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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Kingdom Come
by Jay-Z


7.1

based on 23 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 67 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

Roc-A-Fella

Forget retirement. The legendary rapper and Def Jam head has resurfaced after a three-year hiatus, with an album that finds him joined by some of the biggest names in hip-hop (Dr. Dre, Timbaland, Pharrell Williams, Kanye West) and alt-rock (Coldplay's Chris Martin).

LABEL:	Roc-A-Fella
RELEASE DATE:	21 November 2006
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Rap

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Observer Music Monthly

While many will no doubt have set the bar of their expectations too high, Jay-Z has pulled out all of the stops on Kingdom Come.

RapReviews.com

"Kingdom Come" is everything you expected.

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Kingdom Come follows the same sturdy formula as The Black Album, Reasonable Doubt, and The Blueprint, with a minimum of guests, a reasonable running time, and trendy beats from top producers. But the urgency just isn't there.

Playlouder

People who hate the venality and misogyny of modern mainstream rap will find this a particularly joyless experience, but this unwavering and energising disc at least has the courage of its convictions and makes the immediate competition look like the mealy mouthed twats they are.

musicOMH.com

The album doesn't reach the heights of the seminal Black Album but is an exciting opener to a hectic schedule for Def Jam.

The Guardian

At 37, he's still at the top of his game.

Entertainment Weekly

Four duds out of 14 tracks isn't a fireable offense. But shouldn't the corner-office mogul demand more of his top earner?

PopMatters

Kingdom Come is a solid record, and entirely worth the cost just to hear Jay-Z spit a new song, but in the end it just can’t live up the expectations it tattoos all over itself.

Rolling Stone

On Kingdom Come, the highs are really high, and the lows are really low.

Dot Music

This is far from being a bad album - Jay has never made one of those, nor given the impression he is capable of doing so - but it rarely rises to the levels he has consistently reached.

Prefix Magazine

At its best, Kingdom Come is about possibility. At its worst, it pales in comparison to past albums.

Billboard

His ambitions and self-awareness have grown nearly as much as his net worth. [2 Dec 2006]

Los Angeles Times

If he wants to save hip-hop, as he claims, Jay-Z needs to think beyond his usual game. He has the smarts and experience; perhaps his next comeback will show more royal ambition.

ShakingThrough.net

Kingdom Come is exactly the kind of rote product Jay-Z seemed to want to avoid when he "retired": It's a victory lap without a victory, a rare instance of a rap superstar blowing his own horn and yet sounding half-hearted about it.

Uncut

Whilst a gift for converting arrogance into entertainment has always been one of Jay-Z’s strongest suits, Kingdom Come skirts perilously close to the showboating that marred 2002’s bloated double album, The Blueprint 2.

Blender

He never quite rises to this lofty occasion, and without anything to prove other than that he can come back whenever he pleases, he reverts to gloating. [Jan/Feb 2007, p.81]

Pitchfork

He's grown up, alright. With the energy Jay brings to most of these tracks, you'd think 30 was the new 60.

The New York Times

“Kingdom Come,” then, captures the sound of a grown-up rapper trying to make a grown-up album -- whatever that means. It’s a fascinating experiment, and a halfway successful one.

All Music Guide

A display of complacency and retreads.

Stylus Magazine

Kingdom Come is Jay-Z at his least inspired, and, yes, that includes the R. Kelly collaborations.

Slant Magazine

If all of Jigga's future records sound as labored and flat as Kingdom Come, do we really need him back?

cokemachineglow

Its problems are both wide-reaching and acute, an album full of tiny misfired rhymes and shiny-dildo drum hits that add up to what I’ll go ahead and label Jigga’s second worst record, after 2002’s abysmal The Blueprint 2.0.

NOW Magazine

Jay proves that, yes, he really has nothing more to say except to state the fact that he's back.

The average user rating for this album is 7.1 (out of 10) based on 67 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Music Lover gave it a10:
Jay-Z definitely gets a little more experimental on this album. He's got those casino-type beats & a cool collaboration with Chris Martin. Lyrically, he ranges from topics like Hurricane Katrina & his nephew to Hollywood & getting older. This album really brings Jay-Z back into the game after his "retirement". I don't know if American Gangster will be this good, but I hope so.

305 Dade gave it a10:
This album was ahead of his time. I agree that he didn't use much energy but the overall skill on this album was amazing. I was tired of everyone sounding the same. This album wasn't all about drugs, snapping fingers, and/or being gangsta. It was what we needed.

J-MAN gave it a9:
Rap album of the year! Not the Black Album, but definitely tighter than ANYTHING else ANYONE else is doing in hip hop. Great Album.

Michelle K gave it a9:
I Think this is an awesome album.Yeah, he's done better ie The Black Album but this is still a great album. Best Tracks: Lost One, Hollywood, Anything, Dig A Hole

Thomas Jefferson gave it a0:
This album puts me to sleep. It is such a disappointment after the CLASSIC black album.

Mahmoud R gave it a0:
More of the usual overrated garbage from Jay. The track with Beyonce just might be the worst track in the history of hip hop

[Anonymous] gave it a10:
This album is hot....i loved it....for all you haters...you guys dont know that this is the new beginning for jay....and all these wack ass new rappers are going down...cause the king is BACK!

Kingdom Come by Jay-Z

Kingdom Come
by Jay-Z