", "Nickels & Dimes" and "SomewhereInAmerica" in order. "[68] It was named the eighth best album of 2013 by XXL. [51] 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. Jay Z, Magna Carta... Holy Grail — The 50 Best Albums of 2013", "20 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2013: Jay Z, 'Magna Carta . Jay-Z - Magna Carta Holy Grail Album Become a Fan Remove Fan. [33] The Legends of the Summer Stadium Tour was officially announced on February 22, 2013. Magna Carta Holy Grail by Jay-Z on WhoSampled. [77] It also became the first rap album to spend two consecutive weeks on top since Lil Wayne's Tha Carter IV (2011), despite the 76% drop in sales. Magna Carta Holy Grail (sometimes written as Magna Carta...Holy Grail) is an album created by the American rapper, Jay Z.It is his 12th album. The result was something that not too many people felt they could grok or relate to, no matter Jay-Z's best intentions. The album's cover, in particular, caused a bit of head-scratching at the time of its release. [46] The music video was released on August 29, 2013, making social media history as the first time a clip from major artists debuted strictly on Facebook. [67] Rolling Stone named it the tenth best hip hop album of the 2013 saying, "The legendary MC explored of-the-moment sounds, textures and tempos in ways only he could [...] Even on a bit of an off day, Jay is still plenty impressive. [34] The North American leg followed that, and it ended on January 31, 2014. Jay-Z and Timbaland had grown apart after they worked on The Blueprint 3, but reunited for this album. [54] 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. Magna Carta… Holy Grail Has Its Moments But Doesn’t Match The Feel Of Other JAY-Z Albums. [79] In its fourth week, the album dropped to number three on the chart, selling 62,000 copies. West wanted the two songs to appear on Watch the Throne, however Jay-Z chose to keep them for Magna Carta Holy Grail. I sent him my favorite stuff. [40][41][42][43] It was produced by The-Dream, Timbaland and Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, with additional production from No ID and containing elements of Nirvana's 1991 hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Those of us who still buy physical copies of albums look forward to flipping through the booklet containing lyrics and artwork. "JAY Z Blue" features additional vocals by Taffy. "[39], The song "Holy Grail" features vocals from singer Justin Timberlake and served as the album's first single. The album's cover, in particular, caused a bit of head-scratching at the time of its release. 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. It was released for digital download on 4 July 2013. He told XXL that him 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. Jay-Z could have been going for any number of angles with this choice. Until today, no one had yet identified the source image for Jay-Z's new album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, but the Metropolitan Museum of Art just tweeted … Jay-Z, TBA — The Most Anticipated Albums of Summer 2013", "Jay-Z "Magna Carta Holy Grail" Tracklist", "Mike Dean Debunks 'Magna Carta Holy Grail' Tracklist, Talks "Sad State" of Rap Music", "Jay-Z "Magna Carta Holy Grail" Release Date & Updated Tracklist", "Billboard won't count Jay-Z sales to Samsung on its chart", "The already is already "platinum." The album spawned three successful singles, "Holy Grail", "Tom Ford" and "Part II (On the Run)" featuring Beyoncé. On July 10, 2013, Third Man Records announced on their website that they had entered a deal to release Magna Carta Holy Grail on vinyl, also confirming that "Open Letter" would be included as a vinyl-only bonus track and that there would be "something [else] very special planned for the vinyl edition. Magna Carta Holy Grail (alternatively written and stylized as Magna Carta... Holy Grail)[3] is the twelfth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z. '"[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. The album was promoted through various commercials presented by Samsung and was not preceded by any retail singles. [26][27][28] On July 3, 2013, the cover art of the album was revealed in a photo where it was placed next to the one of the four surviving copies of album's namesake (the 13th-century English charter) in Salisbury Cathedral, England, and it remained on display there until the end of July. [82] In 2013, Magna Carta Holy Grail was ranked as the 12th most popular album of the year on the Billboard 200. It begun on October 3 at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England and concluded on October 29 at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Jay Z, 'Magna Carta Holy Grail' Released in 2013, the artwork for Jay Z's 'Magna Carta Holy Grail' was premiered in Salisbury cathedral alongside the original copy of Magna Carta 1215. 1 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 528,000 copies in its first week. It was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards. Jay-Z announced the title and release date of his 12th solo album — Magna Carta Holy Grail — during Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night because he was looking for … The cover art for "Magna Carta Holy Grail" was unveiled at Salisbury Cathedral, home of one of four remaining copies of the Magna Carta [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. 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. Hov revisits his rap roots with Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé and Frank Ocean on his most daring album yet. You can play the letter. [15], While working on Beyoncé's fifth studio album, frequent collaborator Timbaland played Jay-Z the instrumental for what would become "Picasso Baby". [75] The album ultimately debuted at No. [48] Prior to its single release, the song peaked at number 39 on the US Billboard Hot 100. . Magna Carta… Holy Grail is the twelfth studio album by rapper JAY-Z. Music Jay-Z's Daring Magna Carta Holy Grail Reaches Back For A New Sound . 