Jay-Z Returns!
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Jay-Z - Show Me What You Got
Clearly, news this big cannot wait. Jay-Z’s new single! The single that will take him out of his always unbelievable retirement! The return of hip-hop! Hyperbole! Exclamation marks!
Okay, I’ve been playing this song on repeat for the last hour. Here’s what I’m thinking:
1. Jay-Z’s flow and lyrics seemed a little phoned in at first. But it is growing on me with every listen. I’m loving it now, literally smiling while I write this.
2. Nice Just Blaze beat. The Flava sample doesn’t quite work, and the rhythmic clutter would have overshadowed any other rapper, but Jay-Z is the master of the track. Note that he’s not making any concessions to anything that has happened in hip-hop since he released Black. No hyphy, snap, crunk. Nothing Southern at all. He comes back riding an organic, big beat, big horn East Coast beat at a time when the New York sound is less popular than it has ever been.
3. It’s a fall track. He didn’t come back with a summer banger. A triumphant return that includes both major and minor chords.
4. Yes, there’s a Jordan reference.
Welcome back Hov.