Magna Carta Holy Grail
Magna Carta Holy Grail (alternatively written and stylized as Magna Carta... Holy Grail)[3] is the twelfth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z. It was made available at first for free digital download for Samsung customers via the Jay-Z Magna Carta app on July 4, 2013. It was released for retail sale on July 8, 2013 by Roc Nation, Roc-A-Fella, and Universal Music Distribution, as well as the final release by Roc-A-Fella before the label was shuttered. The album features guest appearances by Justin Timberlake, Nas, Rick Ross, Frank Ocean and Beyoncé. Most of the album was produced by Timbaland and Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, while other producers included Boi-1da, Mike Will Made It, Hit-Boy, Mike Dean, No I.D., The-Dream, Swizz Beatz, and Pharrell Williams among others. The album was promoted through various commercials presented by Samsung and was not preceded by any retail singles.
Magna Carta... Holy Grail
July 4, 2013
2011 – June 2013
- Jungle City Studios (Chalybeate, New York)
- Oven Studios (New York City, New York)[1]
58:55
- Boi-1da
- Darhyl "Hey DJ" Camper
- Hit-Boy
- Jerome "Jroc" Harmon
- Justin Timberlake
- Kyambo "Hip Hop" Joshua
- Marz
- Mike Dean
- Mike Will Made It
- No I.D.
- Pharrell Williams
- Swizz Beatz
- The-Dream
- Timbaland
- Travis Scott
- Vinylz
- WondaGurl
The album spawned three successful singles, "Holy Grail", "Tom Ford" and "Part II (On the Run)" featuring Beyoncé. Multiple other songs on the album achieved chart success including, "FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt", "Oceans", "Heaven" and "Picasso Baby". 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).
Upon its release, Magna Carta... Holy Grail was met with mixed reviews from music critics. Some complimented the album's production and composition, while others were disappointed with its overall theme and found many songs repetitive. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 528,000 copies in its first week, making it Jay-Z's 13th consecutive studio album to top the chart. On September 2, 2013, it was announced that the album was certified double platinum by the RIAA, for shipments of two million copies. 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.
Background[edit]
On September 23, 2010, rapper Q-Tip confirmed working on Jay-Z's twelfth studio album, with a tentative release in 2011.[4] By May 2012, reports arose that he was working on new music with Roc Nation producer Jahlil Beats. In an interview with XXL, Beats stated: "Me and Jay-Z been going back and forth. He picked a couple of my joints that he's working on. I don't even wanna say too much about Jay, but we definitely working on some stuff. I haven't even sent him a bunch of beats. I sent him my favorite stuff. He hit me right back like, 'Yo, I'ma go in on this,' or, 'I like this.'"[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.[6]
Leading up to the album's announcement, Jay-Z served as an executive producer for both the film The Great Gatsby and its soundtrack, The Great Gatsby: Music from Baz Luhrmann's Film, which he and film director Baz Luhrmann worked together for two years .[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.[10][11][12]
Singles[edit]
On April 11, 2013, Jay-Z released the first song from the album titled "Open Letter". The song was a response to the critics of his fifth wedding anniversary that took place in Cuba. This was due to the current United States embargo against Cuba, which required them needing a permit to visit the country.[36] The song was produced by Swizz Beatz, and was included on the album as a bonus track. On July 10, 2013, Jack White's label, 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."[37] The 'vinyl-only' appearance of "Open Letter" was thought to have been shown to not apply to all market areas, but it was later discovered upon the vinyl's re-release in early 2015 that "Open Letter" was hidden as an easter egg within the back flap of the packaging, which would require the buyer to cut open the back end of it to retrieve the single in the form of a flexi disc, constructed like a "playable card".[38][39][40] Third Man was originally set to issue "Open Letter" in the form of a vinyl single designed as a playable letter.[41] In an interview with Hot 97, Jay-Z went into detail about the single's release, saying: "It's in a letter. You can play the letter. It's amazing... You open the letter, and you can actually play the card."[41]
The song "Holy Grail" features vocals from singer Justin Timberlake and served as the album's first single.[42][43][44][45] It was produced by The-Dream, Timbaland and Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, with additional production from No I.D. and containing elements of Nirvana's 1991 hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Following the release of the album, the song debuted at number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100[46] and number 24 on the UK Singles Chart.[47] The song has since peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100.[48] The music video, directed by Anthony Mandler, was released on August 29, 2013, making social media history as the first time a clip from major artists debuted strictly on Facebook.[49]
On September 26, 2013, the album's second single "Tom Ford" was serviced to urban contemporary radio in the United Kingdom and then on October 15, 2013, to rhythmic contemporary in the United States.[50] Prior to its single release, the song peaked at number 39 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[48] "Part II (On the Run)" featuring Beyoncé was serviced to contemporary hit radio stations on February 18, 2014 as the album's third single.[51] The song has since peaked at number 80 on the Billboard Hot 100.[48]
Commercial performance[edit]
Magna Carta Holy Grail was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on the day of its release due to a deal with Jay-Z and Samsung, where they agreed to purchase one million copies of the album to offer to their users for free.[75] The album ultimately debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 528,000 copies in its first week.[76] This became Jay-Z's 13th consecutive number one album in the US.[76] It also bypassed its predicted debut in the range of 350,000 to 400,000.[76] In its second week, the album remained at number one on the chart, selling an additional 129,000 copies.[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.[77] In its third week, the album dropped to number two on the chart, selling 77,000 more copies.[78] In its fourth week, the album dropped to number three on the chart, selling 62,000 copies.[79] On September 5, 2013, the album was certified double platinum by the RIAA for shipments of over two million copies.[80] By the end of 2013, the album sold 1,099,000 copies in the United States, making it the tenth best-selling album of the year.[81] In 2013, Magna Carta Holy Grail was ranked as the 12th most popular album of the year on the Billboard 200.[82] As of February 2014, the album had sold 1,130,000 copies in the United States.[83]