Album Review: Jay-Z, ‘Magna Carta… Holy Grail’
Just two weeks after Yeezus sent shock waves across the internets, Kanye’s “Big Brother” has released his 12th studio album, Magna Carta… Holy Grail. The comparisons between MCHG and Yeezus will be inevitable, but ultimately misguided. West made a radical, provactive album, intentionally devoid of any radio singles or mainstream appeal. Jay-Z has made a solid, accessible album that–thanks to Samsung–has already gone platinum.
Where many critics applaud West’s departure from traditional/mainstream hip-hop, it is wholly unfair to denounce another artist’s work for not doing the same. Especially when that artist is, arguably, the greatest rapper alive. Here is our track-by-track review of Jay-Z’s Magna Carta… Holy Grail.
1. “Holy Grail feat. Justin Timberlake” (Produced by The-Dream, Timbaland, J-Roc, Harmon, No ID)
If there is one thing Jay-Z has mastered throughout his career, it is the ability to pick the perfect first track for each of his albums. Everyone knows about Jay-Z and JT’s new-found friendship, and the massive success of their collaboration on Timberlake’s “Suit & Tie.” This song is to hip-hop what that song was to pop music. The song’s crossover appeal is gigantic without losing its authenticity and the Nirvana homage at the end of Jay-Z’s first verse is absolutely brilliant.
2. “Picasso Baby” (Produced by Timbaland, J-Roc)
Jay-Z and Timbaland have been working together forever, but this album really shines a light on the strength of their chemistry. This track is one of the dopest beats Timbaland has produced in years and HOV absolutely kills it lyrically. As the title implies, the track is heavy on fine-art references, and depth of Hova’s knowledge on the subject is pretty impressive: Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Jean Michel Basquiat, the Lourve, the Art Basel, Leonardo DaVinci, the Tate Modern all get a shout-outs. This is a whole different level of stuntin’ for Jay-Z.
3. “Tom Ford” (Produced by Timbaland, J-Roc)
Timbaland’s work on this album continues to impress on “Tom Ford.” Hova’s flow on this track feels a little more Kanye West than Jay-Z, but that misstep is out-shined by his clever wordplay. On a local note, it is crazy to hear Jay-Z dedicate a couple of bars to one of D.C.’s most notorious gangsters: “This my Wayne Perry flow/Y’all don’t know nothing ’bout Wayne Perry, though/District of Columbia, guns on y’all Tumblrs.”
4. “Fuckwithmeyouknowigotit feat. Rick Ross” (Produced by Boi-1da, Vinylz, Timbaland, J-Roc)
One of the more apparent differences between MCHG and his other albums is the beat selections. Jay-Z has long been a fan of smoother tracks with a lot of soul samples. On this album, he seems to be embracing the more bombastic, bass-heavy beats that are more often associated with southern rappers. This track was produced by Drake’s right-hand man, Boi-1da, and finds Jay spitting a hard staccato flow over a track that would feel more at home on a Rick Ross album. This is one of the album’s many retorts to the legions of haters and critics who love to expound on Jay-Z’s relevancy in today’s rap game.
5. “Oceans feat. Frank Ocean” (Produced by Pharrell Williams, Timbaland)
This song is the magnum opus of the entire album. “Oceans” is a prime example of what most people miss in Jay-Z’s music. In one of the promo videos released by Samsung, Jay-Z explains this track to Rick Rubin:
“It sounds like a celebration of where we are now on some big yacht, throwing champagne in the water, but the undertow of the thing is that this is the same water that brought us here originally as slaves. So, it has this whole duality, and even how we re-write history, the stories we were told about the history of America.”
Adding to the strength of the track is Frank Ocean’s raw vocals on the hook. This is the first time Jay-Z and Ocean have collaborated since “No Church In the Wild,” and this song carries that same uneasy, provocative energy. The racial undertones are strong on this track and the line “On the Holiday playing ‘Strange Fruit,'” only highlights our disappointment in Kanye’s use of that sample on “Blood On the Leaves.”
6. “F.U.T.W.” (Produced by Timbaland, J-Roc)
Where “Oceans” juxtaposes the celebratory with the introspective, “F.U.T.W. (Fuck Up The World),” focuses mostly on the former. Once again, Timbo and J-Roc deliver on the beat and this track feels like Jay-Z circa In My Lifetime… Vol. 3. The song is four-minute exposé on how it feels to go from the projects to the penthouse. The first half of the third verse uses socks a metaphor to really drive home that point, too. No, seriously.
