On to the next one

Jay-Z retired back in 2003 after the release of The Black Album.

Kingdom Come. 2006.

Jay-Z was worse off when he came back in 2006. 'Kingdom Come'? Whatever "it" is that Jay-Z had wasn't there anymore. Everyone was in uproar not only at his false retirement but also the mediocrity of Kingdom Come.

I didn't understand where "it" had gone.

American Gangster. 2007.

I saw glimpses of Jay-Z's "it" factor coming back and still relevant in songs like Blue Magic and Ignorant Sh*t.

The Blueprint 3. 2009.

As soon as I saw the tracklisting I was worried. I am a firm believer that an album shouldn't be full of features as I am buying the CD to hear the artist whose name is printed on that very same CD. To me TBP3 seems like a Jay-Z & Company CD. Ruins the whole thing for me... and just to prove a point I say that the best tracks on TBP3 are the ones where Jay-Z is flying solo. That being said he is shockingly awful on some tracks.

All in all, I think Jay-Z is progressively getting back to where he was, album by album. I can't wait for the next one... and with that? On to the next one.

Speak on it.