Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, deemed as the "savior" of hip-hop, officially returns to the music scene with "Kingdom Come", his first solo LP in three years, the most anticipated album of the year, scheduled for release on November 21, 2006.
Jay-Z re-conquers the rap planet as its lead single "Show Me What You Got" produced by Jus Blaze slipped to radio on October 6 and the mp3 spread through the country like wildfire at record breaking pace way before its official release. In barely three days, the single has over 16 million in audience, topped the Most Increased on the R&B/Hip Hop chart and debuts at 39 bullet on the R&R/BDS Urban Chart.
officially hit all radio formats on a simultaneous release of its video on October 16th, one week earlier than originally planned. "I thought I was retired but, my passion for music had other plans for me. I am overwhelmed with the initial record breaking response!! I am happy to be officially BACK! The video/movie shot by F. Gary Gray is incredible. I can't wait til ya'll hear the album," Jay-Z enthused. The release of "Kingdom Come" is hot on the heels of Jay-Z's Global Express Tour. In 2 months, the tour is hitting over 20 countries on 3 continents. While on tour, Jay-Z participated in the Water For Life campaign in conjunction with the UN and MTV with the mission to raise awareness on the world's water crisis.
His trip is being documented by MTV News and the program, Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life will air on Friday, November 24th. The title track was inspired by a graphic novel of the same name, where Superman comes out of retirement to save the world. Jay gives all the credit for the title to his longtime engineer Young Guru.
"The inspiration came from a song I just did with Guru," Jay explained from Africa, where he's currently on tour. "Guru is into comic books and all types of stuff. To expound upon 'Kingdom Come,' every man has his kingdom, whether it's a security guard at the mall -- that's his kingdom. Hip-hop happens to be my kingdom." Jay-Z commented that any music genre needs events to live on.
"I believe hip-hop needs events, not 'saving,' " Jay clarified. "That's just a play on words. It needs events to keep its freshness and keep going. When rock music didn't have enough events, it went through a downtime, and I guess Green Day, the Killers, Fall Out Boy and guys like that are bringing them back to where they are supposed to be. For a moment, rock was struggling because there weren't enough events. So watching that happen in rock music, it could definitely happen in hip-hop."
Jay says Kingdom Come is absolutely one of those "events" that will keep hip-hop on its course. "It's not like I'm saving hip-hop singlehandedly," he added. "Dr. Dre's album is needed also. We need different albums like that -- big albums." ...
JAY-Z is currently exclusively featured in a series of commercials for the TNT "Let The Truth Be Told" campaign. The series includes eight different 30-second spots that show Jay Z sharing his 'truths' during a thought-provoking interview on core themes, such as competition, talent, stardom and legacy, during a ride through the streets of Manhattan in the back of a chauffer-driven car.
The underlying essence of the series tracks the stages of a superstar athlete, which parallel that of an entertainment mogul. 
