Saturday, February 27, 2016

Holy Grail JAY-Z

When I hear "holy grail," one of the things that pops into my mind is Jay-Z's song "Holy Grail." I didn't actually know this, but his whole album, released in 2013, was called "Magna Carta Holy Grail." These are obviously two very important terms in history, so I looked up why he decided to name his album this. This is the consensus that the internet seems to come to:

The whole point of the Magna Carta was to usher power back to the people of England and away from King John in 1215. It was kind of a revolutionary document that changed the whole meaning of the monarch. Jay-Z thought that this album of his would completely revise the way of hip-hop/rap. When he referenced the holy grail, he apparently did not mean for it to encompass any religious meaning. Rather, the word "grail" literally means "an object or goal that is sought after for its great significance." Jay-Z's goal was to successfully impact the music through his album.

I just thought this was pretty cool to be able to relate the actual history to such a modern concept.

1 comment:

Jac said...

I think song analysis is honestly one of my favorite things, also. When Jay wrote Justin Timberlake's part, he said "“Holy Grail” isn’t about the holy grail, it’s more so about how fame is and about how it treats you and how today they love you, and then tomorrow they [ticking] on you…For me I wanted to write a record about my personal experience about [how] it’s just funny how you can be this one day, and depending on how that person wakes up the next day, that’s how you are to them." Personally, Jay-z is one of my favorite rappers. He writes real music, and isn't concerned with what people think of him and never tries to draw attention to himself (yes Kanye- I'm talking to you, pal). He uses many biblical references on various songs in MCHG that are not meant to be interpretted as religious, as Madison previously said. On Holy Grail, the hook sings "You're so unfair/Sippin' from your cup 'til it runneth over/Holy Grail" and as Madison earlier mentioned, this alludes to Psalm 23 (Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over). In Jay's mind, however, the Grail is something an individual's absolute most sought after feeling or thing: for Jay, it is fame.