So yeah, Kingdom Come fucking sucked, but hope springs eternal: Jay-Z’s new album hits in November, and it’s a concept album based on Ridley Scott’s upcoming film American Gangster. (Here are two pieces on the whole thing: A solid one by Tom Breihan over at the Village Voice, and a slightly less solid one over at The New York Times.)

Maybe more importantly, though, the first single from the album is out: “Blue Magic,” produced by Pharrell. It’s solid enough, if nothing mindblowing. (Then again, it’s better than anything on Kingdom Come, so at least there’s that.) I’ll be curious about this one, but at this point, at least for me, good ol’ Hova’s gonna have to put out something pretty amazing to break out of his has-been status.

Jay-Z - Blue Magic

Thanks to Chas for the heads up.