Halleluia! The Possible and Probable Return to Form of Jay-Z!!

MtvHD plays the Jay-Z Last Waltz-esque doc Fade To Black often enough that I now have it's running order in my DNA. I can flick channels and show up right as Jay launches into "I Need Love" by LL Cool J, or the moment that you watch him click with Timbaland's beat for "Dirt Off Your Shoulders." It's an amazing document of an artist in his confident victory lap mindset and it's a joy to watch. Well, it would be a joy to watch if it didn't remind you of Jay's exit from retirement with the terrible Kingdom Come.

After that fatal misstep I hoped Shawn Carter might have learned his lesson and left his recording career be for fear of further tainting his sterling reputation. However this New York Times article reads like he might have found his mojo. Apparently he'll be recording an album inspired by the new Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe movie American Gangster. Judging from the lyrics they quote in the article and the hunger in Jay-Z's discussion of the album (which is being rushed out in November! Take that Radiohead) I'm banking that this is going to be a huge comeback. It is officially the album I am most looking forward to in the next coming months and I am leaping out of my skin just typing about it.