<p>So Jay-Z?s back. Surprise, surprise.
<br/>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.
<br/>?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.
<br/>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.
<br/>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?
<br/>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.
<br/>And it?s quite a feast. ?Kingdom Come? includes guest appearances from Chris Martin, John Legend, Beyonc, 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.
<br/>It?s all very impressive and, naturally, confirms Jigga?s celebrity status.
<br/>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.
<br/>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.
<br/>Chrisette Michele?s contribution to the ballad-esque ?Lost Ones? is charming but sounds out of place.
<br/>?Hollywood? witnesses Beyonc far outshining her boyfriend.
<br/>?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.
<br/>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.
<br/>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.
<br/>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.
<br/>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.
<br/>Duhamel is the Daily Bruin?s foremost Hova-thority. E-mail him at dduhamel@media.ucla.edu.</p><br><br><a href='http://www.dailybruin.com/news/articles.asp?id=39136&#039; target='_blank'>http://www.dailybruin.com/news/articles.asp?id=39136&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br>