So last weekend I went to my mailbox to retrieve the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly and whose mug do I see? None other than Jay-Z.
Now, everyone knew that it was just a matter of time before Jay came out of retirement. No one really thought that he’d give up rhyming. It was absurd and made no sense, despite his protests to the contrary.
But c’mon doesn’t the bit announcement that Jay’s coming out of retirement and set to drop his return album in the same quarter that Nas is set to drop his Def Jam debut strike anyone else as suspect?
To me at least is seems like Jay’s giving Nas a “Show You How to do This” type lesson. It’s really like he’s saying “hold up Nas, let me show you how it’s done.”
I mean you’ve got Jay, a guy who admitted to jacking beats from Camp Lo, is prepping his album for release around the same time as Nas. You can’t tell me that Jay didn’t keep some of the beats that were submitted for Nas’s album off to the side for himself. I refuse to believe that Jay didn’t hear a beat that he liked and put it in a drawer for himself.
Furthermore this isn’t even the first time Jay released an album at the same time as Nas did; it happened when Jay put out his Blueprint Unplugged album the same day as Nas’s Stillmatic, which was at the height of their beef. You know that Nas is mutter under his breath right now, like “this cat”¦”
And then when you factor in that Nas’ album is titled Hip Hop is Dead and the title of Jay’s album, Kingdom Come, hails from a story where Superman comes back to save the world, you can’t help but to read between the lines.
Really the one album that most fans of Hip Hop were looking forward to this fourth quarter was Nas’ joint. Fans were curious about how he’d sound, who he’d have producing and would Jay guest on it. But all of that buzz has been hushed now that Jay’s made his announcement.
Jay’s a gully dude, but you gotta love it.
