Jay-Z Announces New Album, Will Give Away 1 Million Free Copies

Jay-Z is taking a cue from his wife and previewing his newest musical endeavor via a television ad, thanks to a partnership with Samsung Mobile and the Galaxy phone, a move Beyonce recently accomplished via Pepsi and H&M. In the video above, Jay-Z talks with some pals in the studio about his latest endeavor, which is currently rolling with the title, Magna Carta Holy Grail. But that’s not all.

The look inside Jay-Z and his workspace shows an eclectic group of dudes working on the album. Unlike the Beyonce commercials, we don’t get a preview of a full track that will be available on the album, but we do see the 43-year-old hanging out with partners in crime Rick Rubin, Pharrell Williams (who has had a busy year), Timbaland and Swizz Beatz. We get to hear hints of a few different songs that may or may not appear on the upcoming album, but while the beats are always pleasant, it’s hard to tell this early on if Magna Carta Holy Grail will be a winner.

”Jay-Z

While we don’t get to hear a ton of the new music in the new video/commercial, we do get to hear a lot from Jay-Z himself, who seems amped up and excited about the new project and just wants to get it out into the universe.

"The idea is to really finish the album and drop it. Giving it to the world at one time and letting them share it, and it goes out."

The rapper and producer won’t have too long to wait. Magna Carta Holy Grail is set to drop on July 4, but according to the Wall Street Journal, Samsung Mobile users could be in for a bit of a surprise. While the references to Samsung in the commercial are actually reduced to shots of the guys using the company’s devices, the partnership will be a little more visible when the company makes a million copies of Jay-Z’s newest album available to Galaxy users for free.

Even better, the music will be available 72 full hours before the album drops for everyone else, although the first million Samsung users who do find themselves lucky enough to listen to the album will not be able to share the news. I suppose this means the race is on to leak the tracks before the Samsung Galaxy users are able to get their hands on them, although I actually find the expectancy of the wait to be a whole lot more fun. We’ll let you know if Jay-Z drops any new music before Magna Carta Holy Grail’s big release next month.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.