Music Review: Jay-Z & Justin Timberlake "Holy Grail"

Jay-Z & Justin Timberlake

Holy Grail

Album: Magna Carta…Holy Grail

Year: 2013

            Jay-Z has mixed feelings about his fame in the apprehensive  “Holy Grail.”

           Menacing synths open the single, setting an intimidating tone. Justin Timberlake,  from Jay-Z’s point of view, he’s talked to every reporter who has wanted an interview, sharing information about his life. They write unflattering reviews about him and his wife Beyonce’s music, bringing down sales for their concerts and albums. Yet, at each press junket, he sits down and speaks to each person. They call his lyrics homophobic and probe into his personal life. However, he still enjoys being known around the world. (“You take the clothes off my back/And I let you/You steal the food right out of my mouth/And I watch you eat it I still don’t know why/Why I love it so much, oh/You curse my name/In spite to put me to shame/Air all my laundry in the streets/Dirty or clean/Give it up for fame/But I still don’t know why/Why I love it so much, yeah.”)

          In the chorus, which is sung by Timberlake, he plays the media game but he can’t figure out to win it. The negative stories take him off guard after several positive stories. Sometimes, all they want to do is to get a quote from him. Then, he doesn’t hear anything from them for awhile. The media has too much power. (“And baby/It’s amazing I’m in this maze with you/I just can’t crack the code/One day you screaming you love me loud/The next day you’re so cold/One day you here, one day you there, one day you care/You’re so unfair sipping from the cup/Till it runneth over, holy grail.”)

        Jay-Z takes the second verse. First, he stands up for his daughter. He’s the famous one and an can buy as many luxurious things he wants. The money is always there, collecting more each day in his bank account. However, 90s rapper M.C. Hammer and former boxer Mike Tyson were both millionaires like he is right now. But now, they have nothing and the hangers-on are long gone. Fame hasn’t treated him well throughout the years But he continues to make more albums. (“Blue told me to remind you ******/Fuck that shit y’all talk about/I’m the shit, caught up in all these lights and cameras/But look what that shit did to Hammer/Goddamn it I like it/The bright lights is enticing/But look what it did to Tyson/All that money in one night/30 mill for one fight/But soon as all the money blows/All the pigeons take flight/Fuck the fame, keep cheating on me/What I do, I took her back, fool me twice/That’s my bad, I can’t even blame her for that/Enough to make me to murder/Momma please just get my bail/I know nobody to blame/Kurt Cobain, I did it to myself.”)

          In the bridge, Timberlake samples and references Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” (“And we all just entertainers/And we’re stupid, and contagious/And we all just entertainers/And we’re stupid, and contagious.”)

           The chorus is sung again.


          Jay-Z mentions people analyze each of his tattoos. At the record label, he has to deal with crazed fans who demand to speak to him about a specific post they saw online. Certain magazine writers can’t stand him and won’t report anything positive about him. The paparazzi follow him wherever he goes, intruding on his private time with his daughter. He sees them in the background and quickly has to find another route. It ticks him off for a little while, he considers another retirement and then changes his mind again. In the grand scheme of things, he has a really easy job. When he was growing up, he dealt with poverty He takes a good look around him. He has a great life, one people envy. He’s a superstar as iconic as Michael Jackson. (“Now I got tattoos on my body/Psycho bitches in my lobby/I got haters in the paper/Photo shoots with paparazzi/Can’t even take my daughter for a walk/See them by the corner store/I feel like I’m cornered off/Enough is enough/I’m calling this off/Who the fuck I’m kidding though?/I’m getting high/Sitting low/Sliding by/In that big body/Curtains all in my window/This fame hurt/But this chain works/I think back/You asked the same person/If this is all you had to deal with/**** deal with/Shit, this ain’t work/This light work/Camera snapping, my eyes hurt/***** dying back where I was birthed/Fuck your iris and IRS/Get the hell up off of your high horse/You got the shit that ***** die for/Dry yours/Why you mad/Take the good with the bad/Don’t throw that baby out with the bath water/You’re still alive/Still that ****/***** you survived/You still getting bigger *****/Living the life/Vanilla wafers/In a villa/Illest ***** alive/Michael Jackson Thriller.”)

        The chorus is sung again.

       In the second bridge, Timberlake takes on the media again.  “You take the air out of my lungs whenever you need it /And you take the blade right out of my hand/Just so you can watch me bleeding/I still don’t know why I love you so much/And you play this game in spite to drive me insane/I got it tattoed on my sleeve forever in ink with guess whose name/But I still don’t know why/Why our love is so much.”

       The chorus is sung again to end the single.

       Jay-Z’s galled, hard-boiled rap is humble, taking note there are much bigger problems in the world than his own.

          He (and Beyonce) have remained private despite their megastardom. A few photos of appeared in US Weekly here and there but nothing to suggest they court the paparazzi. It’s understandable paparazzi sneaking around, trying to get a photo of his daughter would make him upset.

       However, he’s also self-serving in his complaints. It’s his assumption that constant positive media attention should be the norm  At his level of fame, off days will happen in public and will be reported in every news outlet. Every screw-up is scrutinized. Both he (and Beyonce, included) need to handle it gracefully and accept that they are infallible. Singing in press conferences exacerates the situation even more. Singles aren’t any different.

     Timberlake’s beseeching, mewling vocals pause during each step to take a look for toes lurking underneath. It’s what Jay-Z really wants to say  but knowing it would make him look bad, he has Timberlake say it instead.

       The cowardly “Holy Grail” lets someone else (in this case, Timberlake)  be undignified, pleading for sympathy from the media, which on the whole, has been favorable towards them.