Few pop "retirements" have caused as many eyebrows to raise as that of Shawn Carter, aka Jay-Z. In 2003, when he seemed to be nearing his peak, he announced he was walking away from hip-hop to pursue acting. Until then, his trajectory had been a lesson in how to succeed in hip-hop, culminating in multimillion-selling albums, a chain of bars and even his own signature training shoe. Which made the decision odd - surely any businessman realises the peril of ignoring one's core industry?
Presumably Jay-Z has decided to relaunch his singing career because the acting didn't amount to much beyond some adverts, although he has kept himself busy by becoming president of Def Jam Records, and this week he was honoured as Best International Male at the Mobos. This comeback world tour was launched with UN secretary general Kofi Annan, to heighten awareness of water shortages. The ludicrous subtext could only be found in hip-hop: Jay-Z comes back to save the world (after himself).
Indeed, he arrives on stage like a messiah in a flash of white light, reminding us what we've missed. Apart from possibly Eminem and Kanye, the man in the white hoodie is the greatest living rapper. "Only two resting in heaven can touch me," he insists in one dazzling flow, presumably referencing Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls. Jay-Z made his reputation on minimal old-skool live shows that emphasised vocal dexterity, so it's unusual to see him embracing cliches he never needed, from visual pyrotechnics to wizened old call-and-response routines.
Over AC/DC's Back in Black riff, 99 Problems blisteringly demonstrates Jay-Z's unusual perspective on marriage guidance: "If you're having girl problems, I feel bad for you, son. I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one." One of those 99 is that until the arrival of the new album, a collaboration with renowned hip-hop homie Chris Martin, he is reliant on old material, which gives things a slightly nostalgic, dated feel. The 36-year-old even raps about "six bottles of Cris", having dropped his threat to stop promoting Cristal champagne after he declared that director Frédéric Rouzaud made remarks that were "racist". Did Jay-Z bottle it, or can he no longer be bothered? Old hits flow like, er, Cris but he seems tired of dividing the crowd into "dogs" and "laydeez", and one of hip-hop's most intelligent men should be above this.
However, he stops going through the motions to pay tribute to hip-hop's fallen: Jam Master J, Tupac, Biggie and Lisa Lopez. At the end of an uneven night, it's a poignant reminder that in hip-hop, retirement is usually permanent.
· At Birmingham NIA tonight. Box office: 0870 909 4144. Then touring.
