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Music

Still hungry

It's been 10 years since rapper Jay-Z leaped onto the scene with Reasonable Doubt, and he's still got a lot to say.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 28, 2006

NEW YORK - As white-tuxed Jay-Z stood onstage at Radio City Music Hall, celebrating the 10th anniversary of his debut album, Reasonable Doubt, and planning a world tour, it seemed as if a wide chasm separated the hungry rapper who made that dazzling debut and the mogul on the mic.

The Jay-Z of 10 years ago was virtually unknown. The hottest Brooklyn rapper back then was the Notorious B.I.G., and Jay-Z wasn't even signed to a major label when his first record came out. Now, Jay-Z - also known as Shawn Carter, president of Def Jam Records - is one of the most successful, respected figures in rap history.

But lest anyone think he is getting comfortable as a nostalgia act, Jay-Z quickly corrected them onstage Sunday night. Launching into a blistering, mostly unprintable freestyle, he affirmed that even semiretired, Jay-Z is still the most captivating figure in rap today.

"I am the nicest!" Jay-Z declared, as the sold-out crowd stood on its feet, demanding more.

Fans will soon get it. Jay-Z has announced that he will go on tour this fall in a jaunt around the globe - to Seoul, Beirut, Dubai, Johannesburg and Sydney, to name a few stops.

"There's a lot of places I haven't been," he said in an interview two days before the concert. "They've heard my music, but they've never really seen me perform live . . . This really makes me want to go out and perform. I'm looking forward to going overseas."

Though American fans won't likely see another Jay-Z performance for a while, they may get a chance to her some new music. Though Jay-Z vowed that 2003's The Black Album would be his goodbye to recording, his recent concert appearances (he staged a major show last year and has made cameos with performers including the Roots) and his guest appearances on tracks such as girlfriend Beyonce's new song have industry insiders rumbling that a new album may be on the horizon.

Jay-Z won't rule out cutting short his so-called "retirement."

"I go back and forth with it" he said. "I believe the industry as a whole needs certain events to happen to sustain it and keep it alive. You need (Dr.) Dre albums, you need Eminem albums, you need 50 (Cent) albums, you need big artists, you need major events that happen . . . So when I look at it in those terms, I believe that an album is needed."

But he added that he viewed his role as president of Def Jam as equally important, not only to help change the system, but to give rappers something to aspire to after their hits wane: "You have a three-year run and then no one ever hears about you . . . But now there's something attainable."

Not that Jay-Z ever needed to worry about falling into the "Where Are They Now" category. As his concert proved, Jay-Z has become not only one of hip-hop's but pop music's evergreen performers, still managing to look and sound fresh 10 years down the road.

Few rappers would be able to pull off rhyming about hustling crack on the corners of Brooklyn while standing behind a full orchestra, a band and DJ while dressed in cocktail party attire. But Jay-Z pulled it off.

"I never lost sense of who I was - not for a day, not before I had a record deal, and certainly not after," he said. "I believe that's why I'm sitting right here with you today. It didn't change it one bit."

[Last modified June 28, 2006, 06:40:52]