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Jay-Z's latest album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, has the rapper delving into previously unexplored themes and lyrical territory, an impressive feat given the fact that this is his twelfth full-length effort. It also features the same well-worn yet still entertaining fare—namely well-worded, conspiracy theory-baiting boasts about his Mount Everest pile of cash.
One of late era Jigga's favorite ways to express his wealth and culture? His art collection. Both fans and critics alike knew to expect several references to some of his favorite artists, namely Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, and Mark Rothko, at the very least. Instead, playing on expectations, he trolled us all, relegating most of the album's numerous fine art references to one song which, wouldn't you know it, riffs on his endless art obsession.
The album cover itself has two sculptures which haven't been identified, but they are likely interpretive combinations of well-known works. Jay-Z famously debuted the cover art on July 3 at the Salisbury Cathedral in the UK, where one of the four remaining copies of the real Magna Carta document is housed. Not long ago, upon the release of Decoded, Jay-Z licensed Warhol's 1984 Rorschach work for the book's cover. He has even gone so far as to call himself Andy WarHOV on his website, Life+Times, and also licensed a Basquiat painting for a D'Ussé liquor ad last October. So yeah, his love for contemporary art, at least, hasn't gone unnoticed, but he made Magna Carta Holy Grail his opportunity to glorify and fetishize visual art even more.
The second track, "Picasso Baby," has (in addition to a ferociously funky beat from Timbaland and Adrian Younge) an endless barrage of art and culture name-drops. But as we said above, Hova's getting deeper than ever on this album. Like he told Rick Rubin—who may or may not have been awake during the explanation—"Picasso Baby" aims to do more thematically than just allow him a chance to reiterate everything he saw at Art Basel. We've explained all the art references on "Picasso Baby" and the rest of the album so that the non-art history major can figure out exactly what the hell Jay's talking about. Some of them may be deeper than you initially thought. Read on for a breakdown of The Art References on Magna Carta Holy Grail.
RELATED: Between the Lines: A Track by Track Breakdown of Jay-Z's "Magna Carta Holy Grail"
Written by Frazier Tharpe (@The_SummerMan)
Pablo Picasso
Mentioned In: "Picasso Baby"
Lyrics: "I just want a Picasso, in my casa/No, my castle,” “What’s it gon take/For me to go/For you to see/I’m the modern day Pablo/Picasso, baby"Notable Accomplishment: Picasso is known as the father of cubism. Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust broke the Christie’s auction record in 2010, selling for $106.5 million.
As Jay explained to an obscenely comfortable Rick Rubin in that commercial, “Picasso Baby” is all about insatiability, and the hollow pursuit of material things, contextualized by those in his tax bracket’s obsession with obtaining pricey fine art. It’s not enough to have a freaking Picasso in the crib, the crib has to be palatial. With that concept in mind, the song is also an excuse for Jigga to go dumb on art name-drops—the song houses most references on not only the whole album, but of any song in his catalog to date. Is it unabashedly boastful? Of course, it’s no coincidence that right after that first bar he says “I’m an asshole.”
Later, when the beat changes up, Jay’s theme also shifts gears when he declares himself the Rap Game Father of Cubism. He displays a keen awareness on what both detractors and even former fans think of him these days: “Old man, just stop/I could, if I would, but I can’t/I’m hot.” Twelve albums later, what’s it going to take for you to realize he’s been giving you Pablo-level art this entire time?
Mark Rothko
Mentioned In: "Picasso Baby"
Lyric: "I wanna Rothko, no I wanna brothel/No, I want a wife to fuck me like a prostitute”Notable Accomplishment: White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose) sold at Sotheby’s New York for $72.8 million, breaking the record for post-war paintings at a public auction, a record previously held by another Rothko painting.
Jay, or at least the “narrator,” practically has materialism ADD on this track. Does he want an 8-figure abstract expressionist painting, a stable of hoes, or a sexually adventurous partner?
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Jeff Koons
Mentioned In: "Picasso Baby"
Lyric: “Jeff Koons balloons, I just wanna blow up”Notable Accomplishments: BZ Cultural Award from the city of Berlin, 2000; Skowhegan medal for sculpture, 2001; Wollaston Award from the Royal Academy of Arts in London, 2008. The 2008 exhibition of his sculptures at the Chateau de Versailles was their first major display of an American artist. Also in ‘08, a Koons retrospective broke the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago’s attendance records. Balloon Flower (Magenta) sold at Christie’s in London for $25.7 million.
Jay’s goals change every bar. For this millisecond, all he wants is to make it big, which by most people’s standards, he already has. However, 2013 has seen the rapper taking on bold new business ventures, like executive producing The Great Gatsby soundtrack, and most notably, the creation of the Roc Nation Sports agency, playing into the song’s concept of the hunger for more. In keeping with the art theme, the metaphor nods to American artist Jeff Koons, a fellow "business, man" type of artist, perhaps most famous for his giant balloon animal sculptures.
