Jay-Z released his comeback album Kingdom Come in 2006 after announcing his retirement from the game a few years prior. Upon its release, critics and fans branded the LP as one of his lesser realized works as a result of his situation during the time that he recorded it. During an interview with Complex.com, Young Guru revealed that L.A. Reid forced Hov to rush the recording of the album to give Def Jam a boost, forcing him to record the album while on his Water for Life campaign.
“Now, everything rides on this Jay-Z album. Jay goes on a world tour and goes to Africa to do his Water for Life thing. He’s doing all this stuff and L.A. Reid is looking at me, like, ‘We need the Jay album by the end of the year,'” he says. “I’m like, ‘We’re not ready. I have some songs but it’s not done and he’s in Africa.’ They’re like ‘If this shit doesn’t come out, people are getting fired. I can’t pay my bills, this record has to come out at this time.’”
Guru insists that he tried to push back the album because Jay was overseas, but was instead sent to Taiwan to spur the recording of the album. Jay was tired from performing to massive arenas, which Guru says may be the culprit for the LP’s quality.
“I’m begging, ‘Can I please push this back? He’s in Africa’ and they’re like, ‘Alright get on a plane.’ I ended up meeting Jay in Taipei, Taiwan and we didn’t really get to record until we got to Australia. But it’s like, you’re in the middle of a world tour doing soccer arenas that hold 60,000, to 100,000 people,” he continued. “He’s doing a show with 70,000 people and then I’m asking him to go to the studio right after that; his voice is gone. We’re in a foreign place trying to catch a vibe so it’s like double work. Not only did you have to memorize and do a two-hour show, now I’m asking you to be creative. This is why you get Kingdom Come.”
Read the full feature at Complex.com.
RELATED: Young Guru Talks Jay-Z’s New Solo LP, Says “Watch The Throne 2” In Consideration
i know people hated this album, but i still think jay was spittin. The younger audience couldn’t relate to songs like “30’s the new 20” cause they were to busy trying to make lil wayne their jay-z at the time.
I aint the biggest YMCMB fan I just put that as my name to piss u off. But I love it how this article has absolutely 100% nothing to do with Lil Wayne and yet he still on your mind.
^^^
no, seems he is on your mind.
I agree with the poster below me. It wasn’t as big as his previous releases but it was still a quality tape filled with some memorable songs. “Beach Chair” is honestly one of my favourite Jay tracks, hate if you want.
booooooooooo. Jay-Z’z albumz suck hard. diz nigga aint Weezy. swag
Tha Carter III & IV > JAY + BEYONCE + DEIR DAMIEN KID
I still rocked this album pretty hard.
Jay’s “worst” album is still better than most rappers whole careers.
Album was still tuff… That Kingdom Come track produced by Just Blaze was fire…
That title track was hot. I liked Lost Ones too. The rest of it sounded like an old guy showing off his past accomplishments.
Album is nice. Got some classics on there. Lost Ones has gotta one of my fav Hov tracks. Love the Prelude too. I remember listening to this record pretty steady when it dropped.
Only song on the album that was nice was Lost One…the rest of the album was pretty shitty…sound like he just tryna give an excuse to why it was garbage
excuses, excuses, excuses.
It still went platinum.
Are you illiterate? What does lil Wayne have to do with this nothing?
*marks your comment irrelevant*
I still don’t know how to feel about this album. As a whole, the album was definitely his worst. But if you take the 4-5 best songs from this album (Lost Ones, Beach Chair, Etc.) it stands up there with some of his best work…
LIES LIES LIES LIES
like it not, “Kingdom Come” was Jay’s ** most HONEST ** record ever, he was mostly bullshitting before and after. there he tried to step it up and couldn’t get people to feel it.
lyrically it blows away everything he’s done since and much of what came before.
And it still was a lyrical beast, many people didn’t like it, but I still think it was grown man rap
I agree, completely underrated. He murdered that album.
kingdom come was dope.. damn
THE ALBUM IS ACTUALLY UNDERRATED. DIDNT LIKE THE WAY JAY WENT AT DAME THOUGH. EVEN THAT SHOW ME WHAT U GOT WAS NOT BAD NIGGAS JUST HATED THE VIDEO SO MUCH THEY SAID THE SONG WAS TRASH. THAT BLUE PRINT THREE WAS GOD AWFUL THOUGH THATS WHEN JAY LOST HIS SWAG AND HAD TO BEG THAT SKIRT WEARNING NIGGA KANYE TO LET HIM RIDE HIS WAVE AND HOST OF GHOST PRODUCERS AND WRITERS
YEAH I AM WE KNOW ITS STILL MMG OVOXO YMCMB
first time I’ve seen you not eating dick in your comments.
didnt really like dis albulm but BP3 wasnt dat good of an albulm either so it’s a toss up to which one was his worst work.
