albums and tracks

Editor's rating

The rapper's dictionary reads:

Retirement, noun A period of about two years spent guesting on other people's albums and cashing in on your name.

And so, following in the footsteps of Eminem, DMX and others, Jay Z, known to his mum as Shaun Carter, is back.

Released with the minimum of fuss, Kingdom Come attempts to follow in the footsteps of his two finest albums, the awesomely witty The Blueprint and Reasonable Doubt.

There's not so much of the easy charm that dominated thoserecords, indeed Jay-Z sounds like he hasn't really been enjoying histime off as CEO of Def Jam. He's a man coming to terms with his middleage. "I'm young enough to know the right car to buy/Yet grown enough not to put rims on it" he says on 30 Something.

Perhaps it is the pressure of working with such an importantbusinessman but the stellar host of producers, Dr Dre, Kanye West andthe Neptunes, somehow fails to really kickstart the album.

Jay-Z is too clever to ever really be dull. And there are moments when, like the ode to mum I Made It, the gangsta Dig A Hole and the slower Do You Wanna Ride,which features John Legend, when the album lifts. But you get thefeeling that he's out of practice and as a part-time rapper he is notyet into his stride. Another way you can tell that "J Hova" is middle aged is hisadmiration for Coldplay. However, his collaboration with Chris Martin,Beach Chair, is actually rather epic. A few more risks and maybe the next comeback will be really worth having.

Jon Horsley