What We Know About Jay-Z's "Magna Carta Holy Grail" So Far

Image via Complex Original

In recent years, the Internet has run rampant with rumors that Jay-Z is in the Illuminati. Mostly for reasons we don't really understand. Jay actually took the time to address the rumor on songs like Rick Ross's "Free Mason" wherein he rhymed, "Bitch I said I was amazing/Not that I'm a Mason." Still, conspiracy theorists among Complex commenters and New York City high school students are convinced that Jay is doing human sacrifices to sell records, or something. Jay had some fun with such silliness in the "On to the Next One" video. But, man, naming his album Magna Carta Holy Grail?! That is just some A+ trolling right there! Anyone who's ever read Dan Brown is gonna have a field day with this album. Oh, and did you notice that skully cap Timbaland was wearing in the TV ad had a triangle on it. You know what that means, right?

Rick Rubin is a very busy man. Fresh off of two gruelling weeks of laying barefoot on Kanye's couch, stroking his beard and nodding his approval during the Yeezus sessions, The Def Jam cofounder was hired by Jay to lay barefoot on another couch, stroke his beard and nod his head in approval during the Magna Carta sessions. (To be fair, according to Rubin's interview with the Wall Street Journal, he was brought in super-last-minute to work on Yeezus, so it's possible that he'd already been working with Jay.) There's no questioning Rubin's track record. He's made classic material with everyone from Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys to Johnny Cash and the Dixie Chicks—he'll go down in history with the likes of Quincy Jones. But we can't help but wonder what it is exactly that he does in the studio. In the few clips we've seen, it looks like he's getting paid to sit in, but not sit up. Ehh, whatever. Rubin is the definition of a living legend and we'd be happy to have him laying around barefoot and stroking his beard during our studio session.

The cleverest marketing gimmick that acompanies the album is that it'll be released first to Samsung Galaxy users who download a customized mobile app. Only the first million downloaders gain access to the album for free on July 4 and the album will then be released to the general public three days later. Samsung purchased one million copies of Magna Carta Holy Grail at $5 a copy, which means Jay made $5 million dollars without selling a single copy.

So this means he's already gone platinum, right? Not really. Billboard doesn't count bulk sales, which means Samsung's purchase is not tallied by the music magazine. This is different from the efforts of large-scale retailers like Best Buy or Wal-Mart, who buy albums in bulk to later resell to consumers in their stores. Besides, the RIAA only awards certification to albums 30 days after their release. But despite his tweeting in complaint, we don't imagine he cares too much about that. Five million dollars can buy a lot of decorative plaques. 

Jay-Z has made another song with his wife, Beyonce. The new one is called "Part II (On The Run)." We haven't heard the song (we haven't heard any of the songs!) But we have peeped the lyrics. And judging from lines like "Baby, as long as I'm next to you/And if loving you is a crime/Tell me why I bring out/The best in you," this one seems likely to follow in the tradition (established by "Liftoff," "Hollywood" and '03 Bonnie & Clyde") of Beyonce joining Jay on a sub-par track and basically being like, "Jay, you're little album is cute, but I got this," and totally hijacking the show.

Like Kanye, who had fans drive out to particular buildings to see projections of "New Slaves," and J. Cole, who let fans stream his album in an app that could only be unlocked when the user arrived at particular coordinates, Jay is takin' it to the streets. His publicist, Jana Fleishman, tweeted out a series of photos and clues on June 22, and superfans pursued a trail of virtual bread-crumbs to books containing the song titles to Magna Carta Holy Grail. Information about collaborators, however, was "redacted."

This is today's major-league rap promotion. A sort of viral marketing-meets-street team kind of thing. It's innovative, no doubt. And maybe even "necessary" in some kind of real-politik sense. But these kinds of high-profile publicity stunts are helping turn hip-hop coverage into the kind of strategy analysis that hampers so much of today's political reportage—where the actual issues (in this case, the music) are ignored in favor of discussion of tactics drawn up in a campaign war room. This is a 'smart' strategy, this is a 'bad' strategy, whatever your angle, we're all suddenly armchair experts on the world of marketing and business. How much hype can Jay build without ever actually letting us hear the music?

"The album is about, like this duality of how do you navigate through this whole thing, through success, through failures, through all this and remain yourself." Jay turns on the blacklight, puts on his pooka shells, and sticks a towel under the crack of the dorm room door before sitting down to write a TV commercial. Ty Ty takes a huge bong rip, exhales and cracks up laughing. "It's just rap music, bro!"

The chorus to "Holy Grail" contains the line "And we all just, entertainers/And we're stupid, and contagious," cribbing Nirvana's 1991 grunge rock anthem, "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Kurt Cobain's widow Courtney Love, who runs the late singer's estate, gave permission. "I'm letting Jay-Z use lyrics," Love said. "Jay-Z's huge and we're friends. I mean we're not besties or anything." (Courtney covered Jay's "99 Problems" earlier this year.) Another song on the album, Heaven, borrows a line from R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" ("That's me in the corner/That's me in the spotlight losing my religion"), which also came out in 1991. We're all for expanding one's musical pallete, but we're a little worried that if Jay gets in another rap beef someone's going to ask him, "How much of these mopey white boys' lines from 22 years ago is gonna come out your fat lips?"

"Suit & Tie" was prophecy. The J's are reuniting. More material for them to duet on during their Legends of the Summer tour this summer. A song called "BBC" (also featuring Nas, Beyonce, Pharrell, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz.) Frank Ocean is reportedly singing on another song. We're wondering whether Rivers Cuomo might make an appearance? Or whether he might sample Brook Benton? I guess we'll have to wait til the album streams... Okay. Sorry. We'll stop. We're stupid.

The Blueprint dropped on 9/11, so it is only right that Jay release Magna Carta, Holy Grail on 7/4. Celebrate America's independent spirit by supporting brand synergy! Conspicuously consume to alleviate your deeply held suspicion that the country is on the wrong track. Blow some shit up with fireworks! Listen to Jay-Z! What better symbol of American exceptionalism than a crack-dealer turned rap mogul known for being a ruthless capitalist who'll do anything to get ahead? (Seriously, there is no better symbol. Jay-Z is the Great Gatsby. Jay-Z is America.)