Jay-Z's been counted out a few times, particularly after his disappointing return from retirement. Regardless, the King of New York is once again sitting pretty thanks to his upcoming album “inspired by” the movie “American Gangster.”

As the story goes, the iconic rapper was so moved by a September screening of the Denzel Washington movie, he set out to put his feelings to music. Jay-Z's aural interpretation of the Frank Lucas story (Hollywood-style) may be the most important rap concept album of the year—or the only rap concept album of the year. Regardless of its place in the canon, advance reviews of Jay-Z’s quick-turnaround project are hailing it as a return to his original sound.

New Yorker critic David Denby may lament the deification of a gangster in the Ridley Scott-directed film, yet we think both Jay-Z and Frank Lucas are street antiheros that even the New Yorker can’t depose. Searches for “jay z american gangster album” surged 177% over the past week, a sign the King may soon be back on his throne.

An abundance of news stories about Victoria's Secret attracted searchers' curiosity over the past week. Queries for "victoria's secret models names," "victoria's secret angels," "victoria's secret models," and "victoria's secret fashion show" all surged. Between mystery panty raiders, models appearing on the CBS show "How I Met Your Mother," and the upcoming fashion show telecast on December 4, the popular clothing retailer is the top "secret" at the Search box.

The desire to hunt down the most hush-hush of recipes has folks dialing up "secret recipes," "top secret recipes" (because just plain old secret isn't enough), and "secret food cures." Foodies in the 35-44 age range account for 21% of the queries on "secret food cures," with the contest between men and women split evenly (10% and 11%, respectively).

Love for the Webkinz online community has some stealthy searchers looking up "webkinz secret codes," "webkinz world log in secret code," and "webkinz super secret recipes." Think kids are most interested in sleuthing for Webkinz secrets? Nope, it's adults from 35-54 years old who lead the pack.

We make no secret of the top "secret" searches. Take a gander and see if yours is among them …

Everything old is new again when it comes to buzz. Searches on retro items are hot right now and it's high time to check out these blasts from the past.

Today's retro buzz comes with an up-to-date twist. Queries on "retro myspace layouts" (+46%) and "retro backgrounds" (+39%) demonstrate the appeal of adding a classic twist to modern life.

What other items come to mind when retro reminiscing? We jumped into the time capsule of Search and dug up the top 20...

A couple of retro notes...

—Number 23 is #1 when it comes to retro style. Michael Jordan's classic kicks slammed the Search box.

—Retro candy is one of the sweetest searches we've seen. Save us an Abba-Zaba!