Magna Carta Holy Grail

Magna Carta Holy Grail (alternatively written and stylized as Magna Carta... Holy Grail)^[3] is the twelfth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z. It was made available at first for free digital download for Samsung customers via the Jay-Z Magna Carta app on July 4, 2013. It was released for retail sale on July 8, 2013 by Roc Nation, Roc-A-Fella, Island Def Jam, and Universal Music Distribution, as well as the final release by Roc-A-Fella before the label was shuttered. The album features guest appearances by Justin Timberlake, Nas, Rick Ross, Frank Ocean and Beyoncé. Most of the album was produced by Timbaland and Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, while other producers included Boi-1da, Mike Will Made It, Hit-Boy, Mike Dean, No I.D., The-Dream, Swizz Beatz, and Pharrell Williams among others. The album was promoted through various commercials presented by Samsung and was not preceded by any retail singles.

The album spawned three successful singles, "Holy Grail", "Tom Ford" and "Part II (On the Run)" featuring Beyoncé. Multiple other songs on the album achieved chart success including, "FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt", "Oceans", "Heaven" and "Picasso Baby". Additionally, the album was supported by three concert tours: Legends of the Summer (co-headlined with Justin Timberlake), Magna Carter World Tour and On the Run Tour (co-headlined with his wife Beyoncé).

Upon its release, Magna Carta... Holy Grail was met with mixed reviews from music critics. Some complimented the album's production and composition, while others were disappointed with its overall theme and found many songs repetitive. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 528,000 copies in its first week, making it Jay-Z's 13th consecutive studio album to top the chart. On September 2, 2013, it was announced that the album was certified double platinum by the RIAA, for shipments of two million copies. At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, the album was nominated in six categories, winning the award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Holy Grail" featuring Justin Timberlake.

On September 23, 2010, rapper Q-Tip confirmed working on Jay-Z's twelfth studio album, with a tentative release in 2011.^[4] By May 2012, reports arose that he was working on new music with Roc Nation producer Jahlil Beats. In an interview with XXL, Beats stated: "Me and Jay-Z been going back and forth. He picked a couple of my joints that he's working on. I don't even wanna say too much about Jay, but we definitely working on some stuff. I haven't even sent him a bunch of beats. I sent him my favorite stuff. He hit me right back like, 'Yo, I'ma go in on this,' or, 'I like this.'"^[5] The album development was kept a secret, but The-Dream hinted about a new Jay-Z album in an April 2013 interview with Hot 97.^[6]

Leading up to the album's announcement, Jay-Z served as an executive producer for both the film The Great Gatsby and its soundtrack, The Great Gatsby: Music from Baz Luhrmann's Film, which he and film directorBaz Luhrmann worked together for two years .^[7][8][9] The opening song, "100$ Bill" by Jay-Z contains a chopped and screwed beat, electro-rap elements and is written in the perspective of a modern-day Gatsby, it was both co-written and produced by E*vax one half of electronic rock duo Ratatat.^[10][11][12]

In late 2011, it was confirmed three songs had been recorded and one of which featured Frank Ocean which would end up being "Oceans", the oldest song that appeared on the album.^[13] The recording for "Oceans" and production for "Holy Grail" were completed in 2011, during the recording sessions for Jay's collaborative album with Kanye West, Watch the Throne. West wanted the two songs to appear on Watch the Throne, however Jay-Z chose to keep them for Magna Carta Holy Grail.^[14] After Watch the Throne was released, Jay-Z chose to go on a worldwide concert tour instead of devoting more time for the album. Following the end of the tour, the main bulk of recording sessions for Magna Carta Holy Grail took place at Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz' Jungle City Studios in New York, where Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé Knowles were also working on their albums at the time. Jay-Z described the recording process as having a "minimalist approach" to give Magna Carta Holy Grail a "1990s feel".^[15]

While working on Beyoncé's fifth studio album, frequent collaborator Timbaland played Jay-Z the instrumental for what would become "Picasso Baby". According to Jay-Z, that song built the sound of the album. Jay-Z and Timbaland had grown apart after they worked on The Blueprint 3, but reunited for this album. Timbaland ended up handling the majority of the production on Magna Carta Holy Grail. In an interview with BBC Radio 1, Jay-Z stated that while the two have recorded many songs in the past, it was not until Magna Carta Holy Grail that they got the chemistry to collaborate for a whole project.^[15] Producer J-Roc described "Picasso Baby" as "just New York". He told XXL that he and Timbaland "were really just feeling the city, the energy that it gives out" and were inspired by the "numerous different cultures and different dialects or sounds."^[16]

