Upon its release,Magna Carta... Holy Grail was met with mixed reviews frommusic 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 USBillboard 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 certifieddouble platinum by theRIAA, for shipments of two million copies. At the56th Annual Grammy Awards, the album was nominated in six categories, winning the award forBest Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Holy Grail" featuring Justin Timberlake.
On September 23, 2010, rapperQ-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 withRoc Nation producerJahlil Beats. In an interview withXXL, 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, butThe-Dream hinted about a new Jay-Z album in an April 2013 interview withHot 97.[6]
In late 2011, it was confirmed three songs had been recorded and one of which featuredFrank Ocean which would end up being "Oceans", the oldest song that appeared on the album.[13] The recording for "Oceans" and production for "Holy Grail" were completed in 2011, during the recording sessions for Jay's collaborative album withKanye West,Watch the Throne. West wanted the two songs to appear onWatch the Throne, however Jay-Z chose to keep them forMagna Carta Holy Grail.[14] AfterWatch the Throne was released, Jay-Z chose to go on a worldwide concert tour instead of devoting more time for the album. Following the end of the tour, the main bulk of recording sessions forMagna Carta Holy Grail took place atAlicia Keys andSwizz Beatz' Jungle City Studios in New York, whereJustin Timberlake andBeyoncé Knowles were also working on their albums at the time. Jay-Z described the recording process as having a "minimalist approach" to giveMagna Carta Holy Grail a "1990s feel".[15]
While working on Beyoncé'sfifth studio album, frequent collaboratorTimbaland played Jay-Z the instrumental for what would become "Picasso Baby". According to Jay-Z, that song built the sound of the album. Jay-Z and Timbaland had grown apart after they worked onThe Blueprint 3, but reunited for this album. Timbaland ended up handling the majority of the production onMagna Carta Holy Grail. In an interview withBBC Radio 1, Jay-Z stated that while the two have recorded many songs in the past, it was not untilMagna Carta Holy Grail that they got the chemistry to collaborate for a whole project.[15] ProducerJ-Roc described "Picasso Baby" as "just New York". He toldXXL that he and Timbaland "were really just feeling the city, the energy that it gives out" and were inspired by the "numerous different cultures and different dialects or sounds."[16]
The instrumental for "FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt" was started by producer Vinylz, who was inspired by aPimp C speech he found onYouTube. He sampled Pimp C's voice for the intro and then created the instrumental in a short amount of time. After fellow producerBoi-1da added to the production, the song was sent toRick Ross who intended to use it for his upcoming album. Jay-Z was meant to add a guest verse to it, but when he heard the instrumental, he wanted the track for his album. Timbaland added additional changes to it before they mastered the final version.[16]
In 2012, Jay-Z contactedGOOD Music producerHit-Boy about working together onMagna Carta Holy Grail. Hit-Boy created the instrumental for "Somewhereinamerica", a song that was initially supposed to appear on the debut album of Grand Hustle artistTravis Scott. While in the studio with Jay-Z, Scott played the instrumental for him and Jay-Z instantly liked it.[17] The instrumental for the song "Crown" was made by 16-year-old Canadian producerWondaGurl. She had collaborated with Travis Scott on hisOwl Pharaoh mixtape and went on to produce another track for his upcoming album. Scott liked the instrumental and started to build upon it withMike Dean. The two then gave it to Jay-Z who recorded "Crown" over it.[16]
Overall, Jay-Z worked extensively on the album's production with producers such asSwizz Beatz, Timbaland andPharrell Williams who were also featured in the Samsung commercials promotingMagna Carta Holy Grail. He had also worked on the album's production withJahlil Beats, Boi-1da, Mike Dean,Kanye West andMike Will Made It, among others.[18][19][20][21] He had also been seen in the studio with various recording artists such asDrake,The-Dream,Raekwon,Nas, and Timberlake working on the album.[6][20]Mike Dean toldSowmya Krishnamurthy at MTV Hive that a preliminary leaked tracklist was only partially correct.[22] The final track listing revealed guest appearances by Timberlake, Frank Ocean, Nas, Pharrell, Swizz Beatz,Rick Ross and Beyoncé among others.[23]
On June 16, 2013, during the fifth game of the2013 NBA Finals, Jay-Z was featured in a new commercial bySamsung where he announced that his twelfth studio album would be titled,Magna Carta Holy Grail and would be released on July 4, 2013. He was seen speaking to producerRick Rubin in the studio about the album saying, "[It] is about, like this duality of how do you navigate through this whole thing, through success, through failures, through all this and remain yourself." The commercial featured producers that are confirmed to be on the album including Timbaland, Swizz Beatz and Pharrell Williams. The album was made available for free download on July 4, 12:01 a.m. EST, to the first one millionSamsung Galaxy S III,Samsung Galaxy S4 andSamsung Galaxy Note II users of a new app.[6] Shortly after,Billboard said that the Samsung deal would not count towards the sales figures used byNielsen SoundScan to compile their charts.[24] The album was then released for retail sale three days later, on July 7, 2013.[25]
Leading up to the release of the album, Jay-Z released selected lyrics of each song daily, via the Samsung app. This included "Holy Grail", "Heaven", "Oceans", "Part II (On the Run)", "BBC", "Jay Z Blue", "Versus", "La Familia", "Tom Ford", "Beach Is Better", "Crown", "Picasso Baby", "F.U.T.W.", "Nickels & Dimes" and "SomewhereInAmerica" in order.[26][27][28] On July 3, 2013, the cover art of the album was revealed in a photo where it was placed next to one of the four surviving copies of the album's namesake (the 13th-century English charter) inSalisbury Cathedral,England, and it remained on display there until the end of July.[29][30] The logo for the album was inspired by an art piece by Be Andr from 2009 named 'Untitled (art)'.[31]
