On Wednesday, Jay-Z released the brand new cover art for his upcoming album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, which will be released on July 9. With all of the advertising and promotion related to the rapper’s latest, it stands to reason that the cover art would be released in an epic manner, too, opting to delve into history.
On Wednesday, Jay-Z was in Wiltshire, England at the Salisbury Chapel to introduce the Magna Carta Holy Grail cover art. If you are unfamiliar with the location, the Salisbury Chapel is the home of one of the four surviving copies of the actual Magna Carta, which was put together in 1215. Why the chapel opted to allow an album cover to be released next to a fairly ancient artifact seems like a bizarre decision on the institution's part, but the Dean of Salisbury the Very Reverend June Osborne told the Telegraph that she is stoked to have the item on display through July.
"Jay-Z is creating a huge awareness of this historic document and its modern significance to a huge audience ... We hope to welcome many of his fans here this summer to see the artwork.”
Right, because obviously the same people who listen to Jay-Z are super stoked about nearly 800-year-old historical documents.
The ego related to the cover art release is astounding, but I guess we shouldn’t expect less from a man who has made millions of dollars and hit #1 on the Billboard charts for albums and songs (Despite what he may say it hasn't been a hard-knock life). Jay-Z actually released the news this morning via his Life + Times site, and in case you are still in disbelief, you can check out the actual cover art sitting in a display right next to a bunch of wall installations explaining a little more about the actual Magna Carta, which put limits on the monarchy and gave the people of England more rights.
The cover art move is only the most recent play Jay-Z has made to keep his album in the public eye. The 43-year-old rapper has also been putting out short videos teasing Magna Carta Holy Grail, including one that gives viewers some samples of beats on the new album and another that features the rapper discussing a song her wrote for his daughter, Blue Ivy.
The album won’t be released until next week, but it has also already made headlines due to Jay-Z’s partnership with Samsung Mobile and the Galaxy phone. With the partnership, Samsung will give away 1 million free copies of Magna Carta Holy Grail to Galaxy users, 72 hours before the album is released to the rest of the populace. He may have gone a little over-the-top when he placed the album cover next to the actual Magna Carta document, but I don’t think anyone could argue that Jay-Z is a foolish marketer.
Photo Credit@ Life + Times
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