At the opening of his new swank sports bar 40/40, Jay-Z commented on his upcoming (and supposed last) album. “I just started, and it’s going all the way back to the roots. I’m bringing y’all back before ’96, [the year of] my first album. I just did something with Rick Rubin, and Mike D was in the house. [Mike] ain’t doing nothing on the album, but just his spirit and his presence was in there. I’m bringing it back, not all the way old-school, but I’m bringing it back.”
Primo has also confirmed his involvement in the album, “He wants me to do two joints,” Primo said recently. “He wants me to do the intro to the album and another song. Jay reminds me of Guru in that Guru always gives me the title to all the songs and I make the tracks what he gives the title to. Jay is the same way: ‘I’mma do a song, and when it gets to this part I want it to do this.’ He’s well thought out about what he wants to do. He says he wants to explain it to me, but he wants to do it face-to-face.”
Other contributors at this point will be Ski, who was heavily involved early in his career, and The Neptunes. The album is tentatively scheduled for a late November release.
