Magna Carta Holy Grail
Jay-Z
Release Date: 4th July 2013
Available to stream on Spotify - see Spotify player below
This is the first of many guest reviews that will feature on the blog. Thanks for this go to Tom Jones.
Having been a fan of superstar rapper Jay-Z for a while now, and also being a fan of a lot of artists on his hit label, Roc-A-Fella, I was extremely excited to hear what would be on his next record, ‘Magna Carta Holy Grail’. Particularly after the hit album, ‘Watch The Throne’ with Kanye West back in 2011 which, for me, was one of the best hip-hop albums I’ve heard.
The first track, ‘Holy Grail’ was the first time I had heard anything of Jay-Z’s latest music and, with the presence Justin Timberlake, I had a feeling this song would take the charts by storm and I was right. Not only was I right but it was right for this track to gain huge popularity in such a short time. The hook line in the choruses is mellow but still strong and JT’s voice suits it perfectly, however, it’s Jay-Z’s lyrics and talent which makes this song an absolute stadium hit. I believe this song will go down extremely well and, especially alongside ‘Ni**as in Paris’ off 2011’s ‘Watch The Throne’, it’ll be an unbelievable live hit.
‘Picasso Baby’ mixes old-school New York hip-hop type bass and percussion with modern electronic music and it does it brilliantly. This song will go down well with the old Jay-Z fans and people who enjoy artists such as Beastie Boys and NWA as well as more modern, younger audiences who appreciate electronic ‘in the times’ music. All around, this is a brilliant track and carries on the strong intro to the album.
The album takes a more ambient, dubby approach with the intro of the next track ‘Tom Ford’. This is sure to get the heads bouncing and people hitting the dance floor. It’s a lot more electronic than Jay-Z’s older tracks, particularly with the presence of 8-bit hook lines in the chorus but it suits the dark, eerie style of the song perfectly and just shows the talent of producer Timbaland who produced the majority of Magna Carta Holy Grail.
The dubby and dark twist continues with ‘FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt’ feat. Rick Ross. Music-wise, this song is good. The beat gets feet tapping and the hook lines are dark and suit the style perfectly. However, the vocals really let the song down. I thought Rick Ross was excellent on the Django Unchained soundtrack but he is very below-par in this track and unfortunately, this lasts the majority of the song. Jay Z comes in later, he improves the song dramatically and really shows off his skills. This is the first song on the album that I believe is relatively poor and it was only the anticipation of hearing Jay-Z that made me carry on listening.
Up next is ‘Oceans’ feat. Frank Ocean. I’ve been a fan of Ocean for a while now and I think he’s an excellent artist so you can tell I was excited to hear what the collaboration would sound like with him and Jay-Z. The intro with Ocean’s part already gets the audience hooked. A mix of ambient and an ‘epic’ feeling to the music really relates to the lyrics talking about journeys and exotic locations and this gives an excellent background to the track. Jay-Z’s part in this is relatively plain and doesn’t really change the song at all but I believe this works. It builds the track around Ocean’s part and makes the song flow.
Contrasted to the previous song, the next track, ‘Fuck Up The World’, is heavily based around Jay-Z and his talent. The song is again very ominous and seems to be the theme of the album. Percussion really drives this song as well as a xylophone sounding synthesiser and it creates a sonic feeling to the music. The track appears to be Jay-Z going back to old-school New York hip-hop but again, doing it in a modern, electronic way. Even though this track wouldn’t work as a single, I believe it’s one of the best on the album and will be unfortunately overlooked by most of Jay-Z’s audience.
Starting with a trumpet introduction, ‘Somewhere in America’ is heavily jazz-based and reminds me a lot of Jay-Z’s older tracks such as ‘Encore’. The music also reminds me of an artist called Gil-Scott Heron who produces a lot of jazz music and I believe Jay-Z may have looked towards Heron as inspiration. The track is one of the shortest on the album and acts mainly as an interlude. It really suits the location in the track listing and breaks the album up a little bit to make the whole CD an easier listen.