La parte instrumental de " FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt " fue creada por el productor Vinylz, quien se inspiró en un discurso de Pimp C que encontró en YouTube . Tomó una muestra de la voz de Pimp C para la introducción y luego creó la instrumental en poco tiempo. Después de que el también productor Boi-1da añadiera elementos a la producción, la canción fue enviada a Rick Ross, quien tenía la intención de usarla para su próximo álbum. Jay-Z iba a añadir un verso como invitado, pero cuando escuchó la instrumental, quiso la canción para su álbum. Timbaland añadió cambios adicionales antes de que masterizaran la versión final. ^{[ 16 ]}

En 2012, Jay-Z contactó al productor de GOOD Music, Hit-Boy , para trabajar juntos en Magna Carta Holy Grail . Hit-Boy creó la base instrumental de "Somewhereinamerica", una canción que inicialmente iba a aparecer en el álbum debut del artista de Grand Hustle, Travis Scott . Mientras estaba en el estudio con Jay-Z, Scott le tocó la base instrumental y a Jay-Z le gustó al instante. ^{[ 17 ]} La base instrumental de la canción "Crown" fue creada por la productora canadiense de 16 años, WondaGurl . Ella había colaborado con Travis Scott en su mixtape Owl Pharaoh y luego produjo otra canción para su próximo álbum. A Scott le gustó la base instrumental y comenzó a desarrollarla con Mike Dean . Luego, los dos se la dieron a Jay-Z, quien grabó "Crown" sobre ella. ^{[ 16 ]}

Overall, Jay-Z worked extensively on the album's production with producers such as Swizz Beatz, Timbaland and Pharrell Williams who were also featured in the Samsung commercials promoting Magna Carta Holy Grail. He had also worked on the album's production with Jahlil Beats, Boi-1da, Mike Dean, Kanye West and Mike Will Made It, among others.^{[18][19][20][21]} He had also been seen in the studio with various recording artists such as Drake, The-Dream, Raekwon, Nas, and Timberlake working on the album.^[6][20]Mike Dean told Sowmya Krishnamurthy at MTV Hive that a preliminary leaked tracklist was only partially correct.^[22] The final track listing revealed guest appearances by Timberlake, Frank Ocean, Nas, Pharrell, Swizz Beatz, Rick Ross and Beyoncé among others.^[23]

On June 16, 2013, during the fifth game of the 2013 NBA Finals, Jay-Z was featured in a new commercial by Samsung where he announced that his twelfth studio album would be titled, Magna Carta Holy Grail and would be released on July 4, 2013. He was seen speaking to producer Rick Rubin in the studio about the album saying, "[It] is about, like this duality of how do you navigate through this whole thing, through success, through failures, through all this and remain yourself." The commercial featured producers that are confirmed to be on the album including Timbaland, Swizz Beatz and Pharrell Williams. The album was made available for free download on July 4, 12:01 a.m. EST, to the first one million Samsung Galaxy S III, Samsung Galaxy S4 and Samsung Galaxy Note II users of a new app.^[6] Shortly after, Billboard said that the Samsung deal would not count towards the sales figures used by Nielsen SoundScan to compile their charts.^[24] The album was then released for retail sale three days later, on July 7, 2013.^[25]

Leading up to the release of the album, Jay-Z released selected lyrics of each song daily, via the Samsung app. This included "Holy Grail", "Heaven", "Oceans", "Part II (On the Run)", "BBC", "Jay Z Blue", "Versus", "La Familia", "Tom Ford", "Beach Is Better", "Crown", "Picasso Baby", "F.U.T.W.", "Nickels & Dimes" and "SomewhereInAmerica" in order.^[26][27][28] On July 3, 2013, the cover art of the album was revealed in a photo where it was placed next to one of the four surviving copies of the album's namesake (the 13th-century English charter) in Salisbury Cathedral, England, and it remained on display there until the end of July.^[29][30] The logo for the album was inspired by an art piece by Be Andr from 2009 named 'Untitled (art)'.^[31]

During the 2013 Grammy Awards, Timberlake and Jay-Z performed their hit single "Suit & Tie".^[32] Following their appearance on Grammys, rumors of a stadium tour between the artists were raised as a result of Jay-Z's posts on his Life + Times website; he posted series of venues with the note "#LegendsOfSummer this week".^[33] The Legends of the Summer Stadium Tour was officially announced on February 22, 2013.^[32] The tour begun on July 14, 2013 in London, England.^[32] Starting in October 2013, Jay-Z toured Europe on the Magna Carter World Tour. It began on October 3 at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England and concluded on October 29 at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam, Netherlands.^[34] The North American leg followed that, and it ended on January 31, 2014.^[35]