During the2013 Grammy Awards, Timberlake and Jay-Z performed their hit single "Suit & Tie".[32] Following their appearance on Grammys, rumors of a stadium tour between the artists were raised as a result of Jay-Z's posts on his Life + Times website; he posted series of venues with the note "#LegendsOfSummer this week".[33] TheLegends of the Summer Stadium Tour was officially announced on February 22, 2013.[32] The tour begun on July 14, 2013 inLondon, England.[32] Starting in October 2013, Jay-Z toured Europe on theMagna Carter World Tour. It began on October 3 at theManchester Arena inManchester, England and concluded on October 29 at theZiggo Dome inAmsterdam,Netherlands.[34] The North American leg followed that, and it ended on January 31, 2014.[35]
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 inCuba. This was due to the currentUnited States embargo against Cuba, which required them needing a permit to visit the country.[36] The song was produced bySwizz 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 releaseMagna Carta Holy Grail onvinyl, 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 aneaster 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 aflexi disc, constructed like a "playable card".[38][39][40] Third Man was originally set to issue "Open Letter" in the form of avinyl single designed as a playable letter.[41] In an interview withHot 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 byThe-Dream, Timbaland and Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, with additional production fromNo I.D. and containing elements ofNirvana's 1991 hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Following the release of the album, the song debuted at number eight on the USBillboard Hot 100[46] and number 24 on theUK Singles Chart.[47] The song has since peaked at number four on theBillboard Hot 100.[48] The music video, directed byAnthony Mandler, was released on August 29, 2013, making social media history as the first time a clip from major artists debuted strictly onFacebook.[49]
Magna Carta Holy Grail received generally mixed reviews from critics. AtMetacritic, which assigns anormalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received anaverage score of 60, based on 42 reviews.[53] InThe New York Times,Jon Pareles wrote that Jay-Z was trying to transition from hispop sensibilities but had not yet found a "reliable alternative" onMagna Carta Holy Grail, where his raps were often mismatched with rigidly produced tracks.[64]AllMusic's Andy Kellman believed the record was hastily produced and despite occasionally impressive lyrics, Jay-Z's pop culture references sounded reflexive.[54]Spin magazine's Jordan Sargent said the songs sounded at once overly elaborate and unfinished, along with similar but less momentous themes in comparison toWatch the Throne.[62] Jesse Cataldo fromSlant Magazine deemed it a self-important album marred by shallowname-dropping, while accusing Jay-Z of becoming disinterested creatively because of his increased success.[65] Evan Rytlewski ofThe A.V. Club felt the rapper had exhausted the end of hisrags to riches narrative and was unable to reinvent himself beyond gloating superficially about his riches.[55]The Daily Telegraph's Helen Brown found his boastful references heavy-handed and the album unchallenging, albeit enjoyable for "the lazy listener".[56]Greg Kot wrote in theChicago Tribune viewed that, apart from well-written moments on "Oceans", "Jay-Z Blue", and "Nickel & Dimes", most of the album was inconsequential.[66]
In a generally positive review, Randall Roberts from theLos Angeles Times was impressed by the production's energy and samples, even though he thought the album was not as intellectual or adventurous as its title suggests.[57]Uncut wrote that it mostly succeeded as an attempt by Jay-Z to "balance his great wealth, tough history and news responsibility while retaining his grit."[67]NME critic Louis Pattison said it lacked a radical presence such as Kanye West to complement Jay-Z's mature ruminations, but nonetheless showed him as a sagacious lyricist comparable withBruce Springsteen orBob Dylan.[59] InThe Observer,Kitty Empire believed that while the diverse production would appeal to listeners at first rather than Jay-Z's predictably "umpteenth retelling" of his rags-to-riches story, the topics become more interesting on subsequent listens because of his surprisingly concerned takes on fatherhood and charity.[68]Robert Christgau fromMSN Music said he was won over after several listens by the familial songs, which he found amusing on a record that pits "black man as artistic rebel versus black man as family stalwart".[58]
Magna Carta Holy Grail was met with many accolades and was named in multiple "Albums of the Year" lists by major publications.Complex ranked the album at number 23, on their list of the 50 best albums of 2013. They praised the "high-gloss production," and strong rhymes by Jay-Z, deeming it "very listenable".[69]Rolling Stone named it the tenth best hip hop album of the 2013 saying, "The legendary MC explored of-the-moment sounds, textures and tempos in ways only he could [...] Even on a bit of an off day, Jay is still plenty impressive."[70] It was named the eighth best album of 2013 byXXL.[71] The album was also nominated for a few awards. It was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2013BET Hip Hop Awards.[72] At the56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014, the album received a nomination forBest Rap Album.[73]
Magna Carta Holy Grail was certifiedplatinum by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on the day of its release due to a deal with Jay-Z andSamsung, 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 USBillboard 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 sinceLil Wayne'sTha 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 theBillboard 200.[82] As of February 2014, the album had sold 1,130,000 copies in the United States.[83]
On June 22, Jay-Z held a viral scavenger hunt around Brooklyn, New York as part of his "#NEWRULES" venture with Samsung. The 100 winners of the hunt were given a binder that revealed the track list.[84][85]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
