Jay-Z - 'Magna Carta Holy Grail'

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focus;6008080 said:
lazypakman;6007848 said:
focus;6007629 said:
focus;6007285 said:
As far as solo Jay-Z albums go...

God Tier (in no order)

Reasonable Doubt

The Blueprint

The Black Album

American Gangster

Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life

Magna Carta Holy Grail

Mid Tier (in no order)

Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter

In My Lifetime, Vol. 1

The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse

The Blueprint 3

Garbage Tier (in no order)

Kingdom Come

The Dynasty: Roc La Familia

That's a 3 hot albums every 10 years average.

Niggas "no-signing". I looked over my post again, I don't see no problems? Where did I go wrong?

put bp3 and and vol.1 down and bump dynasty up and your good.

vol.1 is a pretty forgettable album for most parts,aside from a couple of tracks ('you must love me','streets is watching' and a couple of others)who can say they still bump that on the regular with the rest of the catalogue?it was decent at the time and I wouldn't say its garbage but its his worst ageing album,a lot of it sounds really fucking corny now.

bp3 was just shit.first time I actually felt embarrassed for hov.he tried to be all things to all people and it didn't work.I don't know what kind of blueprint he thought he was setting up with that album but the shit should have been destroyed before it was ever built.

dynasty has some of his best work on it,there's no way it should be classed as garbage,'this can't be life' is a classic,just for faces verse alone.and 'i just want to love you' is arguably his best club track aside with 'big pimpin'.yeah there's some shit on there but the production is mostly nice.

the rest I pretty much agree with,aside from this.i usually let albums of this magnitude digest for a while to see how it holds up.i think within a catalogue this deep that's how every hip hop listener should evaluate albums.

The first 7 or so tracks on BP3 are pretty decent to great...then the album falls off a cliff completey (except for Already Home). I say mid-tier for a half and half album.

8 decent to great songs on an album outta 14 tracks = 53% listenable album = F grade

Bottom tier material
 
KillaCham;6008454 said:
focus;6008080 said:
lazypakman;6007848 said:
focus;6007629 said:
focus;6007285 said:
As far as solo Jay-Z albums go...

God Tier (in no order)

Reasonable Doubt

The Blueprint

The Black Album

American Gangster

Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life

Magna Carta Holy Grail

Mid Tier (in no order)

Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter

In My Lifetime, Vol. 1

The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse

The Blueprint 3

Garbage Tier (in no order)

Kingdom Come

The Dynasty: Roc La Familia

That's a 3 hot albums every 10 years average.

Niggas "no-signing". I looked over my post again, I don't see no problems? Where did I go wrong?

put bp3 and and vol.1 down and bump dynasty up and your good.

vol.1 is a pretty forgettable album for most parts,aside from a couple of tracks ('you must love me','streets is watching' and a couple of others)who can say they still bump that on the regular with the rest of the catalogue?it was decent at the time and I wouldn't say its garbage but its his worst ageing album,a lot of it sounds really fucking corny now.

bp3 was just shit.first time I actually felt embarrassed for hov.he tried to be all things to all people and it didn't work.I don't know what kind of blueprint he thought he was setting up with that album but the shit should have been destroyed before it was ever built.

dynasty has some of his best work on it,there's no way it should be classed as garbage,'this can't be life' is a classic,just for faces verse alone.and 'i just want to love you' is arguably his best club track aside with 'big pimpin'.yeah there's some shit on there but the production is mostly nice.

the rest I pretty much agree with,aside from this.i usually let albums of this magnitude digest for a while to see how it holds up.i think within a catalogue this deep that's how every hip hop listener should evaluate albums.

The first 7 or so tracks on BP3 are pretty decent to great...then the album falls off a cliff completey (except for Already Home). I say mid-tier for a half and half album.

8 decent to great songs on an album outta 14 tracks = 53% listenable album = F grade

Bottom tier material


But you have to then compare BP3 to the other F Grade albums. Kingdom Come and The Dynasty do not have 8 listenable tracks. Compared to those albums, suddently BP3 becomes a C- . This shit only works on a curve.
 
Sweat jones;6008450 said:
Ur reaching

Nah son. Hova just the God. Dude really is modern day picaso...


Thats Juveniles track called "I did that"


The cadence is most evident from this track.

"Push your ma'fucka wig back, I did that

I been wilding since a juvi"

lol, niccass dont get the picture until flash is on.

 
This nigga Hov clearly took this "one take Hov" too seriously on this album tho.....how the fuck you not clean up those verses where you was offbeat then proceed to dead niggas on the rest of the Beach is Better track? dude is an asshole lol
 
Disciplined InSight;6008259 said:
s2jepeka;6008165 said:
Disciplined InSight;6008136 said:
s2jepeka;6007870 said:
A1000MILES;6007847 said:
...Sigh...Smh...Dro an Atlanta ass nigga...He don't like this shit like that...Stop tryna generalize us...

