Leaked Jay-Z Songs Find Usher Singing To Strippers, Ne-Yo About Katrina
Over the past few days, versions of what is purportedly Jay-Z's Kingdom Come LP have hit the 'Net and streets. While Def Jam moved up the release dates for some of his previous LPs due to leaks, the label doesn't have any plans to do so this time around. And Jay doesn't appear to be fretting, either: At the BET Hip-Hop Awards over the weekend, he was all smiles. Maybe it's because, on the leaked material, Jay sounds as sure of himself now as he ever has.
Kingdom Come sounds different than a lot of the Jay-Z tracks we've heard in the past, but that's Hov's MO: to switch up producers on you. Among the crop of material leaked online, there isn't anything produced by Timbaland, one of his main go-to guys. His other clutch beat homie, Pharrell, has just a single tune on there labeled "Anything."
That song is a bouncy -- we mean really bouncy; Usher croons "bounce, bounce" on the track -- soundscape in the vein of Twista's Neptunes-produced "When I Get You Home (A.I.O.U.)" (from The Day After). On the hook, Usher -- a longtime friend of Jay -- sings to strippers both professional and amateur, crooning, "Anything you want, girl/ I bet you never seen it like this/ Just stay up on the floor, girl/ And I'll grant all your wishes." Jay chimes in with a spit about throwing dough, sprinkling the lyrics in with his typically witty metaphors: "They money is lighter than Nicole Richie/ Roll with me, they on a diet, baby."
One of the next tracks, "30 Something," is a collaboration between Jay-Z and Dr. Dre. Matching Jay's theme that "30 is the new 20," Dre gives him a funky piano and jazzy swing on the track. Here is a grown-up Hov who doesn't have his pants sagging and isn't afraid to discuss his maturation -- like getting good credit, owning basketball teams instead of just ballin', and choosing the sands of San Tropez, Jamaica, over South Beach, Florida. "Y'all go to parties to ice grill, I go to parties to party with nice girls/ Young boys gotta chill," he raps.
"Dig a Hole" addresses the jabs that have been thrown at him -- and gives him a chance to lob a few subliminal ones at the Diplomats. Obviously anything that has to do with Jay-Z and disses is going to be compared to "The Takeover," but "Dig a Hole" is not that. Jay doesn't call names, and it's obvious that he just doesn't have the zeal to go after people he feels aren't worthy opponents (as he did with Nas). Hov even says on the song, "It's hard to do when you got nothing to prove. Everybody knows you battle/ You in a lose/lose ... Real n---as is like, 'Wow, Hov, you talking to dude.'
"Only time you went plat' is when my chain was around your neck," he says later, alluding to Cam'ron's 2002 Roc-A-Fella debut, Come Home With Me. He later addresses Cam's allegations that when Cam was shot last year in Washington, D.C, his assailants threw up the Roc-A-Fella hand gesture.
"Minority Report" (featuring Ne-Yo) is Jay-Z's take on the Hurricane Katrina disaster. And while he does admonish the government for its slow response, he also points the finger of blame at himself. "Sure, I ponied up a mil, but I didn't give my time," he rhymes. "So in reality, I didn't give a dime or a damn/ I just put my monies in the hands of the same people that just left my people stranded."
While there is no word from Def Jam as to how many of the leaked tracks will make the album, the label said "Lost Ones" is one that has definitely made the cut. Jay just shot a video for the track, in which he talks about his breakup from friends and business partners Damon Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke and the death of his teenage nephew. Among the guest list that Jay recorded with during the Kingdom Come sessions are Beyoncé, Coldplay's Chris Martin, Kanye West, Swizz Beatz and John Legend (see [article id="1543337"]"Jay-Z Almost Didn't Come Out Of Retirement -- But Now 'It's On' "[/article]).
Jay is in a special place right now. When he released his debut album a decade ago, the veterans in the game such as Rakim, Big Daddy Kane and KRS-One had to make room for Hov's generation of MCs, which also includes Snoop, Nas and Biggie.
Now Jay, who's well into his 30s, finds himself in a similar situation where he has younger heavyweights like Lil Wayne (who sounds the hungriest), the Game and Young Jeezy on his heels. But much like Snoop and Nas, Jay is not ready to bow out.
And as long as the desire and talent are still there, why not let fans hear from two generations of MCs?
