His latest offering is the very presumptuously titled "Magna Carta Holy Grail". With an album title like that, the expectations couldn't be loftier, unless he went with the original title "Bible Torah Constitution". Sadly, although the album is fun, it doesn't reach those standards the name suggests.
The problem is not a lack of quality material, it's the reluctance to challenge the audience consistently. When mentioning art, why only artists of such drastic levels of notoriety? When name dropping musicians, why only household names? We all know that Jay's level of knowledge on these subjects is much deeper than the average person, or at least he's been exposed to much more than most. If he was truly passionate about these fields, why barely skim the surface of talent pool? In the age of google, if Hov were to have a line discussing the ignorance of Manet to Monet, everyone who listened and DIDN'T know a difference immediately would be compelled to google it immediately, or else risk the dreaded "Badge of Cultural Ignorance". With as much power as this man has over the opinions of the culture, he has some responsibility to push the envelope, not casually waft his hand towards it and see how far it flutters.
When you get to a track by track breakdown, nothing really stood out to me a month after listening, aside from the two songs I hear regularly at the club "Holy Grail" and "Tom Ford". The latter has the best effort at an adult theme on the album, which comes in the hook. "I don't pop molly's, I rock Tom Ford." Quite simple, I'm not in business strictly to attain pleasure, Business IS my pleasure. When every rapper out is talking about their new favorite party drug, Jay's on his grown man hustle. He even dropped the hyphen, which makes it more business card friendly. "Holy Grail", on the other hand, shine strictly because of the hook. A haunting melody that could have stood on it's own, or better yet, with a song about longing that reflects the simple confusion of the lyrics. if you were to exclude the song title from the end of the chorus, it becomes unrelated to the song, even with the "cup runneth over" line prior intact. This hook was written by The-Dream 2 years ago, and it's obvious why Jay wanted it. No matter what lyrical content you back it up with in the verses, the hook wins. But instead of rising to the challenge, Jay napped and allowed the strength of the writing and Timberlake's singing take over, much as he did on Timberlake's "Suit and Tie".
Other songs on the album, such as "Picasso Baby" and "Fuckwitmeyouknowigotit", are as hook heavy and beat reliant, but somehow have replay value for being perfectly executed songs that fit exactly the boundaries of what you're used to hearing on the radio at the moment. As for the other guests spots on the album, they come across a little forced. "Oceans" features Frank Ocean, not only providing a weird feeling in my gut regarding the name, but also ANOTHER Basquiat reference, bringing the album's total to roughly 7. He's more or less unnecessary on the chorus, leading one to nbelieve he's on there strictly to add to the features list for hype. "Part II" on the other hand, features Ms. Carter herself, in some soft attempt to cash in on the nostalgia factor of "03 Bonnie and Clyde". The song is poorly placed, taking away what little carry over energy the songs prior had given the listener. Lyrically, I'm at a loss to think of any bars that stick out throughout the whole album. Every verse is interchangeable within the album, owing to the lack of diversity of subject matter. That's not necessarily saying they're bad verses, but they fall in the realm of "lackluster" and only occasionally make it as far as "memorable". Maybe it's time for Jay to start using a pen and paper.
This will never be an album I feel an urge to listen to a few years down the road, like I do with "The Blueprint", "Reasonable Doubt", "The Black Album", or even something less than superb like "Blueprint 3". Overall, it feels like a collection of songs that could have been filler for "Watch The Throne". So maybe Jay's not becoming a hip hop version of a Beatle after all. I'd say with his recent lack of risk in his music, he's becoming more of a hip hop Elvis: completely deserving of his former title of biggest artist out, and always relevant because of his best work. But now he's dangerously close of entering the latter years: aging, fat, and making half assed attempts to stay in the spotlight rather than fade into the public consciousness gracefully. I will admit to this. though: if a 50 lb heavier, horrendously dressed Hova had a concert in Hawaii, we all know we'd be compelled to watch it.
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