*ps This picture is
posted next to the REAL Magna Carta in Salisbury Cathedral in England…. Yes Jay
Z’s album is on display next to the REAL Magna Carta from 1215. Why? Just
because #newrules*
I believe the world stopped spinning for 2
minutes when the NBA Finals were interrupted by Jay Z’s presence on their
television screens in late June. And it wasn’t just another useless endorsement
to put another couple million in Mr.Carter’s pocket, it was to release the
news,that with no single, no video and 2 weeks of media promotion, Jay Z was
releasing his 11th studio album. Now aside from the PR majors wet
dream of a deal with Samsung that paid both Samsung and the Carter’s healthily
and gave Jay Z platinum certification before the official release date, titling
the quickly anticipated album Magna Carta- Holy Grail, skyrocketed
expectations for the music it would possess. Fans were unfairly teased for two
weeks with Samsung commercials that included snippets of beats and commentary
from the great HOV himself. The internet buzzed when pictures of Jay Z in the
studio with the who’s who of hip hop producers Swizz Beats, Timberland and
Pharell Williams. Being named after the historical law changing English charter
of 1215 and the news the RICA was changing the rules to support and accept Samsung’s million album purchase, people
anticipated this to indeed be the Magna Carta of all albums, and it is. As a
faithful and frustrated iPhone user, I along with the rest of the world without
a phone the size of a laptop had to fight the temptation of listentoyoutube.com
for 5 long days after the Samsung Galaxy III release for Mr. Carter to grace my ear
drums and I was not disappointed when it finally did. It was finally good for
an album to live up to its hype (*cough cough* Yeezus -_-).
The
dysfunctional masterpiece that is Magna Carta Holy Grail is full of
base filled beats, dramatically placed sound clips, movie like lyrics and
highlights the talents of Justin Timberlake and Frank Ocean better than they
have their own solo projects. Not to mention the lyrics of the Bonnie and Clyde
sequel titled Part II (On the Run) featuring Beyonce paints a better picture than the video
did in 2005. Unlike his million dollar counterpart Kanye West’s album, Hov is
able to vocalize his frustrations with modern day society with swagger and thought provoking
word play without being overwhelming and making you want to jump of a damn
bridge after 3 tracks. He manages to say a lot by saying a little over head
nodding beats that up and coming producers get wet for. Tracks like Fuckwithmeyouknowyougotit ft Rick Ross , La Familia and Crown
for example can’t even be absorbed properly without being played in a slow moving
car on a warm summer night with the windows down at midnight. Tom
Ford is easily the summers new
drunken turn up song in the club and the musical contents of Jay Z
Blue ; daddy’s love letter to Blue Ivy makes you want to dance and
smack your daddy all at the same time. Holy
Grail ft Justin Timberlake is just a musical orgasm that can be a 5
minute 38 second album all on its own. I found it pleasantly hard to determine
if it was a Timberlake song featuring the swagger drenched lyrics of Jay Z or a
Jay Z song featuring the melting voice of Timeberlake. The abrupt melody
changes and mixture of beats sounds like nothing short of a musical masterpiece
and writes itself as a legendary collaboration.
“sippin from your cup til it runith over..
Holy Grail”
Despite
the album as a whole indeed being the Magna Carta of all hip hop albums, I
found a blind ear can find it hard to differentiate one track from another. At
least 5 of the tracks can be a one hour long track and no one would honestly be
mad simply because Jay Z demolishes each beat. Not to mention the overwhelming
feeling of disappointment when Beach
is Better abruptly cuts off after 50 damn seconds leaving the whole
world left in mid turn-up, screaming WTF?!. But Jay Z got our ears so whipped
we remember Hov doesn’t write down any lyrics and just justify the shortened
tracks as Mr. Carter simply saying all he had to fucking say and he probably
just ran out of wisdom to kick to us common folks.
“Cant take the money witcha,
burn this shit up like im richer, niggas like is the oven on?…”
Bow! Point made. What’s
understood don’t need to be explained….or finished. Overall the album lived up
to the hype it generated even though it may not exactly live up to the
reputation of Jay Z. HOV himself doesn’t even place his recent project in the
top three albums of his career even though its one of the most successful as
far as sales. Some critics felt that it was bland and “lacked emotion and direction”
(Richards 2013;Washington Post), I personally feel its lack of direction makes
it great. Its dysfunctional direction is something that has been attempted and
yet to be properly executed. It doesn’t have a direct theme like Jay’s 2007 American Gangster, or J Cole’s Born Sinner. When a title, controversy
or well-paid PR agents don’t tell us how to feel about an album, we find it
hard to digest. The theme of Magna Carta
Holy Grail is simply unfuckwithable beats, lyrical ability and to remind
you that Jay Z is richer than you. Haters argue Jay has managed turned his fans
in to brain washed customers. To that I say, I have no problem paying for Blue
Ivy’s silver spoon as long as her parents keep feeding me with good music. Not summer
ass bouncing, pussy popping anthems that I won’t remember by August ( *cough
cough*Juicy J)or pop drowned tracks that are so annoyingly catchy that it
brands into my unconscious mind forcing me to sing at any random time. (*cough
cough* hi Nicki) For music that makes me
think and feel something without 4 shots of tequila I give up my $12.99 proudly
and with no regrets. I am grateful Jay Z came off the throne to humor me with
more music. Thank you Mr. Carter ,now please talk to your boy Kanye.
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