The Bottom Line
It had to come. It was bound to happen. The entire music civilization had completely wrapped itself in the infinite possibilities that could devolve from this single event. Prophecy hunched Def Jam and now we have “Show me what you got” the official first single from Jay’s album.
Pros
- A solid comeback
Cons
- It's only a teaser
- Lacks focus
Description
- "Show Me What You Got" is the first single from Kingdom Come
- The song was produced by Just Blaze
- It samples Flava Flav's vocals from "Show 'Em What You Got"
Guide Review - Jay-Z - Show Me What You Got Track Review
The song is not a colossal event; rather it’s the introduction that precedes a grand spectacle, which may in fact be a tantalizing and disappointing fact for most listeners. The riveting, meandering trumpets create this jazzy prison that allows not even the slightest movement. In spite of that, Jay runs amok with his lyrics, which proves thematically sporadic and un-focused. Jay, lyrically, capsizes the flood gates of consumption, and splashes his flow in all places, and what seems for most of the song, all the time; Jay has that luxury and burden and unabashedly looks to satisfy neither.
He never really even settles down to double-check or double-plaster his bare, haste lyrics that grudgingly muster up one decent moment, Shots of a patron /Now she’s in a zone /I ain’t talking about the 2-3 /Mami in the zone like the homie 23.
In the chorus, Jay seems to be coaxing a choice female to “show me what you got”. But, one would not be entirely wrong if Jay was, say, issuing a self-challenge or what would seem more plausible, was daring the Athena of success to strike again or conjuring the Sirens of his comeback. The possibilities abound. Apropos, this track is more suited for the entrance of a Grecian god like Zeus courtesy of Just Blaze’s horn/trumpet combative climaxes that run throughout the song.
In the end, this is not the song we, as fans, were looking for, but that’s ok, because in terms of Jay, this is the equivalent of a skit on the album.