El 11 de abril de 2013, Jay-Z lanzó la primera canción del álbum titulada "Open Letter". La canción fue una respuesta a las críticas por su quinto aniversario de bodas, que tuvo lugar en Cuba . Esto se debió al embargo vigente de Estados Unidos contra Cuba , que les obligaba a solicitar un permiso para visitar el país. ^{[ 36 ]} La canción fue producida por Swizz Beatz y se incluyó en el álbum como pista adicional. El 10 de julio de 2013, el sello de Jack White , Third Man Records , anunció en su sitio web que habían llegado a un acuerdo para lanzar Magna Carta Holy Grail en vinilo , confirmando también que "Open Letter" se incluiría como pista adicional exclusiva para la edición en vinilo y que habría "algo [más] muy especial planeado para la edición en vinilo". ^{[ 37 ]} Se creía que la aparición de "Open Letter" solo en vinilo no se aplicaría a todas las áreas del mercado, pero luego se descubrió, tras el relanzamiento del vinilo a principios de 2015, que "Open Letter" estaba oculta como un huevo de Pascua dentro de la solapa trasera del empaque, que requería que el comprador cortara la parte posterior para obtener el sencillo en forma de disco flexible , construido como una "tarjeta reproducible". ^{[ 38 ] [ 39 ] [ 40 ]} Third Man originalmente iba a lanzar "Open Letter" en forma de sencillo de vinilo diseñado como una carta reproducible. ^{[ 41 ]} En una entrevista con Hot 97 , Jay-Z dio detalles sobre el lanzamiento del sencillo, diciendo: "Está en una carta. Puedes jugar con la carta. Es increíble... Abres la carta y puedes jugar con la tarjeta". ^{[ 41 ]}

The song "Holy Grail" features vocals from singer Justin Timberlake and served as the album's first single.^{[42][43][44][45]} It was produced by The-Dream, Timbaland and Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, with additional production from No I.D. and containing elements of Nirvana's 1991 hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Following the release of the album, the song debuted at number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100^[46] and number 24 on the UK Singles Chart.^[47] The song has since peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100.^[48] The music video, directed by Anthony Mandler, was released on August 29, 2013, making social media history as the first time a clip from major artists debuted strictly on Facebook.^[49]

On September 26, 2013, the album's second single "Tom Ford" was serviced to urban contemporary radio in the United Kingdom and then on October 15, 2013, to rhythmic contemporary in the United States.^[50] Prior to its single release, the song peaked at number 39 on the US Billboard Hot 100.^[48] "Part II (On the Run)" featuring Beyoncé was serviced to contemporary hit radio stations on February 18, 2014 as the album's third single.^[51] The song has since peaked at number 80 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[48]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Magna Carta Holy Grail received "mixed or average reviews" based on a weighted average score of 60 out of 100 from 42 critic scores.^[53] In The New York Times, Jon Pareles wrote that Jay-Z was trying to transition from his pop sensibilities but had not yet found a "reliable alternative" on Magna Carta Holy Grail, where his raps were often mismatched with rigidly produced tracks.^[64]AllMusic's Andy Kellman believed the record was hastily produced and despite occasionally impressive lyrics, Jay-Z's pop culture references sounded reflexive.^[54]Spin magazine's Jordan Sargent said the songs sounded at once overly elaborate and unfinished, along with similar but less momentous themes in comparison to Watch the Throne.^[62] Jesse Cataldo from Slant Magazine deemed it a self-important album marred by shallow name-dropping, while accusing Jay-Z of becoming disinterested creatively because of his increased success.^[65] Evan Rytlewski of The A.V. Club felt the rapper had exhausted the end of his rags to riches narrative and was unable to reinvent himself beyond gloating superficially about his riches.^[55]The Daily Telegraph's Helen Brown found his boastful references heavy-handed and the album unchallenging, albeit enjoyable for "the lazy listener".^[56]Greg Kot wrote in the Chicago Tribune viewed that, apart from well-written moments on "Oceans", Jay-Z Blue", and "Nickel & Dimes", most of the album was inconsequential.^[66]

En una reseña generalmente positiva, Randall Roberts del Los Angeles Times quedó impresionado por la energía y las muestras de la producción, aunque pensó que el álbum no era tan intelectual o aventurero como su título sugiere. ^{[ 57 ]} Uncut escribió que tuvo éxito principalmente como un intento de Jay-Z de "equilibrar su gran riqueza, su dura historia y su responsabilidad periodística sin perder su garra". ^{[ 67 ]} El crítico de NME, Louis Pattison, dijo que carecía de una presencia radical como la de Kanye West para complementar las maduras reflexiones de Jay-Z, pero aun así lo mostró como un letrista sagaz comparable con Bruce Springsteen o Bob Dylan . ^{[ 59 ]} En The Observer , Kitty Empire creía que, si bien la producción diversa atraería a los oyentes al principio en lugar de la predecible "enésima vez" de Jay-Z de su historia de la pobreza a la riqueza, los temas se vuelven más interesantes en escuchas posteriores debido a sus sorprendentemente preocupadas reflexiones sobre la paternidad y la caridad. ^{[ 68 ]} Robert Christgau de MSN Music dijo que quedó convencido después de varias escuchas por las canciones familiares, que le parecieron divertidas en un disco que enfrenta al "hombre negro como rebelde artístico contra el hombre negro como pilar de la familia". ^{[ 58 ]}

