KINGDOM COME - JAY-Z ENDS HIS RETIREMENT WITH STAR-STUDDED COMEBACK ALBUM

JAY-Z has officially ended his rap retirement by revealing he's planning to release a new album later this year (06). After weeks of speculation about a rumoured return to the charts, the Def Jam Records boss admits his has been "the worst retirement in history". Jay-Z, real name SHAWN CARTER, declared his 2003 epic THE BLACK ALBUM would be his last album, but he now tells American magazine Entertainment Weekly he's planning a major 2006 comeback with KINGDOM COME. But the rapper insists his retirement wasn't a publicity stunt: "I believed it for two years... (but) something, when you love it, is always tugging at you and itching, and I was putting it off and putting it off. I started fumbling around to see if it felt good." Jay-Z revealed he was thinking about coming out of retirement in an interview this summer (06), while he was secretly recording new tracks with producers KANYE WEST, TIMBALAND and PHARRELL WILLIAMS. Kingdom Come will also feature guest spots from COLDPLAY frontman CHRIS MARTIN and DR DRE. The album is slated for release in November.