An exception dont negate the rule. *shrug*

Listen to the beats and flows. Jay knew what he was doin. And im convinced im right

You could made it easier on yourself said...

He simplified and borrowed the Southern cadence for niggas who can't comprehend complex lyrics i.e. Down South niggas who don't give a fuck about that.

Now that it's out the bag...@A1000MILES is right. You're generalizing and dead wrong.

Jay's sharpness in his delivery has gotten dull because he's at a point where he doesn't have anything lyrically to prove anymore..especially to the Hip Hop heads.

Maybe that's why he said "niggas want my old shit, buy my old albums".

Lmao How do u say the bolded, then say the underlined??

'complex lyrics...we dont give a fuk about that' Like thats some secondary shyt lmaooo Ngga we sayin the same thing.

He threw yall a bone. He wants your demographic and he got it!

You're still generalizing because you think ALL Southern niggas are like that but they're not. I don't know the percentages or numbers, but everyone from the South isn't like that.

Yeah, I'm from Alabama and I admit there are some niggas down here that don't give a fuck about complex lyrics, delivery, cadence but don't play that game with ALL the Southern niggas on here.

And for the record..my GOAT MC is Rakim...RAKIM nigga. I was raised in an Hip Hop era where I gives a fuck.
It aint just the lyrics, its the beats. And it aint just the southerners, but its the music culture that YALL started. Dont git defensive lol, it is what it is. But w/out a doubt the whole 'strip club beat' shyt came from right down south bro.

1 prime example: Beach is Better. Everybody seems to love that shyt rite?

Who produced it? Mike Will aka Bandz aka new bugatti aka that Ciara song that samples perhaps the GOAT Atl song, 'Boo'...aka Mr. Strip club beat

So yes, Jay Z is now rapping over strip club beats and b/c thats all we hear these days nggas dont even bat an eye...and yes, i blame the south. *shrug*

 
Last edited:
i ain't gonna lie,BBC & Beach is Better had me like

funny-dance-o.gif
 
s2jepeka;6008528 said:
Disciplined InSight;6008259 said:
s2jepeka;6008165 said:
Disciplined InSight;6008136 said:
s2jepeka;6007870 said:
A1000MILES;6007847 said:
...Sigh...Smh...Dro an Atlanta ass nigga...He don't like this shit like that...Stop tryna generalize us...

An exception dont negate the rule. *shrug*

Listen to the beats and flows. Jay knew what he was doin. And im convinced im right

You could made it easier on yourself said...

He simplified and borrowed the Southern cadence for niggas who can't comprehend complex lyrics i.e. Down South niggas who don't give a fuck about that.

Now that it's out the bag...@A1000MILES is right. You're generalizing and dead wrong.

Jay's sharpness in his delivery has gotten dull because he's at a point where he doesn't have anything lyrically to prove anymore..especially to the Hip Hop heads.

Maybe that's why he said "niggas want my old shit, buy my old albums".

Lmao How do u say the bolded, then say the underlined??

'complex lyrics...we dont give a fuk about that' Like thats some secondary shyt lmaooo Ngga we sayin the same thing.

He threw yall a bone. He wants your demographic and he got it!

You're still generalizing because you think ALL Southern niggas are like that but they're not. I don't know the percentages or numbers, but everyone from the South isn't like that.

Yeah, I'm from Alabama and I admit there are some niggas down here that don't give a fuck about complex lyrics, delivery, cadence but don't play that game with ALL the Southern niggas on here.

And for the record..my GOAT MC is Rakim...RAKIM nigga. I was raised in an Hip Hop era where I gives a fuck.
It aint just the lyrics, its the beats. And it aint just the southerners, but its the music culture that YALL started. Dont git defensive lol, it is what it is. But w/out a doubt the whole 'strip club beat' shyt came from right down south bro.

1 prime example: Beach is Better. Everybody seems to love that shyt rite?

Who produced it? Mike Will aka Bandz aka new bugatti aka that Ciara song that samples perhaps the GOAT Atl song, 'Boo'...aka Mr. Strip club beat

So yes, Jay Z is now rapping over strip club beats and b/c thats all we hear these days nggas dont even bat an eye...and yes, i blame the south. *shrug*

Nigga, what Jay have you been listenin to since 98...Nigga been hoppin on all kinda different beats...Tryna fit into different markets..
 
fuck the up the world and heaven are ridiculous. the whole album is dope to me. this new watch the throne jay is progressing to a beast with crazy flow and fire lyrical delivery with deep themes and concepts.

mohammad hovi is a beast
 
A1000MILES;6008562 said:
s2jepeka;6008528 said:
Disciplined InSight;6008259 said:
s2jepeka;6008165 said:
Disciplined InSight;6008136 said:
s2jepeka;6007870 said:
A1000MILES;6007847 said:
...Sigh...Smh...Dro an Atlanta ass nigga...He don't like this shit like that...Stop tryna generalize us...