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George Condo
Mentioned In: "Picasso Baby"
Lyric: "Condos in my condos, I wanna row of”
Notable Accomplishments: Academy award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, 1999; Francis J. Greenberger Award, 2005
Next up, Jay needs multiple condos and a few Condo works to fill them up with. Hov can probably hit his fellow Throne member Kanye for a few of the latter; little brother is responsible for introducing hip-hop to George Condo, having collaborated with him on the artwork for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and a few singles.
Christie's Auction House
Mentioned In: "Picasso Baby"
Lyric: "Christie’s with my missy”Notable Accomplishments: Christie's is the world’s largest fine arts auction house. The first half of their 2012 revenue marks the highest sales total ($3.5 billion) in art market history.
You’re bound to see Jay and Beyonce at various art events, exhibits, and yes, auctions. They’ve gotta unload all of that money somewhere.
MoMA
Mentioned In: "Picasso Baby"
Lyric: "Live at the MoMA"
Notable Accomplishment: The MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York City is regarded as one of the top five modern art museums in the country.
Here's another effortless triple entendre from the God MC. In between hitting Christie’s with the missy, he basically lives at the MoMA, and thanks to their obsession with copping art, their condos and other cribs stack up to the MoMA’s collection. Finally, you’ll remember that Jay joined Kanye for a live performance at the MoMA back in 2011 while they were working on Watch the Throne. Reportedly it was after that performance that Kanye first rapped his “New Day” verse, impressing Hov.
Francis Bacon
Mentioned In: "Picasso Baby"
Lyric: "Bacons and turkey bacons, smell the aroma”Notable Accomplishments: Bacon was the highest-earning living artist in 1989, the year one of his triptychs sold for $6 million at Sotheby’s. Post-mortem, his Triptych, 1976 sold for $86.28 million.
The Carter’s kitchen and dining room is adorned with works from figurative painter Francis Bacon, which can make breakfast time a literal experience. Francis Bacon was an incredible painter, who kept his work very personal, either making portraits of his friends or self-portraits, mainly. He had two major Tate retrospectives during his lifetime, despite Margaret Thatcher referring to him as "that man who paints those dreadful pictures."
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Mentioned In: "Picasso Baby," "Oceans," "BBC"
Lyrics: "It ain’t hard to tell/I’m the new Jean Michel,” “Yellow Basquiat in my kitchen corner/Go ahead lean on that shit Blue, you own it” (Picasso Baby), “I hope my black skin don’t dirt this white tuxedo/Before the Basquiat show and if so/Well fuck it, fuck it” (Frank Ocean, “Oceans), “Versace plates got the Basquiat/collab from Versace’s place”Notable Accomplishments: In 2007, a Basquiat piece sold at Sotheby’s for $14.6 million. Last November, one of his Untitled paintings (made in 1981) sold for $26,402,500 at Christie's, which was in total a record-breaking contemporary art auction for the auction house.
Jay has made it crystal clear that Basquiat is his favorite artist through numerous name-drops in his music over the past several years, to the point where a betting man may have gambled on there being more than just five on this album. Before declaring himself rap’s Picasso, he appoints himself as the new Basquiat. Jean-Michel is widely considered one of the most successful black artists, Jay is one of the most successful black rap artists, and Jay likely feels as if he has had to deal with the same adversity and struggles that Basquiat had to. The two also had meteoric rises to fame and success, even if Basquiat died at the age of 27, unable to deal with a heroine addiction, the loss of Andy Warhol, and likely, the pressures of getting bigger and bigger in the art world.
Even when he’s shilling out new projects through phone companies, do remember that Jay-Z's releasing art, nonetheless. It’s grandiose, sure, but also fitting since a lot of Basquiat’s work focused on dichotomies, and duality is definitely a central part of Magna Carta Holy Grail overall, even at risk of being highly, annoyingly paradoxical. This album also sees Hova get more politically and socially introspective than perhaps any of his previous works, perhaps channeling his art idol.
In detailing a studio session with Jay-Z, the result of which was almost undoubtedly “Oceans,” Frank Ocean told Elliott Wilson that Hov gave him the Basquiat documentary The Radiant Child as inspiration, which helped spark his idea for the hook. The lyric talks about going to a “Basquiat show” to flaunt one's improbable ascension to the predominantly white upper class.
The “BBC” chorus contains a rest in peace shout-out to Gianni Versace. To hear Jay tell it, he recently copped a collaboration piece that he did with Basquiat from dude’s personal collection.
Finally, Jay’s art collection is so vast that he’s got million dollar works just chilling against the kitchen counter before he finds a spot to hang them. And in a supreme display of stunting, he’s totally cool with his 18-month-old daughter leaning on it, because fuck it, what’s his is hers anyway.
