FiyaStarter.com - Fiya on the Brownstone with Malik Sinsear

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“I'm completely wrong.”
-Steve Smith
Panthers receiver, rumored character
in next Punisher film.

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Brooklynite spitting flames on the current state of his first love, Hip-Hop from his stoop in Bedstuy. He may be from NY, but his love for the culture is first and foremost, so don't expect your typical east-coast bias, on this block. Malik is simply here to kick knowledge and wisdom for your understanding.

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(3 1/2) Fiyaballs

Album Review

Jay-Z - Kingdom Come
This Nigga Finally Acknowledges He's Old!
by: Malik Sinsear, for Entertainment

[Dwayne-The Rock] FINALLY, the Jigga-Man has come BACK to Re-Al-It-Y! [/Johnson]

You see, for the better part of Jay-Z’s run as “that dude” in the Hip-Hop world, he’s had to maintain this “Young” persona because that’s what he thought the kids wanted to hear. Even as he was trading in his jersey for the starched button up/down, he would slip on a scully or put some extra sag in the jeans to level it off. You can’t really argue with the strategy either, because—I mean, shit, look how paid he is. That being said, whether you love or hate the guy, somewhere in the back of your mind you’ve got that picture of him dancing with the Hawaiian shirt on in Jaz’ video and you know that he’s anything but “Young.”

Kingdom Come marks the official acknowledgment from Shawn Carter that he’s done with his second childhood...well, for the most part. The album is filled with grown up shit starting with an explanation of sorts as to why he’s gone the juvenile route for so long. Over a silky smooth track entitled The Prelude, which sounds like it was ripped right from a 70’s blaxploitation flick love scene, Jay clarifies, “I would write it, if y’all could get it, being intricate ‘ll get you wood critic’d.”

After that second slap in the face to his longtime fans (the first being that whole “dumb down…to double my dollars” line), Jay does more grown up type things. Starting with giving Young Chris his whisper flow back and adapting a new one. You’ll be sure to notice it after a few listens. Then Jay gets down to business and tackles those who’ve been throwing shots at him since his “retirement.” Whether they were pellets or missiles, Jay takes aim at them all, from Jim Jones to Game and even 50.

”Shootin' air balls at the basket ,
What y’all call money, I pay more in taxes."

"I used to think rappin’ at 38 was ‘illl,’
but, last year I grossed 38 mill."

"I’m sorta afraid of my future,
y’all respect the one that got shot, I respect the shooter."

It’s pretty clear which lines belong to which rapper.

Not to forget Cam’Ron, Jay saves the lackluster diss track Dig A Hole during the last verse going at his former label mate, or “worker” as he’s called him;

"Only time you went plat,
my chain was around ya neck and that’s an actual fact…
…You’re outside of ya league, that’s not what you do,
niggas was throwin’ ROC signs outside of ya coupe.”

After his backyard is in order, Jay goes back on the grown grind addressing his former business partners and current chick on the lazy Lost Ones. He then justifies his elder statesmanship on the Dr. Dre infused 30 Something and tells momma he loves her like every good son should on I Made It. Just as Kingdom Come seems like it’s hitting its stride, disaster strikes with the overproduced and over-sung, stripper dedication Anything featuring Usher and Pharrell. It’s all over the place and seems like a force within this set of songs. I understand old men do frequent strip clubs a lot, but this isn’t working. Hollywood featuring Carter's upgraded chick tries to be as bad as the Usher and P track, but it simply can’t. In all fairness, the song isn’t bad at all, lyrically. Listening to it a few times gives you some of the most honest Jay-Z content to date, the music just fails to complete it.

To end his mature session of music, Jay offers some social commentary on Hurricane Katrina on the short and insignificant Minority Report, then gets an assist from Chris Martin for the stand out song, Beach Chair. This is the kind of Jay-Z record fans of the music he claims he’s making now feel like they’ve been cheated of. I dunno, maybe he can only do this in spurts, but it's nice to hear every once in a while.

There you have it folks, Jay-Z’s mature responsible man album. If you start to hear rappers incorporate the grown man thing into their music, you can thank Jay…or you can thank Nas who’s going on his third album in a row doing it.

*PS – Death to the Gomez Brothers.