“Holy Grail” is an interesting song. I’m going to tentatively prognosticate that it’s unlikely to reach the giddy heights of a “Niggaz In Paris” or even, say, a “”Swimming Pools (Drank)” – despite the combined star power on this track.
Lyrically here, JAY Z wrests over the consequences of insane success (AKA “The Holy Grail”), both the egregious and the dope. Fame is a theme that’s tired to the point of sagging in rap music, particularly in the aftermath of Kanye West having gone the full gauntlet of its slings and arrows – and masterfully so – in My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (which, I have to remind myself, was released all the way back in 2010).
The hook, which is sung super prettily by Justin Timberlake, is a piano-assisted pop melody – a major shift in dynamic from the skittering trap high-hat on the verses. Instead of propelling the song, it pulls it in the entirely opposite direction tonally. The result is a song that is in no way cohesive. And that jars. But I’d wager it was probably a deliberate choice made by Jay Z to mirror these two sides of fame’s balance beam that he riffs on throughout the verses.
Structurally, it’s a big bowl of confusing. And so is this creepy official video, directed by Anthony Mandler.