Andy Warhol
Mentioned In: "Picasso Baby"
Lyric: "Surrounded by Warhols/my whole team ball”Notable Accomplishment: Andy Warhol is known as the father of Pop Art. A Warhol self-portrait sold at Christie’s for $38.4 million, and his Statue of Liberty piece (made in 1962) sold for $43,762,500 at Christie's last November, which was a record-breaking contemporary sale for the auction house.
With as many art auctions as Jay and Bey have been spotted at, he probably is literally surrounded by Warhol works, but as this line follows his declaration of being the new “Jean-Michel [Basquiat],” this is meant to refer to Basquiat and Warhol’s friendship and frequent collaboration. On Watch the Throne’s “Illest Motherfucker Alive” Jay pronounced the quartet of himself, Beyonce, Kanye, and Rihanna as the new Beatles, the unfuckwittable clique. If he’s the new Basquiat, then they and his other frequent collaborators are his fellow genius peers.
Art Basel
Mentioned In: "Picasso Baby"
Lyric: "Twin Bugattis outside the Art Basel/I just wanna live life colossal"Notable Accomplishment: Art Basel is an annual art show event in Miami Beach, a collection of galleries and exhibitions, which originally began in Basel, Switzerland in 1970 and now has an event in Hong Kong. A record number of 50,000 people, consisting of artists, curators, art enthusiasts, dealers and critics attended the most recent Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2012.
This is real life—Hov and Bey were seen taking in Miami Art Basel last December, notably at JR and José Parlá's Wrinkles of the City book launch at the Standard, and Bey famously gifted him with a Bugatti there for his birthday. She later inadvertently made J. Cole, he of the lowly seven-figure net worth, feel poor when she told him she was thinking of getting one for herself. Apparently she did, and the ‘03 Bonnie & Clyde did some South Beach stunting instead of carpooling.
Leonardo da Vinci
Mentioned In: "Picasso Baby"
Lyric: "Leonardo da Vinci flows”Notable Accomplishment: Leonardo da Vinci is widely considered the world’s most talented genius—all other accomplishments pale in comparison.
As we all know, da Vinci’s talents were immense, he made universally acclaimed masterpieces, and was also an innovator with a next-level vision for technological inventions. Hova’s flows are, to let him tell it, equally next-level and genius status.
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The Met
Mentioned In: "Picasso Baby"
Lyric: "Riccardo Tisci Givenchy clothes/See me throning at the Met/Voguing on these niggas/Champagne on my breath, yes”Notable Accomplishment: The Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art) is the largest museum in the country.
The Met hosts an annual gala which is basically an excuse for A-list celebrities to floss on the red carpet. One year, Jay donned a Givenchy tux designed by Riccardo Tisci, who also did the artwork for Watch the Throne. And now, after hearing this bar, we can’t get the image of the Jigga man doing the vogue dance (as popularized by Madonna) out of our heads.
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The Louvre and the Tate Modern
Mentioned In: "Picasso Baby"
Lyric: "House like the Louvre or the Tate Modern/Because I be going ape at the auction”Notable Accomplishment: The Louvre is one of the largest, most famous art museums in the world. The Tate Modern is the most-visited modern art gallery in the world.
After hitting Christie’s and comparing his crib to the MoMA in the first verse, Hyperbolic Hov takes it to another level and flat out says walking down a hall in his house is akin to visiting the most famous art museum in the world, as well as one of the world’s most-visited galleries.
Mona Lisa
Mentioned In: "Picasso Baby"
Lyric: "Sleeping every night next to Mona Lisa/The modern day version/With better features”Notable Accomplishment: The Mona Lisa is arguably the most famous painting in the world. It was valued at $100 million way back in 1962.
Jay’s finally feeling content as the song winds down, and all it took was the realization that his wife herself is a work of art—in his eyes more beautiful than da Vinci’s pristine subject.
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SAMO
Mentioned In: "Picasso Baby"
Lyric: "Come through with the Ye mask on/Spray everything like SAMO”Notable Accomplishment: Sparked a city-wide graffiti movement in 1980s NYC, spearheaded by Basquiat and Al Diaz
Jigga gives Kanye’s recent style trend a shout-out as he dons a ski mask to “spray” everything in his way, much like Basquiat and collaborator Al Diaz’s graffiti movement SAMO. Knowing Jay-Z, he’s probably not talking aerosol cans, though.
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Shepard Fairey
Mentioned In: "Oceans"
Lyric: "Shepard Fairey, they finally gave me some hope/Can’t believe they got a nigga to vote”
Notable Accomplishment: Fairey’s Barack Obama “Hope” poster became the symbol and official artwork of the future president's campaign in 2008.
Much of “Oceans” focuses on Jay-Z denouncing certain American historical figures and politics, falling back on his “Goverment? Fuck government, niggas politic themselves” wave. In lieu of those feelings, he became a big supporter of the Obama campaign in both 2008 and 2012, much to his own disbelief as he states here. Shepard Fairey’s famous “Hope” poster became a symbol for the campaign in ‘08, and Jay admits, while not a Democrat, he bought into the message.
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