7. “Somewhereinamerica” (Produced by Hit-Boy, Mike Dean)
This brisk 2:28 track is another entry in the “Jay-Z has not lost it” file. The wordplay on this track is vintage Hova: “When I was talking Instagrams/The last thing you wanted was your picture snapped.” It is hard to believe that a 43-year-old multimillionaire can still rhyme about his days as a dope dealer without sounding stale, but when you are this good at it, it just kind of works. Also, he manages to keep it current: “Feds still lurking/They see I’m still puttin’ work in/Because somewhere in America/Miley Cyrus is still twerkin.‘”
8. “Crown” (Produced by Travi$ Scott, Mike Dean, WondaGurl)
This song finds Jay-Z exploring the God complex that is so prevalent on Yeezus. The difference here, is that Jay-Z kind of gives you a Powerpoint presentation with bulleted lists of why he is a God. Kanye West just fucking demands that you acknowledge him as one. Admittedly, Kanye makes this subject a little more entertaining. But, hearing Jay-Z boast about the success of Roc Nation Sports whilst bitch smacking super-agent Scott Boras is pretty rewarding: “Scott Boras, you’re over baby/Robinson Cano you’re coming with me/These niggas is like rotary phones/It’s a new day, hit up KD.” Travi$ Scott and Mike Dean are the only two producers who worked on both Yeezus and MCHG. Though this is not a bad track by any means, it definitely sounds like an outtake from the Yeezus sessions and feels a little out of place on MCHG.
9. “Heaven” (Produced by Timbaland, J-Roc)
Jay-Z switches his flow up pretty frequently on MCHG, but this is one of the tracks where he really sounds at home. Sonically, the track is reminiscent of “D’evils” from Jay-Z’s debut album, Reasonable Doubt. “D’evils” is one of the best tracks Jay-Z ever recorded, and while “Heaven” is not on that level, the tempo and overall mood of the song makes it feel like a sequel. On the earlier track, Jay-Z was still a hungry rapper dealing with the reality of the drug game and finding a way out. “Heaven” sounds like that same guy who finally made it, 17 years later (!!).
10. “Versus” (Produced by Timbaland, Swizz Beatz)
In a blazing 52-seconds, Jay-Z reminds all these other rap cats just how good he is. “You’re last shit ain’t better than my first shit/You’re best shit ain’t better than my worst shit.” The sad truth is how accurate that couplet is. As he does on most of this album, Jay-Z just reaffirms his status as the greatest rapper alive.
11. “Part II feat. Beyonce” (Produced by Timbaland, J-Roc)
This song picks up where “’03 Bonnie & Clyde” left off. The main difference here is that Hov and Bey were only rumored to be dating the first time around. Now they have a child together. “Part II” is a romanticized story of a relatively good girl’s devotion to her bad-but-good guy. We find the felonious couple running from the police throughout the song, and sharing a bond so deep that they plan out their death and afterlife together. It kind of slows the album down a bit, to be honest.
12. “Beach Is Better” (Produced by Mike Will Made It, Marz)
On the second of two sub-one-minute tracks, Jay-Z explodes over a beat by Mike Will Made It. Mike Will has been everywhere lately–including that awful Miley Cyrus song–but now we finally get to hear him team up with Jay-Z. On the track, Jay-Z cleverly uses the words “beach” and “bitch” interchangeably to expound on how great his baby-mama is: “I brought sand to the beach cause my beach is better/You can keep your beach, cause that beach whatever.” This track is a straight banger.
13. “BBC” (Produced by Pharrell Williams)
This track features contributions from Beyonce, Nas, Justin Timberlake, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz–though no features are listed on the track. As it usually goes with these mega-collaborations, the track is a bit sloppy. Despite the novelty of hearing Jay-Z and Nas on a track together, the song feels discombobulated.
14. “Jay Z Blue” (Produced by Timbaland, J-Roc, Justin Timberlake)
Jay-Z and Beyonce’s baby girl is referenced frequently throughout the album, but this entire song is dedicated to Jay-Z’s love for Blue Ivy, and his own insecurities as a father. In another one of the Samsung promo videos, we see Hov get choked up as he and Rick Rubin discuss this track. Basically, Jay is afraid that the absence of his own father left him without an example to live by. It is one of the more emotional tracks on the album, and another example of deeper side of Jay-Z’s music.
15. “La Familia” (Produced by Timbaland, J-Roc)
Lil’ Wayne and Jay-Z have always been frenemies. First Jay took a shot at Birdman and Weezy on H.A.M. (“You got Baby money…”), than Wayne came back on “It’s Good,” and threatened to hold Beyonce hostage for said “baby money.” This track opens with: “Niggas wanna kidnap wifey, good luck with that bruh/You must gonna hide your family, what you think we wearing black for.” Jay-Z ignores a lot shit from a lot of rappers, but he seems to have a soft spot for anyone taking shots at Bey. The track itself is a little underwhelming, but we are curious to see if Weezy will respond.
16. “Nickels and Dimes” (Produced by Kyambo “Hip-Hop” Joshua, Mike Dean)
Every album is entitled to a bad track. This is it. Thankfully, it comes at the very end of an otherwise solid album.
DMVicious 