WORD Magazine - The Soul of Urban Culture

The lights dim out and the curtains, with a barely recognizable silver image of Jay and his hat brim hiding his eyes, peel back. Centre stage, a random voice speaks over the subtle spotlight of a hypnotically soft instrumental - "all things must come to an end," he says. In a celebratory fashion, the show begins at his birth, 10 pounds and causing his mother no pain - a special child. From there, the story is a braggadocio autobiography of the persona, Hov. Daddy left, and remaining was a void filled by bitterness. Adolescence would introduce Shawn to the cold, quick, cruel world of the street economy. In this stage he would discover a gift with words - an emcee without the filter of a pen and a pad - rhyme creations, his mind's creations: a griot with a financial agenda.

He would come to espouse, in his prime, a pride in his own contradictory personality, boasting, "I'm like Che Guevara with bling on / I'm complex."

Simultaneously, in this saga, the rap world would remain consumed in its obsession with finding the Gretztky, the Jordan, the Tiger Woods, an undisputable #1. In this obsession, the contradiction of the artistic gift shaped and shifted by the sleepless hustle would make him a real contender. With the passing of Big L, Big Pun, Biggie, and Pac, the falling from rap dominance of KRS ONE, and the rarity of such huge commercial success combining with such genius, as watered down as he may have been at times, were all factors making Jay's recent claim, "I'm supposed to be #1 on everybody's list" on "What More Can I Say", a serious possibility. If not Jay, then who? Possibly, Andre 3000, Snoop, Scarface, LL Cool J, Eminem, Pharoah Monch, or Nas? For some, Nas earned the crown with "Ether," his ferocious response to Jay's initial jab "The Takeover." Even Hov admitted the loss in a post-"Ether" battle remix of Bubba Sparks' "Ugly" where he recognized that, "I lost the battle / but I'm a win the war." So as Bush lost the election, but became President, few would deny that Jay, similarly, found his dome laced with the crown. This, too, is part of the story.

Not to say he hasn't earned his position. Eight years, nine albums. Six nominations for the upcoming Grammy awards. Platinum sales on all discs, except for the first, Reasonable Doubt, a gold classic. Respect as a lyricist among lyricists. A DJ's safety net: if the crowd is stale, throw on that staple Jay-Z set for a sure winner. The face and voice of an empire - Rocafella, Rocawear, now moving into liquor, film, books, cell phone covers, the deal with Reebok, and prospects that continue to grow. In the midst of it all, the announcement of his retirement from rap. Conscious of how rapidly the rap world moves, where recording careers of over forty years enjoyed by geniuses like Louis Armstrong are no more, Jay is cutting out before he becomes irrelevant. The strategy is self-admitted on the Timbaland produced "Dirt Off Your Shoulder," where he spits, "I drop that Black album / then I back out it / as the best rapper alive" - a moment of honesty concealed behind a veil of cockiness which fades, ironically, to a sample of the same claim from the mouth of the late, great Big L. The words are haunting, "the best rapper alive."

Being that he's been speaking of retiring since his first record, this, though not believable, should not be a surprise. So it comes in the perfect package - a sold-out farewell concert at Madison Square Gardens, six Grammy nominations including Best Rap Album for Blueprint 2 and the perfectly packaged and marketed, as well as his highly anticipated, Black Album.

As so many wonder 'why?' the answers lay within his lyrics. On a cut called "Allure," he laments his current dilemma with the music saying that, "It ain't even fun no more / I'm jaded / man, it's just a game / I just play it to play it." On the album's first track, "December 4th," in the 'need to be loved' vein espoused by 50 Cent where he told all that, "I want them to love me like they loved 'Pac," Jay reasons that, "They say they never really miss you 'til u dead or u gone / so on that note I'm leaving after this song." It's obvious that, it is Jay's season. He has ripened into the "greatest" of this rap minute (which is even shorter than New York minute), while he has also reached a point of boredom. The fun, the flash, and the love have become blurred into a game played for the sake of playing it - played because he had to. And so, to be truly missed, rather than over staying his welcome, he is making his exit. This exit is before a massive audience, an audience encompassing all of Hip Hop, and pop-culture, before which he stands making an uncompromising demand, "as I go, make me King." And so his demand is contemplated.

Though an unquestionable lyrical genius, this genius has sometimes been wasted on lack-lustre efforts. While The Black Album is a remarkable record, Jay has not always operated at the level of his actual talent: "I dumbed down for my audience / and doubled my dollars / they criticized me for it / but they all yelled 'holla.'" In the same breath he adds that, "if skills sold / truth be told / I'd probably be / lyrically / Talib Kweli" and that, "truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense."

Hov holding back has been suspected by many Hip Hop enthusiasts all along, and is also a surprise to many at the same time; but, it is at this moment of retirement that such honesty is possible, as he is able to, at least slightly, let the mask slip. Though he has constantly laced albums with exceptional songs, none of his albums since his debut have contained as much food for thought as this current album. With the exception of The Neptunes-produced club banger, "Change Clothes," the album is unadulterated quality music and avoids the formulaic hit making approach. From tracks like "99 Problems" with its James Brown "Man's World" surface level misogony, and much deeper overall point, or his vividly emotional "Moment of Clarity," cut after cut can not be denied. It is an effort reminiscent of the proverb which states, "live each day like it was your last." Now imagine if he had made each album like it was his last.

Yet, instead of letting his mask slip, or letting his cool crack, he is walking away. DMX said he was going to do it too. Nas was discussing doing the same. Even 50 Cent has mentioned the idea. As a grown man, in his thirties, can we really hold it against Jay that he wants to walk away from making albums? While he could make music truly reflective of all that he has seen, his other option is to keep up the masquerade. For example, LL Cool J, is married with a wife of 16 years and four children, but his musical persona is still that a young, single bachelor.

So on this stage where it was foreshadowed that "all things must come to an end," he is choosing to walk. Is he really gone after this though? He has already said that he will still make guest appearances. In fact, his only promise is that he won't make another album unless the music really inspires him again. Once more, we can return to his own lyrics, this time looking to the song "Encore" where he says, "As fate would have it / Jay's status / appears to be at an all time high / perfect time to say goodbye / when I come back like Jordan / wearing the 4-5 / it's not to play games with you / it's to aim at you / probably maim you." Knowing this, we can let him go, in the back of our minds expecting, or hoping for his return, being braced for the possibility that he is using such lines to play with us. But we need not mourn: remember that Jordan came back; on top of that, who saw Lebron coming?

In this tangled and complicated performance of an endless search for the greatest, and a world where differentiating between suave marketing and real meaning becomes increasingly difficult, the performance ends and the question changes. Rather than asking "Is Jay-Z really retiring?" or asking yourself whether or not you believe that this is the last Jay-Z album you will ever hear, ask yourself 'so what if it is?' As the lights close, and the curtains bring back the image of Jay hiding the windows of his soul with the rim of his cap, there is no need for a sense of tragedy; rather, we can celebrate this great emcee, as we remain firm that even better have been born and their skill will in time be revealed.

So we close with the words of the man who could say it better than most, "we'll see what happens when I no longer exist."