This year, they have both gambled that name recognition and pent-up anticipation would get their new albums noticed with or without radio hits. West toward a self-righteous, confrontational crudeness and Jay-Z toward reflection, perspective and a little more self-questioning.
In retrospect, “Watch the Throne” set new, diverging trajectories for both rappers: Mr. It’s typical of an album on which Jay-Z turns away from the anthemic pop of “Empire State of Mind,” the rock stomp of “99 Problems,” or the lavish mélange of electronics, sampled soul music and orchestral buildups that he shared with Kanye West on “Watch the Throne,” their brilliant 2011 duo album. “Oceans” itself - which, true to Jay-Z wordplay, features Frank Ocean on vocals - juxtaposes thoughts of slave ships with Jay-Z’s current luxury, cruising on a yacht its track is a brass-section elegy. As a result of a change in Recording Industry Association of America certification rules regarding album downloads, the album will have gone platinum before appearing in stores, and Jay-Z has become a digital standard-bearer.īut on this album, the music often tells a different story: less vainglorious, more ambivalent. Holy Grail,” at $5 each, to give away on Thursday through a mobile phone app on new models in advance of the official release date, five days later. Samsung bought a million copies of “Magna Carta.
In Jay-Z lore, bigness and prestige are mandatory. His songs keep retelling his success story: the drug dealer from the Brooklyn projects who became a rapper, a star and an entertainment mogul without forgetting the streets. Holy Grail” arrives on a tsunami of marketing tied to Jay-Z’s long-established role as hip-hop’s high achiever. This rapper who has everything - sales, fame, cars, clothes, fine art, corporate clout and an equally famous wife, Beyoncé - has started to wonder what it’s all for. Holy Grail,” the 12th solo studio album by Jay-Z. The mood swings are wide and sudden on “Magna Carta.
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