In 2009, Jay-Z released The Blueprint 3, which received good-but-not-great reception from critics.  Though the album had superb production, Jay-Z, a living legend in the world of rap and hip hop, was actually inconsistent here, in many cases being outshined by featured performers (see “Run This Town,” where Rihanna and Kanye West rendered Jay-Z pointless.)  While his flow was solid and songs like “D.O.A.” had relevant subject matter, his lyricism and wordplay was not always up to par.

 After four years, Jay-Z announced his 12th studio album, titled Magna Carta…Holy Grail, in a commercial during the National Basketball Association Finals in June.  Featuring industry legends such as Rick Rubin (who worked with Eminem and Kanye West this year), Timbaland, and Pharrell Williams, the commercial, released less than a month before the album, drove up attention for what became one of the year’s most anticipated releases.  But the question is whether or not the album lived up to the hype.

 The album begins with “Holy Grail,” which begins with a chilling introduction sung by Justin Timberlake over a beautiful piano beat, which can and will give even casual listeners goosebumps.  It becomes quickly apparent through Timberlake’s lyrics that the song is about the love/hate relationship with fame that he and Jay-Z know all too well.  As Timberlake’s verse ends, the beat drops and…Jay-Z proceeds to faceplant and fall down a staircase, which is where this album goes wrong.

 The beat adds trap-influenced high hats at this point, but Jay-Z is what is wrong with this track, coming across as lazy.  A fairly basic rhyme scheme, lyrics that really do not add much to the song (as he ends up talking a lot about cameras) and a flow ripped off from Rick Ross (along with the constant use of “uh” and the n word), one of today’s worst rappers, really show that the man who gave us classics like Reasonable Doubt is horrible on this song.

 Fortunately for Jay-Z, he recovers with “Picasso Baby,” where he uses that classic flow, wordplay, and lyricism to create an album highlight.  Rapping about getting big and becoming an artist in his own right, the song can be seen as a sophisticated and refreshing take on the stereotypical “girls, cars, drugs” lifestyle many rappers talk about.

 Of course, the next song, “Tom Ford” is a regression.  Another basic rhyme scheme, with Jay-Z now rapping about his immense wealth (again, like any stereotypical rapper) ruin the song’s beat.  After that, on “F***withmeyouknowigotit,” Rick Ross proceeds to drop a giant, steaming turd all over the song with basic rhymes and essentially saying “come at me bro, I’m rich” in his contribution, which is most of the song.  Jay-Z, who is barely on the song, raps with a flow that works (though not his usual), but uses average lyrics and minimal wordplay to rap about the same thing Rick Ross did.  It improves the song some, but it doesn’t fix the problem.

 The next song, “Oceans,” is nothing short of a masterpiece.  Jay-Z uses his trademark flow and wordplay to talk about how he has become as rich and successful as he has, despite the fact that his own ancestors were once enslaved, and brought overseas (hence the title) from Africa to the Americas.  It is a brilliant song, with themes of defiance and overcoming obstacles.  The solid “F.U.T.W.” follows, with Jay-Z discussing the struggles of overcoming poverty to get big with a passable flow and lyrics.  “Somewhereinamerica” is a disappointment.  Though Jay-Z’s technical ability is solid, he is once again wasting time talking about being rich and awesome, and spends far too much time encouraging Miley Cyrus to twerk (never again, please) in this song.  The unimpressive “Crown” is next with Jay-Z talking about his riches, status, and material possessions…again.  To make matters worse, he sounds like Rick Ross…again.

 Jay-Z recovers with “Heaven,” where he returns to a solid flow and lyricism to question if free thinking really is free, as well as to discuss that people may have different interpretations of Heaven and Hell.  This too is an album highlight, as it is the only time where Jay-Z is truly philosophical on this album.  After “Heaven” is a short track, “Versus,” which appears to diss Lil Wayne.  It really does not add anything to the album, however, it does not subtract from it either.  It’s like that guy who third wheels.

 As for “Part II (On the Run),”…my feelings are mixed about this one.  While it’s okay to have a sappy song about love with your wife Beyonce, I feel like this song tries too hard.  To make matters worse, it only really works because Beyonce is there.  Jay-Z doesn’t add anything, and if this was a solo effort, it would be a miserable failure on his part.  It’s okay, but this really could have been a Beyonce song featuring Jay-Z, not the other way around.

 The short, skippable “Beach is Better” is next, followed by the painfully cheesy “BBC,” which features some of the most corny verses Jay-Z, Nas, and company have ever recorded.  Discussing drug use, it is a poor attempt by Jay-Z to talk about his past.  He rebounds to talk about becoming a parent in “Jay Z Blue,” which is a short-lived moment of personal vulnerability for Jay-
Z, something that is welcome.  “La Familia,” however, is another throwaway, with Jay-Z impersonating Rick Ross…again, with the purpose of talking about being a “boss,” and being head of a “family,” which is clearly not him, Beyonce, and Blue Ivy.  He recovers in the demon-battling “Nickels and Dimes,” which features superb wordplay and flow in the ending to this album.

 This album, a lazy effort by Jay-Z, is easily the worst in his entire catalog, earning an extremely disappointing 5/10.  While a few songs indicate that Jay-Z has plenty of life left in him, he is extremely inconsistent on this album, putting out several awful, lazy tracks before rebounding with one solid one, and repeating a few more times.  He changed his flow for the worse, his songwriting worsened; he sounds too much like Rick Ross (who actually cites Jay-Z as an influence), and his topic matter is limited to simply “being rich and the greatest.”  While the production is spot-on, even this cannot bolster the album’s rating beyond a 5.  Purchasing four or five good tracks is your best bet here.