‘Crown’ is an excellent song and I believe should be one of the singles off the album even though it wouldn’t prove as being very radio-friendly. If this song gains popularity and becomes well known, it will become an absolute stadium-crusher live and, with the correct speakers, will create a huge sound. The song again carries the ominous feeling of the album and the background music really powers Jay-Z’s vocals. This is one of my favourite tracks off the album and I would definitely single this one out as a must to listen to.
The next track, ‘Heaven’, is very calm and ambient which is surprising, particularly after the rawness and power of ‘Crown’. It’s actually quite a relaxing song and again mixes old school beats with modern hooks. This technique and style has been used heavily on Magna Carta Holy Grail and I think it works brilliantly. I don’t think ‘Heaven’ will be played live a lot but it’s still one of my favourites on the album, especially due to the high chorus hook which is eerie but ambient at the same time.
‘Versus’ is an unusual track; the main hook is very dissonant and it’s very difficult to get your head round. At only 51 seconds, it’s the shortest track on the album and doesn’t really prove to be inspiring or interesting, just strange. I wouldn’t find it difficult skipping this song but I would recommend listening to it once when going through the whole album. Up next is ‘Part II (On The Run)’ feat. Beyoncé. This song is the closest the album comes to having a ballad on it and, particularly with Beyoncé’s presence; the track becomes a lot softer and more ambient. I believe this song will become one of the most popular on the album, not only because of Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s relationship but also due to the fact the track is very radio-friendly and I think it will get a lot of airtime, particularly in the UK.
‘Beach is Better’ is another short track standing at 55 seconds. The music is again dark and ominous and Jay-Z’s lyrics and his vocal style suit this perfectly. Beat and hook wise, the song reminds me a lot of the modern style American rapper, particularly an artist called 2 Chainz who has recently took
the chart by storm. This song is again very good and live, I believe it would go down brilliantly. A powerful beat and hook is what people look for at Jay-Z’s concerts and this track has just that.
‘BBC’ musically is excellent. It’s got a funky beat and is definitely catchy. However, the track sounds too alike Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’, possibly due to Pharrel Williams’ presence in the production team. ‘Blurred Lines’ took the world by storm and one that Williams featured on himself. I think this takes the originality away from the track and particularly away from Jay-Z himself. Although the lyrics and vocals are good, they leave nothing to be inspired by and the beat doesn’t really change throughout the whole track, leaving the rest of the music relatively dull. Although this song has a lot of big names featuring on it, I don’t think it’s as good as what it could be and whatever airtime it gets, this most certainly doesn’t portray the album as a whole and is not deserved.
Carrying on with the dark, eerie theme of the album, ‘Jay-Z Blue’ definitely supports this and is incredibly ominous. I suspect that this song is about Jay-Z’s recently born child, Blue Ivy and, if I’m correct, it’s surprisingly grim and not what I was expecting when I saw the track name. With some quite worrying samples and the occasional recognisable Notorious B.I.G’s ‘UH’s in there, the song becomes very shadowy and really shows a darker side to Jay-Z, something I think he’s attempted to show with the whole album. For me, this track is definitely one to listen to, particularly due to that I don’t think it’ll get any radio play and could possibly be one of those tracks which deserves more attention than it gets.
Contrasting to the previous track, ‘La Familia’ is a lot more upbeat music-wise however the lyrics are still very dark. I couldn’t really get my head around this song. Although the music and vocals are good, I found myself waiting for something else which never came and this left me feeling a little high and dry by the end of the song. All in all, this song is relatively dull, particularly compared to some of the incredible tracks on the rest of the album and I wouldn’t bother listening to it every time I put the record on.
The final track on the album, ‘Nickels and Dimes’, is one of my favourites. It brings the listener down for the ending of the album and is calm and relaxing. The samples Jay-Z uses create a peaceful background musically, particularly with the ambient, synthetic hook lines and beats. As for the vocals, Jay-Z is again at his best with some brilliant lines and excellent rhymes. For me, this is one of the best songs of the album. It makes the audience think and reflect on the whole record and is an excellent way of ending.
For me, this album is a must-listen and potentially one of the best releases of the year. Although it may not be as good as ‘Watch The Throne’, ‘Magne Carta Holy Grail’ is still a brilliant record and ties old school beats from the 90s with modern, 21st century electronic hooks. The production on the record is tip top and there’s not much I could say to criticize the album bar a couple of tracks.
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