1 talking about this. [83] As of February 2014, the album had sold 1,130,000 copies in the United States. [63] Evan Rytlewski of The A.V. It featured a sculpture later discovered to be Alpheus and Arethusa by 16th-century Italian sculpture Battista di Domenico Lorenzi housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, per Complex. Complex ranked the album at number 23, on their list of the 50 best albums of 2013. Magna Carta... Holy Grail [Explicit] Jay-Z Format: Audio CD. Revisiting an approach he used to promote his 2010 memoir, Decoded, Jay-Z revealed the track listing for his upcoming album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, by sending fans on a scavenger hunt in Brooklyn Saturday. Jay-Z described the recording process as having a "minimalist approach" to give Magna Carta Holy Grail a "1990s feel". It could also be a take on hip-hop's long history, in general, with censorship and the American public's "tell me how it is, but keep that s*** clean when you do" attitude toward the realness of the Black-American experience and its voices. One very clear portrait emerges from any analysis of the cover of Magna Carta ... Holy Grail: censored art. [32] The tour begun on July 14, 2013 in London, England. Jay-Z's publicist, Jana Fleishman, tweeted pictures of locations where she would be waiting with binders that contained the album's song titles. "Crown" contains a sample of "Solid as a Rock" performed by, "Heaven" contains a sample of "Reverie" performed by, "Part II (On the Run)" contains a sample of "Believe in Me" performed by, "Jay Z Blue" contains samples from "My Downfall" performed by, "Nickels and Dimes" contains a sample of "Nikels and Dimes" performed by, Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter – executive producer, primary artist, Demacio "Demo" Castellon – engineer, mixing, Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon – additional production, producer, Ramon Rivas – assistant engineer, engineer, Timbaland – additional production, producer, vocals, Justin Timberlake – additional production, featured artist, vocals, This page was last edited on 17 April 2021, at 01:18. 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. The song was a response to the critics of his fifth wedding anniversary that took place in Cuba. [84], On June 22, Jay-Z held a viral scavenger hunt around Brooklyn, New York as part of his "#NEWRULES" venture with Samsung. According to Jay-Z, that song built the sound of the album. Discover all of this album's music connections, watch videos, listen to music, discuss and download. A tale of all-consuming desire, perhaps? [29][30] The logo for the album was inspired by an art piece by Be Andr from 2009 named 'Untitled (art)'. [49] The song has since peaked at number 80 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album features guest appearances by Justin Timberlake, Nas, Rick Ross, Frank Ocean and Beyoncé. [15] Producer J-Roc described "Picasso Baby" as "just New York". It featured a sculpture later discovered to be Alpheus and Arethusa by 16th-century Italian sculpture Battista di Domenico Lorenzi housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, per Complex. He hit me right back like, 'Yo, I'ma go in on this,' or, 'I like this. "[16], The instrumental for "FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt" was started by producer Vinylz, who was inspired by a Pimp C speech he found on YouTube. All in all, it seemed Jay-Z was trying to analogize classic art with a modern incarnation of artistic expression: hip-hop by way of Jay-Z. "[65] NME critic Louis Pattison said it lacked a radical presence such as Kanye West to complement Jay-Z's mature ruminations, but nonetheless showed him as a sagacious lyricist comparable with Bruce Springsteen or Bob Dylan. [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. [78] In its third week, the album dropped to number two on the chart, selling 77,000 more copies. 12th studio album by Jay Z. 8. The Most Incredible It's amazing... You open the letter, and you can actually play the card. 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). [24] The album was then released for retail sale three days later, on July 7, 2013. [66] Robert Christgau from MSN Music said he was won over after several listens by the familial songs, which he found amusing on a record that pits "black man as artistic rebel versus black man as family stalwart". [52] 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. As for the name: Jay-Z could have been calling for the inclusion of his album into the ranks of vaunted historical artifacts. Magna Carta... Holy Grail by Jay-Z on WhoSampled. Up above is the minimalistic cover for Magna Carta Holy Grail.Update: Up above is the actual artwork for Jay-Z’s new album, Magna Carta Holy Grail. "[37] However, the 'vinyl-only' appearance of "Open Letter" has been shown to not apply to all market areas. They praised the "high-gloss production," and strong rhymes by Jay-Z, deeming it "very listenable". He was seen speaking to producer Rick Rubinin 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." Following the release of the album, the song debuted at number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100[44] and number 24 on the UK Singles Chart. Three on the album had sold 1,130,000 copies in the range of 350,000 400,000. 16-Year-Old Canadian producer WondaGurl forward to flipping through the booklet containing lyrics magna carta holy grail album cover artwork US... 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