An exception dont negate the rule. *shrug*

Listen to the beats and flows. Jay knew what he was doin. And im convinced im right

You could made it easier on yourself said...

He simplified and borrowed the Southern cadence for niggas who can't comprehend complex lyrics i.e. Down South niggas who don't give a fuck about that.

Now that it's out the bag...@A1000MILES is right. You're generalizing and dead wrong.

Jay's sharpness in his delivery has gotten dull because he's at a point where he doesn't have anything lyrically to prove anymore..especially to the Hip Hop heads.

Maybe that's why he said "niggas want my old shit, buy my old albums".

Lmao How do u say the bolded, then say the underlined??

'complex lyrics...we dont give a fuk about that' Like thats some secondary shyt lmaooo Ngga we sayin the same thing.

He threw yall a bone. He wants your demographic and he got it!

You're still generalizing because you think ALL Southern niggas are like that but they're not. I don't know the percentages or numbers, but everyone from the South isn't like that.

Yeah, I'm from Alabama and I admit there are some niggas down here that don't give a fuck about complex lyrics, delivery, cadence but don't play that game with ALL the Southern niggas on here.

And for the record..my GOAT MC is Rakim...RAKIM nigga. I was raised in an Hip Hop era where I gives a fuck.
It aint just the lyrics, its the beats. And it aint just the southerners, but its the music culture that YALL started. Dont git defensive lol, it is what it is. But w/out a doubt the whole 'strip club beat' shyt came from right down south bro.

1 prime example: Beach is Better. Everybody seems to love that shyt rite?

Who produced it? Mike Will aka Bandz aka new bugatti aka that Ciara song that samples perhaps the GOAT Atl song, 'Boo'...aka Mr. Strip club beat

So yes, Jay Z is now rapping over strip club beats and b/c thats all we hear these days nggas dont even bat an eye...and yes, i blame the south. *shrug*

Nigga, what Jay have you been listenin to since 98...Nigga been hoppin on all kinda different beats...Tryna fit into different markets..

Yes, and 2006-2009 he hopped on damn near every Hou/Atl song, but he's never gon full 'ratchet' on a album cut

Then on WTT the first single is...

H.A.M. Ballgame. Im tellin u, he wants that lane...and he gittin it w/ this album. This thread is proof

 
How does he want that lane when...

1. There was no single for this album...

2. The first thing you hear in this album is Justin Timberlake...

...Just stop, cuh...
 
focus;6008493 said:
KillaCham;6008454 said:
focus;6008080 said:
lazypakman;6007848 said:
focus;6007629 said:
focus;6007285 said:
As far as solo Jay-Z albums go...

God Tier (in no order)

Reasonable Doubt

The Blueprint

The Black Album

American Gangster

Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life

Magna Carta Holy Grail

Mid Tier (in no order)

Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter

In My Lifetime, Vol. 1

The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse

The Blueprint 3

Garbage Tier (in no order)

Kingdom Come

The Dynasty: Roc La Familia

That's a 3 hot albums every 10 years average.

Niggas "no-signing". I looked over my post again, I don't see no problems? Where did I go wrong?

put bp3 and and vol.1 down and bump dynasty up and your good.

vol.1 is a pretty forgettable album for most parts,aside from a couple of tracks ('you must love me','streets is watching' and a couple of others)who can say they still bump that on the regular with the rest of the catalogue?it was decent at the time and I wouldn't say its garbage but its his worst ageing album,a lot of it sounds really fucking corny now.

bp3 was just shit.first time I actually felt embarrassed for hov.he tried to be all things to all people and it didn't work.I don't know what kind of blueprint he thought he was setting up with that album but the shit should have been destroyed before it was ever built.

dynasty has some of his best work on it,there's no way it should be classed as garbage,'this can't be life' is a classic,just for faces verse alone.and 'i just want to love you' is arguably his best club track aside with 'big pimpin'.yeah there's some shit on there but the production is mostly nice.

the rest I pretty much agree with,aside from this.i usually let albums of this magnitude digest for a while to see how it holds up.i think within a catalogue this deep that's how every hip hop listener should evaluate albums.

The first 7 or so tracks on BP3 are pretty decent to great...then the album falls off a cliff completey (except for Already Home). I say mid-tier for a half and half album.