Man fuck LA Reid. That old geezer the reason why Kingdom Come was average. As a fan of Jay, he dont release mediocre shit and its cuz that old nigga LA Reid wantin to line his pockets with cash. No wonder his old ass got kicked out of Def Jam. BTW to all the Jay haters, Jay was forced to record this album and it still shit on most of ur favorite rappers albums.
i see Jay got the gay community behind him!
And that is why Jay Z is top 5 DOA! Work ethic over haters.
Wish he would have told me before I copped the album!
That explains everything about Kingdom Come. But I still don’t understand what happened with Blueprint 3.
Blueprint 3 was dope, what are you talking about???!!!
He got away with putting out a half ass rushed product and has been doing it ever since. Nothing hes done post black album has even come close to his previous stuff.
Point blank period, co-sign-iture!
Im a jay fan…and i 100% agree. people call AG a classic in 2008 but i still felt that was rushed too. the best work he’s done since was actually on watch the throne and even that sucks next to blueprint 1 or black album
boo hoo hoo
so what happened wth BP3? …
Instant classic? Agreed.
Ok, seriously though. It was still a good album. Better than Kingdom Come.
I thought BP3 was dope. Was really creative and had a good sound.
Speaking for myself, I don’t see what the problem was with the album. Could it have been better if it wasn’t rushed? Yeah, but u can almost say that about anything. Lyrically, he was on point with it. I think people got caught off guard by the “sound”. The same thing can be said about BP3, Jay is not a young man by hip hops standard, so I don’t know what people are expecting from him realistically.
young Guru is a guy who’s paid as a jigga media hype, and social personality!
And yet Jay doesn’t care what any of us thinks. He gets his numbers off every album. That’s the sign of a businessman. Someone who isn’t a slave to what’s popular. He almost dares you to hate every move he makes. WTT was trash to you? So what. It went platinum. Chucky D. can’t wrap his mind around N’ in Paris? So what. I’m sure thousands of people at their sold out shows know every word to the song.
you have a point, to an extent. He’s a superstar no doubt, but the fact that these albums only go platinum tells you something, if they were all multiplatinum, one after another then he would be in Eminem’s position, selling 3-4 million per album just in the US whether its horror core with accents, or all radio friendly. But Jay knows how limited his subject matter is and he doesn’t care, people still buy it, they all reach platinum, and his shows stay sold out. But I think he’s looking more for gimmicks now than ever before, but whatever, let him do it till he’s bored and hangs it up
He wants to be a common or a talib but this type of creativity doesn’t sell.
A man in his position and how far he came, had come up in age, took a drastic turn and threw away some of his belefs and principles in order to remain in the top position to cater to a music scene that went through some drastic changes within a very short period of time.
Now if we look at the occupy wallstreet incident you get a clue of where jay is coming from and how he makes his chess moves
Chuck D doesn’t need to wrap his mind around niggaz in paris, he’s done way bigger things. He’s fightin a struggle trying to teach the youth about unity and community,keeping there eyes on the real goal.
YMCMB CAUSE IT’S COOL TO RIDE DICKS NOW
Jay is the greatest to ever do it
nah gtfoh
nah get the fuck outta here
^^ If you can come up with a rapper that has had a better rap career, I am all ears.
Eminem and tupac. U dickriding faggit
Jay is the undisputable GOAT. Look for another genre, Hip Hop ain’t for you. He recorded a half assed pop album and still droppeed unmatched wordplay and flows. I bet the majority of it went straight over your head.
no fuckin way you cum guzzler! eminem is not the same as he once was and Jay-Z passed tupac in consistency fuck outta here fagget!!!
U flaming homo. I know u wished to suck jay’s dick. Eminem is still better than Jay and we have Nas too among others. Tupac is been dead for 16yrs but still sold more albums than camel so wtf u talking about son? Go rape ur sister.
eminem sucks
Nas is better. Stupid nigga.
Excuses, excuses.
I always liked this album actually. I still think its better than Blueprint 2 – to me that is his weakest album, but of course there a handful of classics on it.
excuses excuses…..
If true, this make a lot of sense.
The first couple songs are dope then the album takes a huge nosedive.
Now I am a firm believer that Jay is the GOAT, but this shit sound like some silly excuses. It isn’t like the nigga be out there getting his hammer on. Maybe a two step here and there, but for the most part, he is just walking around on stage. So I don’t know how he gets so tired from that.
you’re fuckin stupid. walking around on stage? really? what are you, 10?
I thought the same thing. If nothing else it would seem like rockin stadiums as Jay was doin would inspire u to get in the studio rather than tiring u out. But then again,I’m not a rapper so I could B wrong
it’s still better than BP3, BP2, American Gangster & Vol. 1…sounded like alot of his albums – some ill shit and some wack shit
East Coast Rappers like NAS, Jay Z and Biggie continue to influence young MCs. Check out this young kid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2FxmH0gnrM
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D East (State Of Chaos) Stay Bitchin (Stay Schemin REMIX)
Lets get some likes going! SOC in the buildin!
Kingdom Come had a few good songs though. Like someone said before me. A few good songs alot of poop.