Magna Carta Holy Grail fue certificado platino por la Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) el día de su lanzamiento debido a un acuerdo con Jay-Z y Samsung , donde acordaron comprar un millón de copias del álbum para ofrecer a sus usuarios de forma gratuita. ^{[ 75 ]} El álbum finalmente debutó en el número uno en la lista Billboard 200 de EE. UU. , vendiendo 528,000 copias en su primera semana. ^{[ 76 ]} Este se convirtió en el 13.º álbum consecutivo número uno de Jay-Z en EE. UU. ^{[ 76 ]} También superó su debut previsto en el rango de 350,000 a 400,000. ^{[ 76 ]} En su segunda semana, el álbum se mantuvo en el número uno en la lista, vendiendo 129,000 copias adicionales. ^{[ 77 ]} También se convirtió en el primer álbum de rap en pasar dos semanas consecutivas en la cima desde Tha Carter IV de Lil Wayne (2011), a pesar de la caída del 76% en las ventas. ^{[ 77 ]} En su tercera semana, el álbum bajó al número dos en la lista, vendiendo 77.000 copias más. ^{[ 78 ]} En su cuarta semana, el álbum bajó al número tres en la lista, vendiendo 62.000 copias. ^{[ 79 ]} El 5 de septiembre de 2013, el álbum fue certificado doble platino por la RIAA por envíos de más de dos millones de copias. ^{[ 80 ]} A finales de 2013, el álbum vendió 1.099.000 copias en Estados Unidos, convirtiéndose en el décimo álbum más vendido del año. ^{[ 81 ]} En 2013, Magna Carta Holy Grail fue clasificado como el 12.º álbum más popular del año en el Billboard 200. ^{[ 82 ]} A febrero de 2014, el álbum había vendido 1.130.000 copias en Estados Unidos. ^{[ 83 ]}

El 22 de junio, Jay-Z organizó una búsqueda del tesoro viral en Brooklyn, Nueva York, como parte de su iniciativa "#NEWRULES" con Samsung. Los 100 ganadores recibieron una carpeta que revelaba la lista de canciones. ^{[ 84 ] [ 85 ]}

Notas

• ^{^a} significacoproductor.
• ^{^b} significa un productor adicional.
• "Holy Grail" cuenta con la participación vocal adicional de Terius "The-Dream" Nash .
• "Picasso Baby" cuenta con la participación vocal adicional de The-Dream y Zofia Borucka Moreno .
• "Tom Ford" cuenta con la participación vocal adicional de Third Ward Trill .
• "Crown" cuenta con la participación vocal adicional de Travis Scott .
• "Heaven" cuenta con la participación vocal adicional de Justin Timberlake .
• "BBC" cuenta con la participación vocal adicional de Nas , Beyoncé , Timbaland , Pharrell , Justin Timberlake y Swizz Beatz .
• "JAY Z Blue" incluye voces adicionales de Taffy.
• "Open Letter" cuenta con la participación vocal adicional de Swizz Beatz y Trey Songz .

Créditos de muestra

• "Holy Grail" contiene elementos de " Smells Like Teen Spirit " interpretada por Nirvana . ^{[ 87 ]}
• "Picasso Baby" contiene una muestra de "Sirens" interpretada por Adrian Younge . ^{[ 1 ]}
• "Tom Ford" contiene elementos de " Bad Girls " interpretada por MIA.
• "Somewhereinamerica" ​​incorpora fragmentos de "Gangster of Love (Parte 1)" escrita por Johnny Guitar Watson. ^{[ 1 ]}
• "Crown" contiene un fragmento de "Solid as a Rock" interpretado por Sizzla .
• "Heaven" contiene una muestra de "Reverie" interpretada por Adrian Younge , y líricamente samplea " Losing My Religion " interpretada por REM ^{[ 87 ].}
• "Versus" incorpora fragmentos de "Sucka Nigga" de A Tribe Called Quest y contiene una muestra de "Lilith – On The Way" interpretada por Bruno Spoerri . ^{[ 88 ]}
• "Parte II (En fuga)" contiene una muestra de "Believe in Me" interpretada por One Way .
• "Jay Z Blue" contiene fragmentos de "My Downfall" interpretada por The Notorious BIG y un monólogo de Faye Dunaway en la película de 1981 Mommie Dearest . ^{[ 89 ]}
• "Nickels and Dimes" contiene una muestra de "Nikels and Dimes" interpretada por Gonjasufi .

Los créditos se adaptaron de AllMusic . ^{[ 90 ]}

• Magna Carta Holy Grail en Discogs (lista de lanzamientos)