on the track Hollywood. I wasn’t feeling this at first, but after listening to the power couple doing their thing a couple of times, it started to grow on me.

There are cameos from John Legend on the Kanye West produced track – Do U Wanna Ride and Ne-Yo on Minority Report as well.

With the release of Kingdom Come, I am sure that the hard core Jay-Z fans will debate as to whether Kingdom Come is as good as or better than the Black Album. Critics will pick apart his delivery, the production, the beats and anything else they can think of.

But I will say this. In my book Kingdom Come definitely has some tracks on it worth remembering and the Jigga Man showed me what he’s got.

Until next time, Peace.