A LITTLE LIGHT SHED IN 'FADE TO BLACK'.

Byline: Fred Shuster Staff Writer

LIKE WRESTLERS, rappers usually gain market share in increments, battle by battle. New York's Jay-Z came on the scene like a rhyme- slinging Godzilla, instantly conquering much of the pop audience.

The documentary ``Fade to Black'' gives little idea how it went down or exactly why, aside from his popularity, this superstar rapper is about to be named president of a major record company. The film, chronicling a sold-out date last year at Madison Square Garden, reveals only a mere glimpse of the man behind the mogul known to his mom as Shawn Carter. Although also picturing the well-dressed rhyme merchant backstage and in the studio, the feature is rarely more than a standard concert souvenir.

As such, director Pat Paulson does a fine job shooting the action from a variety of angles, imparting a sense of the affinity the packed multiethnic crowd feels with the headliner, who emerged in 1996 after a tough childhood to create nine top-selling albums and spearhead an empire.

The night at Madison Square Garden was trumpeted as Jay-Z's retirement from solo performing, and punchy cameos from fellow stars Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott and others manage to sometimes pull the film out of the ordinary. Blige, especially, is in fine form in duet with the rapper, who strangely suffers from a lack of natural charisma on stage.

A scene at the Garden with crooner R. Kelly, where the two seemed to be getting along just swimmingly, became especially timely this week. A few days ago, Jay-Z said the two urban cowboys were squabbling so heatedly that their current ``Best of Both Worlds'' co-headlining tour had to be entirely scrapped after an ugly incident at the same venue where ``Fade to Black'' was shot one year ago. Lawsuits are flying faster than the f-word.

The new documentary is useful in others ways, even if you're not a stone-cold Jay-Z fan. Most illuminating are scenes capturing the making of what was purportedly Jay-Z's final record, ``The Black Album,'' involving a conga line of top hip-hop producers such as Kanye West, Pharrell and Timbaland.

Here, the veil on hip-hop's beat-making process is snatched off as we witness one of these top guns cooking up a track from presets on a Korg Triton Pro, a $3,000 sampler and keyboard that's standard gear in recording studios.

While revealing, the scene doesn't detract from Jay-Z's dizzying rhyme skills, a fact voiced by producer Rick Rubin, who giddily urges Beastie Boy Mike D to ``watch this. He doesn't write anything down. I've never seen anything like it.''

Now in final negotiations to become president of Universal Music Group's Island Def Jam label, the 34-year-old Jay-Z, who looks more comfortable in a pinstripe suit than in sweats, hasn't needed to write anything down for years. His own Roc-A-Fella record label, clothing line and film company are said to be worth more than $4.4 billion.

Film title to the contrary, Jay-Z's not fading anywhere.

Fred Shuster, [phone]

fred.shuster(at)dailynews.com

FADE TO BLACK - Two stars

(R: language)

Starring: Jay-Z, Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott, Rick Rubin.

Director: Pat Paulson.

Running time: 1 hr. 49 min.

Playing: Wide release.

In a nutshell: Documentary of rapper Jay-Z's supposed Madison Square Garden swan song.

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Rapper Jay-Z's supposed retirement from solo performing is chronicled in the documentary ``Fade to Black.''