THE ALBUM IS ACTUALLY UNDERRATED. DIDNT LIKE THE WAY JAY WENT AT DAME THOUGH. EVEN THAT SHOW ME WHAT U GOT WAS NOT BAD NIGGAS JUST HATED THE VIDEO SO MUCH THEY SAID THE SONG WAS TRASH. THAT BLUE PRINT THREE WAS GOD AWFUL THOUGH THATS WHEN JAY LOST HIS SWAG AND HAD TO BEG THAT SKIRT WEARNING NIGGA KANYE TO LET HIM RIDE HIS WAVE AND HOST OF GHOST PRODUCERS AND WRITERS
MMG OVOXO YMCMB
It was better than Bluprint 3.
and Jay had SOOOO much time to record that one
Jay doing a half assed pop album and still being better than all of the rappers out there skillwise >>>>>>>>>
People rate it off the poppy sound alone, but Jay destroyed everything on there lyrically and flowwise. Maybe his best album when it comes to showing off his skillset.
KINGDOM COME >>>
BP2
BP3
Vol 1
Vol 2
Vol 3
But tat’s not saying much.
Best Jay albums in order…
Blueprint – Classic
Black album – Classic
Reasonable Doubt – Classic
Dynasty – 4 star
American Gangster – 4 star
Kingdom Come – 3.5 star
Vol 2 / 3 – 3.5 star
BP2/ BP3 / Vol 1 – 3star
that still was a hot fucking album…..
fucken executives, they never understand the creative process, all they care about is the dollar – fuck L.A Reid
Most underrated album by a GOAT contender right after I Am.
it always bugs me when Americans say ‘Africa’ as if they are referring to a country the size of England. You will never hear someone say ‘He is in Asia’, they’d mention the exact city by name, e.g. Tokyo or Shanghai. This ‘Africa’ shit needs to stop, there is more than 50 countries there.
Right. They act like the continent has no history. Like it’s just a big poor “country”. That shit definitely needs to stop.
You could tell, cause that was Jays worst.
My Jay-Z 3 favorite albums:
“The Blueprint”
“The Black Album”
“Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life”
Then how do you explain Blueprint 3 being wack as fuck and American Gangster being straight up average at best.
Go somewhere, Guru. Stop sucking Jigga’s penis. That album was just a flat out dud just like every album has been post Black Album…and yes…that includes that Watch The Throne nonsensical trash.
DX could start to prepost your comments for a Jay article. ‘BLAH BLAH I TRY TO HATE ON JAY TO COVER THE FACT THAT I HATE MYSELF BLAH BLAH!’ Sit down, you fool. Shit’s starting to get obvious. You just make yourself look stupid by calling an album like American Gangster average. Your pointless tirades are what I would call nonsensical trash.
Nas is better than jay hands down!
that’s the best joke I heard today
Shit excuse from Young Guru. Jay used to release albums every year at a time when most artists would take two. He “retired” for three years knowing he was gonna come back. I’m sure during that time off he was already cooking up ideas in his head. The album was destined to be sub par no matter the circumstances. Jay’s only valid excuse might be that he was rusty from the three year lay off.
People can’t call an album that still managed platinum a failure. Doesn’t mean it was his best, and it’s definately not the first subpar Jay Z album. That said, if it still achieved what he intended it too, then Guru should just shut the fuck up. You never heard Jay talk about it. It’s one album. Take it or leave it.
Makes sense half of the song sounded like album filler…but Blueprint 2 was garbage I know he was focus 4 dat one.L.A. Reid dropped T.I. b4 he blew so dude not known 4 having patience.
@DACHILDOFHIPHOP
Actually I listened to this album a few years after it came out and it’s not that bad. I’ll say it’s a grown up album. A lot of the songs make you do some thinking. I actually enjoy this album more than BP3.
Actually the album did not sound half bad when I bought it. It definitely had a GROWN MAN feel, unlike some of his other works. He made an album where he didn’t want to do another Vol. 2 album, with Money Cash Hoes part 2 or Big Pimpin pt. 2. He wanted to make an album that had some real meaning not just a bunch of radio/club ish like vol. 2 had. He said it himself on 106 & Park the week of the album’s release, “We as hip hop artist make disposable music..not saying I’m not guilty of it too, because I am”. So please lets not hate on an artist like Jay wanting to make a more thought provoking album than Vol. 2 and Vol. 3. Kingdom come was a good album concept wise, beat wise it was ok, over all it was cool….People was just mad that he didnt have another “I Just Wanna Love You feat. Pharrell” on there SMH
nah nigga that album was straight trash, worst off his wack ass discography. and reasonable doubt was only a classic in jays eyes, no one bought that shit when it dropped smh
It definitely had a OLD MAN feel to it AG MADE UP FOR IT THOUGH
this Album is not for sensitive thugs… is for people realist and as you can see he’s doing what he said he will none of your best can do the words they rap about… fucking lames can never be Hov