Show Me What You Got comes in three flavours on Jay-Z's comeback single: clean, dirty and instrumental. Unlike a lot of Hip Hop songs that are rendered ludicrous by self-censorship, the clean version actually comes out more sprightly and more free-flowing than the rude one.
Crediting no less than 6 writers, Show Me What You Got is a sharp and snazzy mix of big band break beats, the brass part from Shaft In Africa and Public Enemy's Show Them What You Got. This melange runs dramatically behind the rap, creating a tapestry of counterpoint and jerky rhythms, cymbal solos and scintillating sax, all mixed together by Just Blaze. It's one of the few times an instrumental version is more than filler, from its drawn out, echoing first notes on.
Jay-Z (with backup shouting by king of clock-loversFlava Flav), is on terrific form, teasing and tantalizing with bursts of fast rhyme between the catchy chorus, as club-friendly and mellow as In Da Club. "This is a state of emergency" he announces, before going on to weave the usual web of boasts, toasts and innuendo. It may not be fresh ground lyrically, but it's smart and playful. Let's hope the whole of his new album, Kingdom Come, is this good (although the inclusion of Chris Martin on the producer list is worrying).
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