8 decent to great songs on an album outta 14 tracks = 53% listenable album = F grade

Bottom tier material


But you have to then compare BP3 to the other F Grade albums. Kingdom Come and The Dynasty do not have 8 listenable tracks. Compared to those albums, suddently BP3 becomes a C- . This shit only works on a curve.


Lol, 53%, 39% or 14%...they're all still F's. Maybe I'm being too critical or ignoring the "tier" system but that's how I like to see it. Assessing albums individually instead of comparing them to the artist's previous work.

 
Last edited:
Y'all already know what it dooooo!!

Reeeeeeevieeeeewwws

Three outta 4 stars in LA times ...

Sayin they FUCKS wit Dat Magna Carta ... Cos that shit bangs in the whip!

DaaaaaaaYYYYYUUUMM

It's possible to pare down the gist of "Magna Carta Holy Grail," the 12th solo studio album from New York rapper/businessman/new dad Jay-Z, to three simple words uttered in a track called "Tom Ford."

"I'm so special," declares the rapper, 43, and anyone who stayed up late Wednesday night to hear the record, issued first through a computer app available only to owners of a particular brand of smartphone, isn't in a position to argue. He's the man who can sell a million records with a minion's flip of a switch.

In addition to his wife being Beyoncé, what kind of "so special" is the man born Shawn Carter, exactly? Oh, he could go on and on. "It's Bordeauxs and Burgundies," he explains (dismissing Riesling in the process), while a minimal rhythm snaps around him. He later adds that he's the type of guy who'll spend "all my euros on tuxes and weird clothes — I party with

Jay-Z partying with weirdos is always a good thing, especially if said sonic freak is Timbaland, a producer responsible for some of the best beats of the past two decades. The team is best known for an early Jay-Z classic, "Big Pimpin'," among others, but they had a falling out a few years ago. They've reconciled and harnessed this creative juice to construct some truly cool tracks — while lyrically traveling the world.

"Parades down Flatbush, confetti in my fur," raps Jay-Z on "F.U.T.W.," a lyrically disposable but aurally pleasing jam about winning, destiny and many other tropes he's tossed over two decades as a professional. On "Oceans," produced by Pharrell, Jay-Z and Frank Ocean roll on a yacht off the coast of Africa while pondering the lives of the ancestors who centuries ago traveled the same water on a tortuous route to America. On "Beach Is Better," he spends nearly $100,000 during a day along the sea.

Throughout "MCHG," beats jiggle with synthetic energy courtesy of the master of genre. Combined and at their best, as on "BBC" and "Heaven," the producer and rapper move with the coordination of expert magicians juggling Champagne bottles and knives.

They sample Biggie Smalls' grunt on "Jay-Z Blue," and its effect is spine-tingling. Justin Timberlake cameos and quotes Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on the opening track. Jay-Z cites a line of R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" on "Heaven," begins the awesome "Versus" with a line from A Tribe Called Quest. He samples Faye Dunaway's "No wire hangers ever!" meltdown from the film "Mommie Dearest."

Like former protege Kanye West, Jay-Z shouts out the haunting song "Strange Fruit" on his new work. But unlike West, who samples the song about a lynching for a rant mostly about predatory women, Jay references "Strange Fruit" with respect to the power of its symbolism.

The lyricist also juggles names: Over a 16-song album that could have been cut to a dozen, Jay namedrops Julius Caesar, Pablo Picasso, Lucky Luciano, Mark Rothko, Billie Holiday, Jean-Michel Basquiat (and his graffiti alter-ego SAMO), Kurt Cobain, Michael Jackson and the "Mona Lisa." He rhymes "Leonardo da Vinci flows" with "Riccardo Tisci Givenchy clothes."

But to what end? Other than to amaze us with his opulence, good fortune and undeniable skills, the answer is elusive. Despite its name, "Magna Carta Holy Grail" seems unconcerned with delving too deeply into either the democracy or the faith that the two objects symbolize.

For example, when he says, "Welcome to the magnum opus, the Magna Carta," he's implicitly connecting a foundational document of democracy to his new work (and making a play on his last name). But that's the only reference he makes to the pamphlet's history.

And the grail in English mythology was the chalice belonging to Jesus Christ's uncle, Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph, along with Nicodemus, took Christ's body down from the cross. In one version of the myth, Joseph and his chalice relocate to Great Britain.

For Jay-Z, this object, one rich with history and metaphor, is nothing but a fancy cup, one notable only because it's the Most Awesome Cup in the World, and only he can drink from it.

"Magna Carta Holy Grail" certainly is shimmering, heavy and at times sonically stunning, and Jay-Z can toss a brilliant metaphor like it's nothing.

But a true masterpiece harnesses intellect and adventure to push forward not only musically but also thematically. Which is to say, sure, call it a Picasso — but just don't compare it to "Guernica."
 

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