Jay Z - Kingdom Come 10 Year Anniversary Review
Watch the video review here!I remember it like it was yesterday. A young 21 year old me, fresh from Basic Military Training, and currently in Tech School, rushing into the local store, and directly to the music section for the first new Jay Z album in 3 years, Kingdom Come. I had been anticipating it all day long, and probably didn’t pay much attention in class due to the excitement. I rushed into the store, found the album, paid for it, and rushed back to my dorm room to fully indulge into it. This was 10 years ago this week, November 21st, 2006. While I thought the album was good back then when it released, it wasn’t until this past summer that I actually appreciated the album for what it was.
Kingdom Come is a more mature Jay then we had been accustomed to hearing before that point. This was businessman Jay, mid 30’s Jay, in a serious, long term relationship Jay, etc. This wasn’t the same, I’m in these streets, chasing money, cash, and hoes Jay. At age 21, while I thought it sounded ok, I wasn’t quite ready for this album. The lyrics were a bit over my head in 2006, as at the time, I wasn’t really paying any bills, my money was short, I was single, I hadn’t quite lived life to the point that I have now. While I was into lyrics back then just as I am now, when I began listening to this album over the summer, it was as if it was a brand new album. I guess my maturity level had grown after all these years. I could finally understand what Jay was talking about. And I really enjoyed it a lot more than I did before.
Listening to this album in 2016 as opposed to 2006, every single song sounds better to my ears. Jay’s messages in each song are much more clear to me. My father once told me, actually a month after this album was released when he found some questionable pictures of me and a girl from high school, “ If you’re gonna do dirt, make sure to cover your tracks.” On, “Trouble,” Jay says pretty much the same thing when he says, “ If my hand’s in the cookie jar, know one thing. I’m gone take the cookie, not leave my ring.” Not sure why that didn’t click for me in 2006, but it definitely does in 2016. Or when Jay talks about how he donated money but he didn’t donate his time to the Katrina victims on, “Minority Report,” I feel his pain more now. Back then, I would’ve thought that giving his money was a great thing, and wouldn’t have understood why he was making a big deal about about giving them his time. I understand that now. It would mean more for them to see him there, helping, in person, feet on the ground, and also, maybe the money didn’t go where it should’ve went when he donated. I get that now.
That’s not to say that while they sound better to me in 2016, that the album is all of a sudden perfect. While I understand the lyrics a bit more, and think they make more sense, I still think that, “Hollywood,” is easily the worst Jay and Beyonce collaboration ever made. I get the point of the song better now, and I agree with the the theme that the fame is a helluva drug, but it doesn’t mean that that makes the song great. It’s tolerable, but it’s not great. Also, Jay’s 3rd verse on Trouble is no good at all. That verse shows his “ring rust” more than any other song on the project. It’s the only moment that I cringe and shake my head while listening to it. But, it’s really the only time on the album that I do that, and I can legitimately vibe with every other song on the album.
The intro on the album titled, “The Prelude,” may very well be among Jay’s best intros in his career. It definitely set the album off right and made you feel like Jay hadn’t lost a step in his time off. The title track is also great as well and to me, justified his return, because I mean, who really wanted him to retire? What would life in Hip Hop be in 2006 without Jay? There was really no reason for him to retire in the first place, and the first six songs on this album are top notch. Lyrically, Jay was still a great asset to the game, and it was great to hear him in full length form, instead of in featured verses.
At the end of the day, I feel as if Kingdom Come has aged well, or maybe I’ve aged well and I understand the album better. On his 44th birthday in 2013, Jay ranked all his albums up to that point, and Kingdom Come was the album that he ranked last. I can understand why he says this, but I don’t necessarily agree with it, especially not now. This is a very great album, and Jay came back with a strong album that has held up well in the 10 years since it released. I wouldn’t necessarily rank it near the top of his albums, but I’d definitely rank it above In My Lifetime Vol. 1, Vol. 3 and possibly even the Blueprint 2. This was an album that was ahead of it’s time, and many people weren’t ready to hear Jay talking about the things that he discussed here. But it’s funny that now, many people are trying to reach that level of maturity that Jay was speaking of a decade ago. 
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