But she knows we cannot - no, we cannot - let that moment define our lives, our decade. Then the chorus comes in, with Alicia pointing us to the sky to remind us of that concrete jungle, fallin’.

And Hov himself, soaring over the beat like an eagle, tear in his eye he still flies. The crashing drums, echoing like that horrible day’s endless thunder. Shame this is one of the tracks where he decided to try out an incredibly awkward and unpleasant flow, but Alicia does all the heavy lifting with that stargazing chorus and perfect bridge anyway.Ĭhris Boeckmann: I can’t listen to this song without being reminded of the tragic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Thoroughly enjoyable.Īl Shipley: You’d think Jay would be able to pull a big crowd-pleasing NYC anthem out of his ass any day of the week, so it’s either restraint or distraction that’s kept him from doing so for the first half dozen singles of his post-retirement career. Martin Skidmore: Is Jay-Z en route to becoming the first rapper to go Vegas, to become a mainstream entertainer? Is this what he wants? Despite my love for the likes of the Wu, I kind of want that to happen, and this will do no harm, despite some language not tolerated outside his genre.

Pharrell WilliamsĪnd in this week’s NME, he gets to meet Ian Brown!…

Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment.

Email (song suggestions/writer enquiries).

Alicia keys jay z empire state of mind