Review: Jay-Z's Kingdom Come

This album has parental advisory for explicit lyrics, guess the clean cut is not yet out.

Kingdom Come: the Title song is a typical song of assertion. Most of Rap artists seem to be stuck with this theme. But the presentation is good, great beats, well-cut. Lyrics go....I am the Hip-Hop Savior, after this flow, you might owe me a favor- Kingdom Come; I am showing growth, I am in charge....step aside, Superman is here....I run the streets, the streets don't run me...but music composition is well-done. very different.

Show me what you got - not again any different in terms of lyrical content - song about the ladies - but with Jay -Z, this one has come out with great orchestration.

Lost One - Slow number with Crisette Michele, very different sounds - but lyrics do reflect maturity, reject the explicit content. Lyrics go...she lost one, let go to get one....One thing with Jay-Z is his extraordinary ability to compose with R & B kind of vocals, present it in integrated manner. Good number in all respects.

Do you wanna ride: Great music, so well suited to be sung with John Legend; the beats is top-notch, surprised why Jay-Z did not make this the debut video - it would reached, appealed a wider audience; not much of lyrics; but a experiment - a project in Jay-Z's own words - an absolute success.

I made it: is song for all the moms, the struggles/ the grease/ they go through. Popular theme. Not unique/ Same goes for the numbers with Beyonce - the but the one 'Hollywood' - is well done, again Jay-Z's extraordinary ability to fuse power vocals with Rap liners is amazing. Lyrics in this number is intelligent - a pot-shot on the Fame seekers.

Minority Report with Neyo - is a political statement- for the victims of Katrina. Well executed number, the sound of rain, back-ground commentary can set the listener thinking. Lyrics go...telescopic planes didn't pick you....Helicopters.

But I am particularly impressed with the number 'Trouble'. Lyrics go....I tried to pretend that I am different, but we are all the same....never gonna change....stops the overflow, when the levee breaks, papers writing stories like didn't they know, this is what happens when they made the rapper a CEO....with my hands in the cookie jar know one thing, I am going to take the cookie, not leave my ring/ end/This one number alone, for its lyrical content has taken this album to a new level. I would say, there is phenomenal maturity in this one. It could go down as the one with the best lyrics in the recent times.

Overall - Kingdom Come is a refreshing break-away from the existing sounds in the rap market. Lyrics I wish weren't so explicit, but I guess if one reflects the sound of the streets, wherever it is art cannot be different for different genres.

Good One Jay-Z. You have set a new bench-mark for yourself I guess.